How do Invoice Line Item descriptions work?

Applies to: Maxio, QuickBooks Integration

Line item descriptions in invoices sync differently depending on whether they’re filled out in Maxio or left blank.

Answer

• If a line item description is blank in Maxio, QuickBooks inserts the item’s description during sync.
• If both are blank, no description appears on the Invoice.
• Selecting Add Default in Maxio automatically fills in the description and includes transaction start and end dates for clarity.

How a blank description is filled in

If you chose not to add an Invoice Line Item Description when creating an Invoice Line Item in Maxio, QuickBooks will add the Item Description it has when the Invoice is created in QuickBooks. So, a blank Invoice Line Item description in Maxio means QuickBooks is in control of inserting the description and it will insert the Description stored with the Item.

If blank in Maxio and the Item Description in QuickBooks is also blank, no line item description is included in the Invoice in QuickBooks.

Using the default description

Selecting Add Default in Maxio fills the description in for you rather than leaving QuickBooks to supply it. It also appends the Transaction Start and End Dates to the description, so the invoice states the period each line item covers. To control that text yourself rather than taking the default, the description can be built from placeholder fields that Maxio fills in from Transaction data — see Reference Placeholder Fields.

You can use Add Default selectively. Applying it to recurring line items — where the service period is what the customer needs to see — while leaving a non-recurring item blank is a reasonable mix, and the blank one still picks up its description from the QuickBooks item.