That’s right—QuickBooks Online is discontinuing its “Tags” feature (expected sunset in late 2024 to early 2025). While this change impacts users who used Tags for granular reporting (e.g., by project, client, or campaign), there are several solid replacement solutions depending on your needs.
Best Alternatives to QuickBooks Tags
1. Classes
Use when: You want to track income and expenses by category—like project type, client segments, or locations.
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Classes are ideal for broad categories (e.g., “Residential,” “Commercial,” or “Design Consulting”).
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You can assign classes to transactions or split transactions across multiple classes.
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Great for generating Profit & Loss by Class reports.
📌 Tip: Keep class names consistent and concise to maintain clean reporting.
2. Locations
Use when: You want to segment by physical locations, departments, or business segments.
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Locations track business units or studios (e.g., “Durham Office” vs. “Raleigh Office”).
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Only one Location can be assigned per transaction.
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Great for firms operating in multiple cities or states.
3. Projects (QuickBooks Projects)
Use when: You need to track income, expenses, labor, and profitability per individual project or client job.
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Especially useful for designers, architects, contractors, and creatives with phase-based billing.
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Automatically pulls related transactions into a project view.
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Allows for time tracking, budgeting, and margin reporting.
📌 Important: Projects are only available in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced plans.
4. Customer Sub-Names or Jobs
Use when: You want to associate transactions with a specific client or project, even without using Projects.
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You can create sub-customers as stand-ins for projects.
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Allows you to track revenue and expenses per client or sub-project.
5. Memo Field + Custom Reports
Use when: You need a workaround but aren’t ready to upgrade or restructure.
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Add key info (e.g., “Kitchen Reno | Smith” or “Mood Board | Q1”) in the Memo line.
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Use the Transaction Detail by Account or Custom Report Builder to filter by keyword.
📌 Note: Not as clean or reliable for long-term tracking.
BONUS: Want more flexibility?
If you’re looking for an experience similar to Tags but more robust, consider:
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Xero’s Tracking Categories: Allows two customizable tag-like fields per transaction—great for creatives.
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Dext or Hubdoc: Add custom labels during the receipt upload process and sync with QBO.
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QuickBooks Advanced with Custom Fields: Add dropdowns or text fields to transactions.
