QuickBooks Online Expense Management

Overview

Expenses in QuickBooks Online are tracked through two primary entities: Purchase (for direct expenses like checks, credit card charges, and cash payments) and Bill (for accounts payable -- vendor invoices you owe). For MSPs, expense tracking is critical for per-client profitability analysis: tracking software licenses, hardware costs, subcontractor fees, and third-party service costs against the revenue each client generates.

Key Concepts

Expense Types (Purchase Entity)

The Purchase entity covers direct expenses paid immediately or via credit card:

PaymentType	Description	MSP Example
`Cash`	Cash/bank payment	Petty cash for supplies
`Check`	Check payment	Vendor payment by check
`CreditCard`	Credit card charge	Software subscription charge

Bills vs Purchases

Entity	When to Use	Payment Timing
Purchase	Expense already paid	Immediate (check, cash, credit card)
Bill	Vendor invoice received	Deferred (pay later via BillPayment)

MSP Expense Categories

Category	Description	Examples
Software Licenses	Per-seat or per-client licenses	Microsoft 365, antivirus, RMM seats
Hardware	Equipment for clients	Servers, firewalls, workstations
Subcontractors	Outsourced labor	Cabling, specialized consulting
Cloud Services	Hosted services	Azure, AWS, backup storage
Telecom	Communication services	Internet, VoIP, SIP trunks
Training	Staff certifications	Vendor certs, training courses

Per-Client Cost Tracking

QBO supports assigning expenses to customers, enabling per-client profitability analysis. Use the CustomerRef field on line items to allocate costs to specific MSP clients.

Field Reference

Purchase Core Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`Id`	string	System	Auto-generated unique identifier
`PaymentType`	string	Yes	"Cash", "Check", or "CreditCard"
`AccountRef.value`	string	Yes	Bank or credit card account ID
`EntityRef.value`	string	No	Vendor ID
`TxnDate`	date	No	Transaction date (default: today)
`TotalAmt`	decimal	Read-only	Total expense amount
`DocNumber`	string	No	Reference number
`PrivateNote`	string	No	Internal memo
`Line`	array	Yes	Array of expense line items
`SyncToken`	string	Required for updates	Optimistic locking token

Purchase Line Item Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`Line.Amount`	decimal	Yes	Line amount
`Line.Description`	string	No	Line description
`Line.DetailType`	string	Yes	"AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail" or "ItemBasedExpenseLineDetail"
`Line.AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail.AccountRef.value`	string	Yes (account-based)	Expense account ID
`Line.AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail.CustomerRef.value`	string	No	Customer to allocate cost to
`Line.AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail.BillableStatus`	string	No	"Billable", "NotBillable", "HasBeenBilled"
`Line.ItemBasedExpenseLineDetail.ItemRef.value`	string	Yes (item-based)	Item ID
`Line.ItemBasedExpenseLineDetail.Qty`	decimal	No	Quantity
`Line.ItemBasedExpenseLineDetail.UnitPrice`	decimal	No	Unit price

Bill Core Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`Id`	string	System	Auto-generated unique identifier
`VendorRef.value`	string	Yes	Vendor ID
`APAccountRef.value`	string	No	Accounts payable account ID
`TxnDate`	date	No	Bill date
`DueDate`	date	No	Payment due date
`TotalAmt`	decimal	Read-only	Total bill amount
`Balance`	decimal	Read-only	Remaining unpaid balance
`Line`	array	Yes	Array of line items
`SyncToken`	string	Required for updates	Optimistic locking token

Vendor Core Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`Id`	string	System	Auto-generated unique identifier
`DisplayName`	string	Yes	Vendor name
`CompanyName`	string	No	Legal company name
`PrimaryPhone.FreeFormNumber`	string	No	Phone number
`PrimaryEmailAddr.Address`	string	No	Email address
`Balance`	decimal	Read-only	Outstanding balance owed
`Active`	boolean	No	Whether vendor is active

API Patterns

Query Purchases (Expenses)

GET /v3/company/{realmId}/query?query=SELECT * FROM Purchase WHERE PaymentType = 'CreditCard' AND TxnDate >= '2026-01-01'&minorversion=73
Authorization: Bearer {access_token}
Accept: application/json

Common Queries:

-- All credit card expenses in a date range
SELECT * FROM Purchase WHERE PaymentType = 'CreditCard' AND TxnDate >= '2026-01-01' AND TxnDate <= '2026-01-31'

-- Expenses for a specific vendor
SELECT * FROM Purchase WHERE EntityRef = '42'

-- All expenses in a month
SELECT * FROM Purchase WHERE TxnDate >= '2026-02-01' AND TxnDate <= '2026-02-28' ORDERBY TxnDate DESC

-- All bills (accounts payable)
SELECT * FROM Bill WHERE Balance > '0' ORDERBY DueDate ASC

-- Bills for a specific vendor
SELECT * FROM Bill WHERE VendorRef = '42' AND Balance > '0'

-- All vendors
SELECT * FROM Vendor WHERE Active = true ORDERBY DisplayName

Create Purchase (Credit Card Expense)

POST /v3/company/{realmId}/purchase?minorversion=73
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {access_token}

Software license expense allocated to a client:

{
  "PaymentType": "CreditCard",
  "AccountRef": {
    "value": "41"
  },
  "EntityRef": {
    "value": "42",
    "type": "Vendor"
  },
  "TxnDate": "2026-02-15",
  "Line": [
    {
      "Amount": 450.00,
      "Description": "Microsoft 365 Business Premium - 30 seats - Acme Corp - February 2026",
      "DetailType": "AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail",
      "AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail": {
        "AccountRef": { "value": "60" },
        "CustomerRef": { "value": "123" },
        "BillableStatus": "Billable"
      }
    },
    {
      "Amount": 120.00,
      "Description": "SentinelOne Endpoint Protection - 30 seats - Acme Corp - February 2026",
      "DetailType": "AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail",
      "AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail": {
        "AccountRef": { "value": "60" },
        "CustomerRef": { "value": "123" },
        "BillableStatus": "Billable"
      }
    }
  ],
  "PrivateNote": "Monthly software licenses for Acme Corp"
}

curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $QBO_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "https://quickbooks.api.intuit.com/v3/company/$QBO_REALM_ID/purchase?minorversion=73" \
  -d '{
    "PaymentType": "CreditCard",
    "AccountRef": { "value": "41" },
    "EntityRef": { "value": "42", "type": "Vendor" },
    "Line": [{
      "Amount": 450.00,
      "Description": "Microsoft 365 - Acme Corp - Feb 2026",
      "DetailType": "AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail",
      "AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail": {
        "AccountRef": { "value": "60" },
        "CustomerRef": { "value": "123" },
        "BillableStatus": "Billable"
      }
    }]
  }'

Create Bill (Vendor Invoice)

{
  "VendorRef": {
    "value": "42"
  },
  "TxnDate": "2026-02-10",
  "DueDate": "2026-03-12",
  "Line": [
    {
      "Amount": 2400.00,
      "Description": "Cabling project - Acme Corp new office build-out",
      "DetailType": "AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail",
      "AccountBasedExpenseLineDetail": {
        "AccountRef": { "value": "62" },
        "CustomerRef": { "value": "123" },
        "BillableStatus": "Billable"
      }
    }
  ],
  "PrivateNote": "Subcontractor cabl

QuickBooks Online Expenses

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