QuickBooks: Create a purchase

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Contract 2026-10-20 · Operation quickbooks.purchase.create_a_purchase

Provider route: POST /v3/company/{realmID}/purchase. Alter supplies the connection’s credentials and routing.

Call through Alter

Install @alter-ai/sdk @alter-ai/quickbooks with npm, or alter-sdk-quickbooks with pip. Supply your connected customer’s grant ID and the arguments described below.

import { App } from "@alter-ai/sdk";
import { QuickBooksIntegration } from "@alter-ai/quickbooks";

async function execute(input: Parameters<QuickBooksIntegration["purchase"]["create"]>[0]) {
  const app = new App({ apiKey: process.env.ALTER_API_KEY! });
  try {
    const provider = new QuickBooksIntegration(app, { grantId: process.env.PROVIDER_GRANT_ID! });
    const call = await provider.purchase.create(input);
    const result = await call.wait();
    return result.bodyJson();
  } finally {
    await app.close();
  }
}

import os
from alter_sdk import App
from alter_sdk_quickbooks import QuickBooksIntegration

async def execute(arguments):
    async with App(api_key=os.environ["ALTER_API_KEY"]) as app:
        provider = QuickBooksIntegration(app, {"grant_id": os.environ["PROVIDER_GRANT_ID"]})
        call = await provider.purchase.create(arguments)
        result = await call.wait()
        return result.body_json()

Input

Field	Type	Presence	Description and constraints
$	object	Root	Additional keys: not allowed
query	object	Optional	Additional keys: not allowed
query.minorversion	integer	Optional	Must equal: 75
query.requestid	string	Optional	Minimum length: 1
body	object	Required within parent	Fields not accepted: Id, SyncToken Additional keys: not allowed
body.AccountRef	Model	Required within parent	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To Specifies the account reference. Check must specify bank account, CreditCard must specify credit card account. Validation Rules:Valid and Active Account Reference of an appropriate type.
body.Credit	JSON	Optional	False —it represents a charge. True —it represents a refund. Valid only for CreditCard payment type. Validation Rules: Valid only for CreditCard transactions.
body.Credit (anyOf 1)	boolean	Alternative
body.Credit (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	One of: true, false
body.CurrencyRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a bill — request body — body Currency Ref Reference to the currency in which all amounts on the associated transaction are expressed. This must be defined if multicurrency is enabled for the company. Multicurrency is enabled for the company if Preferences.MultiCurrencyEnabled is set to true . Read more about multicurrency support here . Required if multicurrency is enabled for the company Conditionally required
body.DepartmentRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To A reference to a Department object specifying the location of the transaction. Available if Preferences.AccountingInfoPrefs.TrackDepartments is set to true . Query the Department name list resource to determine the appropriate department object for this reference. Use Department.Id and Department.Name from that object for DepartmentRef.value and DepartmentRef.name , respectively.
body.DocNumber	string	Optional	Reference number for the transaction. If not explicitly provided at create time, this field is populated based on the setting of Preferences:OtherPrefs:NameValue.Name = VendorAndPurchasesPrefs.UseCustomTxnNumbers as follows: If Preferences:OtherPrefs:NameValue.Name = VendorAndPurchasesPrefs.UseCustomTxnNumbers is true a custom value can be provided; duplicate values are not accepted. If no value is supplied, the resulting DocNumber is null. If Preferences:OtherPrefs:NameValue.Name = VendorAndPurchasesPrefs.UseCustomTxnNumbers is false, resulting DocNumber is system generated by incrementing the last number by 1. For Cash/CreditCard transactions, throws an error when duplicate DocNumber is sent in the request. For Check transactions, error is thrown when duplicate DocNumber is sent in the request and Preferences:OtherPrefs:NameValue.Name = WarnDuplicateCheckNumber is true. Recommended best practice: check the setting of Preferences:OtherPrefs:NameValue.Name = VendorAndPurchasesPrefs.UseCustomTxnNumbers before setting DocNumber. If a duplicate DocNumber needs to be supplied, add the query parameter name/value pair, include=allowduplicatedocnum to the URI. Sort order is ASC by default.
body.EntityRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To Specifies the party with whom an expense is associated. Can be Customer , Vendor, or Employee. Query the corresponding name list resource of the associated type to determine the appropriate object for this reference. Use the Id and DisplayName values from that object for EntityRef.value and EntityRef.name , respectively. Set EntityRef.type to the type of object associated with this expense. For example, if this object represents a purchase from a vendor, then set EntityRef.type to Vendor and query the Vendor resource for the appropriate object to reference.
body.ExchangeRate	JSON	Optional	The number of home currency units it takes to equal one unit of currency specified by CurrencyRef . Applicable if multicurrency is enabled for the company Decimal string
body.ExchangeRate (anyOf 1)	number	Alternative
body.ExchangeRate (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	Pattern: ^-?[0-9]+(?:.[0-9]+)?$
body.GlobalTaxCalculation	string	Optional	Method in which tax is applied. Allowed values are: TaxExcluded , TaxInclusive , and NotApplicable .
body.IncludeInAnnualTPAR	JSON	Optional	Include the supplier in the annual TPAR. TPAR stands for Taxable Payments Annual Report. The TPAR is mandated by ATO to get the details payments that businesses make to contractors for providing services. Some government entities also need to report the grants they have paid in a TPAR.
body.IncludeInAnnualTPAR (anyOf 1)	boolean	Alternative
body.IncludeInAnnualTPAR (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	One of: true, false
body.Line	array	Required within parent	Individual line items of a transaction. Valid Line type for create: AccountBasedExpenseLine
body.Line[]	Model	Each item	Expand Create a bill — request body — body Line item
body.LinkedTxn	array	Optional	Zero or more transactions linked to this object. The LinkedTxn.TxnType can be set to ReimburseCharge . The LinkedTxn.TxnId can be set as the ID of the transaction.
body.LinkedTxn[]	Model	Each item	Expand Create a bill — request body — body Linked Txn item
body.MetaData	Model	Optional	Expand Read a bill — response body — Bill Meta Data Descriptive information about the object. The MetaData values are set by Data Services and are read only for all applications.
body.PaymentMethodRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To Reference to a PaymentMethod associated with this transaction. Query the PaymentMethod name list resource to determine the appropriate PaymentMethod object for this reference. Use PaymentMethod.Id and PaymentMethod.Name from that object for PaymentMethodRef.value and PaymentMethodRef.name , respectively.
body.PaymentType	string	Required within parent	Payment Type can be: Cash , Check , or CreditCard .
body.PrintStatus	string	Optional	PrintStatus is applicable only for Check . Ignored for CreditCard charge or refund. Valid values: NotSet , NeedToPrint , PrintComplete.
body.PrivateNote	string	Optional	User-entered, organization-private note about the transaction. This field maps to the Memo field on the Expense form in the QuickBooks UI.
body.PurchaseEx	object	Optional	For internal use. Additional keys: allowed
body.RecurDataRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To A reference to the Recurring Transaction. It captures what recurring transaction template the Purchase was created from. Read only: true
body.RemitToAddr	Model	Optional	Expand Create a vendor — request body — body Bill Addr Address to which the payment should be sent. This attribute is applicable only for Check . Ignored for CreditCard charge or refund. If a physical address is updated from within the transaction object, the QuickBooks Online API flows individual address components differently into the Line elements of the transaction response then when the transaction was first created: Line1 and Line2 elements are populated with the customer name and company name. Original Line1 through Line 5 contents, City , SubDivisionCode , and PostalCode flow into Line3 through Line5 as a free format strings. Read only: true
body.TotalAmt	JSON	Optional	Indicates the total amount of the transaction. This includes the total of all the charges, allowances, and taxes. Calculated by QuickBooks business logic; any value you supply is over-written by QuickBooks. Decimal string Read only: true
body.TotalAmt (anyOf 1)	number	Alternative
body.TotalAmt (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	Pattern: ^-?[0-9]+(?:.[0-9]+)?$
body.TxnDate	string	Optional	The date entered by the user when this transaction occurred. For posting transactions, this is the posting date that affects the financial statements. If the date is not supplied, the current date on the server is used. Sort order is ASC by default.
body.TxnSource	string	Optional	Used internally to specify originating source of a credit card transaction.
body.TxnTaxDetail	Model	Optional	Expand Create a bill — request body — body Txn Tax Detail This data type provides information for taxes charged on the transaction as a whole. It captures the details sales taxes calculated for the transaction based on the tax codes referenced by the transaction. This can be calculated by QuickBooks business logic or you may supply it when adding a transaction. See Global tax model for more information about this element. If sales tax is disabled ( Preferences.TaxPrefs.UsingSalesTax is set to false ) then TxnTaxDetail is ignored and not stored.
body.CustomField	array	Optional	One of, up to three custom fields for the transaction. Available for custom fields so configured for the company. Check Preferences.SalesFormsPrefs.CustomField and Preferences.VendorAndPurchasesPrefs.POCustomField for custom fields currenly configured. Click here to learn about managing custom fields.
body.CustomField[]	Model	Each item	Expand Void an invoice — request body — body Custom Field item
body.domain	string	Optional
body.sparse	boolean	Optional

Referenced models: Read a bill — response body — Bill Meta Data, Create a vendor — request body — body Bill Addr, Create a bill — request body — body Line item, Create a bill — request body — body Currency Ref, Void an invoice — request body — body Custom Field item, Create a bill — request body — body Linked Txn item, Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To, Create a bill — request body — body Txn Tax Detail

Response

Response media type: application/json. The table describes the pinned successful response. Referenced models link to their complete fields.

Field	Type	Presence	Description and constraints
$	object	Root	Additional keys: allowed
time	string	Optional
Purchase	Model	Optional	Expand Read a purchase — response body — Purchase

Referenced models: Read a purchase — response body — Purchase

Policy, approvals and errors

SDK function policy ID: quickbooks.purchase.create_a_purchase. Catalog operation: purchase/create_a_purchase. Rules can name either ID; function rules distinguish managed calls and conservatively cover raw calls sharing the route. Existing grant permissions and policy rules apply. wait() returns an immediate result or waits for a required approval; it never approves the request itself. Persist the approval ID to resume after a restart.

Provider errors retain their response; JSON decoding raises ProviderAPIError for provider failures. ManagedOperationError identifies contract/input/retention errors. See error handling and provider-specific behavior. Sensitive input may be refused before approval storage. A decoding error never resubmits a write.

Official provider source