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QuickBooks Projects and progress invoicing
Project reporting and staged billing need consistent estimates, costs and invoices. Confirm the features in your subscription, then test how an accepted estimate becomes a sequence of customer billings.
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General information, not legal or tax advice.
Create the project around a defined job
Intuit lists Projects for QuickBooks Online Plus, Advanced and Enterprise Suite. Its setup groups job-related activity in one place. Agree on the customer and project naming before entry so costs and invoices are not split between duplicate records for the same work.
Sources: Intuit - Set up and create projects in QuickBooks Online
Enable partial invoicing from an estimate
Intuit’s progress-invoicing settings allow multiple partial invoices from a single estimate. The estimate must be accepted before conversion, with invoicing by the whole estimate, percentage or line item. Check the approved scope and prior invoices before choosing the amount for the next billing.
Sources: Intuit - Set up and send progress invoices in QuickBooks Online
Review what remains available to bill
Intuit says invoicing is limited to the remaining estimate balance when an attempted billing would exceed 100%. A fully invoiced estimate changes to Converted. Keep approved scope changes with the estimate record rather than treating the software’s remaining balance as proof that every contract change has been captured.
Sources: Intuit - Set up and send progress invoices in QuickBooks Online
Separate phase features from ordinary project costing
Project phases require Advanced with the Construction add-on or Enterprise Suite. Intuit also distinguishes payroll expenses from estimated hourly labor costs, with the profitability report using payroll-expense data. Confirm the costing method before comparing project results with a billing schedule or a separate WIP report.
Sources: Intuit - Learn about project phases; Intuit - Track hourly labor costs and profitability by project
Sources: create the project around a defined job
Related records and decisions
Connect job costs with progress billing
Tidwell helps reconcile the books and organize supporting schedules for your business decisions. We work with your CPA on tax questions and the financial records they need.