To export invoices from QuickBooks as data, run the Invoice List report in Online, or a Transaction Detail report filtered to invoices in Desktop, and export it to Excel. For line items, use Sales by Customer Detail. For copies, batch print from Sales transactions in Online or Print Forms in Desktop. Tie the open total to the A/R aging.
Which QuickBooks report exports a list of invoices?
The QuickBooks report that exports a list of invoices is the Invoice List in QuickBooks Online, filed under Who owes you. In Desktop there is no report by that name; a Transaction Detail report filtered to invoices at summary level gives the same one-row-per-invoice result. Both export straight to Excel.
Intuit's Reports included in your QuickBooks Online subscription lists Invoice List and Open Invoices in the Who owes you group, beside Customer Balance Summary and Collections Report. Availability varies by plan, and Intuit notes that Advanced users can run all of them. To find one, go to Reports, then Standard reports, and search for the report by name.
The two answer different questions. "What did we bill" points to the Invoice List; "what is still owed, invoice by invoice" points to Open Invoices. The first time, run both for the same period and compare row counts, so the firm knows what each includes for this client's file.
For Desktop, Intuit's Customize customer, job, and sales reports in QuickBooks Desktop article builds an invoices-by-number report:
- Go to Reports, then Custom Reports, then Transaction Detail.
- On the Display tab, set the date range and sort by Num.
- On the Filters tab, set the transaction type to Invoice and the detail level to Summary only.
- Select OK.
Summary only is the setting that matters. Without it, the report repeats each invoice once per line and the totals stop meaning anything.
Example: three invoices as a list export
The figures below are examples for a fictional client, Fernwood Landscaping LLC. Column names vary with how the report is customized.
| Num | Customer | Date | Amount | Open balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1041 | Oakridge HOA | 03/02 | $2,405.00 | $2,405.00 |
| 1042 | Pine Court Apartments | 03/09 | $1,180.00 | $0.00 |
| 1043 | Oakridge HOA | 03/16 | $3,937.50 | $1,937.50 |
| Total | $7,522.50 | $4,342.50 |
Invoice 1042 is paid in full. Invoice 1043 has a $2,000.00 payment against it.
Exporting invoice line detail from QuickBooks
Exporting invoice line detail from QuickBooks means running a report that lists every line on every invoice, with item, quantity, rate and amount. Sales by Customer Detail is the standard choice in both Online and Desktop. It groups lines by customer, so one invoice with three lines becomes three rows.
Intuit's Use reports to see your sales and inventory status says the report "lists each invoice line item grouped by customer." It is available in Online Essentials, Plus and Advanced. Simple Start has Sales by Customer Summary instead, which carries no line detail. The same article shows how to add a Memo column through Customize, which helps when the invoice-level note matters as much as the line description.
In Desktop the path is Reports, Sales, Sales by Customer Detail, according to Intuit's Desktop customization article cited above. Under Customize Report, set Total by to Total Only if the firm wants a flat table for Excel instead of subtotals per customer.
Example: the same three invoices as line detail
| Num | Customer | Item | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1041 | Oakridge HOA | Lawn maintenance | 10 | $200.00 | $2,000.00 |
| 1041 | Oakridge HOA | Mulch, bag | 15 | $25.00 | $375.00 |
| 1041 | Oakridge HOA | Sales tax, example 8% | $30.00 | ||
| 1042 | Pine Court Apartments | Hedge trimming | 4 | $295.00 | $1,180.00 |
| 1043 | Oakridge HOA | Irrigation repair | 1 | $3,600.00 | $3,600.00 |
| 1043 | Oakridge HOA | Irrigation parts | 5 | $62.50 | $312.50 |
| 1043 | Oakridge HOA | Sales tax, example 8% | $25.00 | ||
| Total | $7,522.50 |
The line total, $7,522.50, equals the list export's Amount total. That match is the first check on any line detail export. Note that a sales report may treat sales tax differently from the invoice total, so confirm whether tax lines appear before relying on the tie.
Invoice export menus in QuickBooks Online versus Desktop
Invoice export menus differ between QuickBooks Online and Desktop mainly in where reports live and what the export button is called. Online uses an Export/Print menu on each report with Excel and CSV choices. Desktop uses an Excel button on the report that creates a new worksheet or updates an existing one.
QuickBooks Online. Intuit's run reports in QuickBooks Online page says to open the report from Standard reports, then use Export/Print to choose Export to Excel or Export as CSV. Intuit's Export your reports to Excel from QuickBooks Online article adds one fix: if the file looks empty in Excel, it is probably in Protected View, and Enable Editing shows the full report.
QuickBooks Desktop. Intuit's Export reports as Excel workbooks in QuickBooks Desktop gives the Windows steps: open the report from the Reports Center, open the Excel dropdown, and choose Create New Worksheet or Update Existing Worksheet. If QuickBooks warns of too many columns, use Advanced and clear "Space between columns."
The reports themselves sit in different places:
| Need | QuickBooks Online | QuickBooks Desktop |
|---|---|---|
| One row per invoice | Invoice List (Who owes you) | Custom Reports, Transaction Detail, filtered to invoices, summary only |
| Unpaid invoices only | Open Invoices (Who owes you) | Customers & Receivables, Open Invoices |
| One row per line | Sales by Customer Detail | Sales, Sales by Customer Detail |
| Activity by customer | Transaction List by Customer | Customers & Receivables, Transaction List by Customer |
Whether to save as XLSX or CSV depends on where the file goes next. The section on whether accounting exports should be XLSX or CSV covers that choice, and the wider guide to Excel export for accounting covers what Excel changes when the file opens.
Can you export QuickBooks invoices as PDFs in bulk?
Exporting QuickBooks invoices as PDFs in bulk is done through batch printing or batch emailing rather than an export button. Online selects invoices on the Sales transactions page and prints or sends them as a batch. Desktop prints forms marked to print later from the File menu. Neither Intuit article promises a single combined PDF file.
QuickBooks Online. Intuit's Email or print multiple sales forms gives the steps:
- Go to All apps, then Sales & Get Paid, then Sales transactions.
- Filter by type, status, date or customer to narrow the list.
- Check the invoices to include.
- From Batch actions, choose Print or Send.
The same article notes that its print-later and send-later option is not yet available for the new invoice layout, so check which layout the client's company uses.
QuickBooks Desktop. Intuit's Batch print forms in QuickBooks Desktop relies on the Print Later box on each form. Then go to File, Print Forms, choose the form type, confirm the check marks and print. On a Mac, Intuit's Enter batch invoices in QuickBooks Desktop for Mac adds File, Email Forms, where Save emails as drafts saves each invoice as a PDF file in the drafts folder of the default email account.
For a firm that needs files rather than paper, one option is to send the batch to a PDF printer installed on the computer instead of a paper printer. Name the folder by client and date range, so a request for "all March invoices" is answered by one folder.
Exported invoice totals that do not match QuickBooks A/R
Exported invoice totals that do not match QuickBooks A/R usually come from three sources: voided invoices, credit memos and date filters. An invoice list measures invoices; A/R measures everything customers owe, after credits and payments, as of a date. The two agree only after those differences are explained.
Voided invoices. Intuit's Void or delete transactions article says voided transactions are zero and show as void in the records. If voided invoices appear as rows in an invoice list, they inflate the count of invoices without changing the amount. Check for them and filter them out before counting.
Credit memos. A credit memo reduces what a customer owes but is its own transaction type, not an invoice. An invoice-only report leaves an unapplied credit memo out, so the invoice open total runs higher than A/R.
Date filters. An invoice report filtered by invoice date and an A/R aging run as of a date answer different questions. A February invoice paid in April is open on a March 31 aging but may not appear at all on a March invoice list.
Example tie-out to the A/R aging
Fernwood Landscaping's Accounts receivable aging summary as of March 31 shows $4,092.50. The tie-out from the example list:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Open balance on the invoice list, invoices 1041 to 1043 | $4,342.50 |
| Less unapplied credit memo CM-17, Pine Court Apartments | ($250.00) |
| Equals A/R aging total as of 03/31 | $4,092.50 |
Intuit's Run an accounts receivable aging report in QuickBooks gives the Online path: Reports, Standard reports, then Accounts receivable aging summary under Who owes you. That article covers Online only. For Desktop, Intuit's customization article shows setting Open Invoices to age as of the report date through Advanced, which keeps it in step with the aging.
When an invoice export from QuickBooks is the wrong source
An invoice export from QuickBooks is the wrong source when the question is what a customer owes overall, or what the customer has already been told. The A/R aging answers the first, because it nets credits and payments. Customer statements answer the second, because they show the balance as the customer saw it.
Use the A/R aging when:
- A lender, buyer or auditor asks for receivables as of a date.
- The firm is writing to a client about overdue balances by age bucket.
- Credit memos, unapplied payments or deposits are in play, since an invoice list leaves those out.
Use customer statements when the dispute is about what the customer received. Intuit's Export your QuickBooks Online data article says to select the customer, open the Statements tab and download the statement there.
Use the invoice export when the work is about sales: which items sold, which customers bought, or rebuilding invoice history in another file. The import side of that job is covered in importing invoices into QuickBooks from CSV. Customer details that belong beside the invoices, such as email and billing address, come from the customer list; the section on which customer fields to add before exporting from QuickBooks shows how to add them.
Two related moves start from different files. A client leaving Xero needs its open invoices exported from there, covered in exporting Xero to QuickBooks. Payroll data travels the opposite way, from a spreadsheet into QuickBooks, in QuickBooks payroll import from Excel.
Invoices flow the other way too: the bills a client receives from vendors. Schema CPA reads vendor invoices and receipts from the client's uploads, flags the same invoice forwarded twice instead of counting it again, and exports the rows to Excel or CSV for the firm to review. The workflow section of the homepage walks through it.