The Transaction List by Date in QuickBooks Online

The Transaction List by Date is a chronological inventory of every transaction recorded in a period, one line per transaction, in the order they were dated. It is the top-level view of everything recorded in your books over a stretch of time, without the account-by-account grouping of the ledger or the debit-and-credit breakdown of the journal. It shows the transactions themselves, so for the record of who changed or deleted what you would go to the Audit Log instead. When you want a fast, complete picture of what was recorded and when, this is the report to run.

What the Transaction List by Date shows

Each row is a single transaction, showing the date, the transaction type (invoice, bill, payment, check, deposit, and so on), the number, the name or payee, a memo, the account, and the amount. Run for a full year or your whole history, it becomes a complete count of activity you can scan or filter. That makes it a quick way to confirm that everything you expect to be in the books is actually there before you pull the more detailed reports.

Cash basis vs accrual basis

The Transaction List can shift with the accounting method, because the basis affects which transactions and amounts are recognized in a period. Running it on both cash and accrual keeps the list lined up with how the rest of your ledger and statements are kept. If the report offers an accounting method, you can set it near the top and run it again for the other basis.

Why a CPA or auditor asks for it

It is the simplest way to see the full scope of activity in a period at a glance. A CPA closing your year or a buyer reviewing your books may start here to gauge volume, notice unusual or duplicate entries, and decide where to dig deeper using the General Ledger or the Journal. Because it is one line per transaction, it also serves as a checklist for confirming nothing is missing before the detailed reports get pulled.

How to run and export the Transaction List by Date in QuickBooks Online

1. Go to the Reports menu and type "Transaction List by Date" into the report search box, then open it.
2. Set the report period. For a complete archive, choose All Dates rather than a single year.
3. If the report offers an accounting method, set it to Cash or Accrual and run it.
4. Use the export control at the top of the report to export it to Excel or PDF. The file downloads to your computer.
5. If you set a basis, switch the accounting method to the other one, run the report again, and export that version too.

For a full-history list, the Excel export is usually easier to work with than a PDF because you can sort and filter it. Our guide to exporting all your data from QuickBooks shows how this list fits with the other records worth keeping.

Keeping the Transaction List by Date after you cancel

The Transaction List is part of your Books Backup archive. A cancelled paid QuickBooks Online company stays read-only for 12 months and is then permanently deleted, a trial only 90 days, and the IRS generally expects business records to be kept for at least three years, and longer in some situations. A single chronological index of everything you recorded is one of the first things you want when a question comes up years later.

Frequently asked questions

How is the Transaction List different from the General Ledger?

The Transaction List by Date gives you one line per transaction in date order, a quick inventory of activity. The General Ledger takes those same transactions and organizes them under each account, with a running balance, for tracing a specific number back to its source.

Can I run it for my whole history at once?

Yes. Set the report period to All Dates before you export. For a business with years of activity the file can be large, so the spreadsheet export is usually easier to work with than a PDF.

Does the Transaction List include my receipts and attachments?

No. It lists the transactions themselves, but the receipts and documents attached to them are stored separately, and QuickBooks' own export separates those files from their transactions. Keeping each attachment tied to its transaction is part of what a complete archive preserves.