How to Attach Paperwork for Orders on QuickBooks

Question: There is a paperclip icon in QuickBooks for attachments. Can I attach all the paperwork for an order there?

Answer: There is an attachment function in QuickBooks for several screens including, but not limited to, sales orders, purchase orders, invoices, bills and customers. You can attach documents here, such as a supplier invoice to a purchase order. This sounds great, but …

As distributors, reference to past orders is fundamental and we would like access to these attachments for as long as we are doing business. (I recall a 20-year gap between reorders!)

Always the data entered into QuickBooks will be there, but not always so with these attachments. The attachments are stored differently and not in the same place on your computer as the QuickBooks company file. Because they are located separately, the attachments are not included in your backups.

The problem arises when you restore a backup file and QuickBooks will then not know where to find the attachments file. The attachments are still saved, just not locatable, unless you adjust it—manually—find, copy and paste the attachment file in the same place as your restored company file.

This seems like an easily overlooked step to me, which can cause you to lose track of your attachments. There are better ways to keep track of your order-related documents.

Please email accounting questions you would like considered for the column to HGatter@AccountingSupportLLC.com with the subject line of "Ask the Accountant."