Hi there, Giselle.

I appreciate you joining here and asking for clarification about entering a purchase date without using PO in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

We can only use the Purchase Date column when creating a PO. Since usually, you're not using this type of transaction, you may consider utilizing the Description column to add the purchase date from the bill. Here's a sample screenshot for your visual reference:

Once done, we can run the Inventory Item report to get the lists of your inventory items. We can follow these steps to show the purchase date entered from the Description column.

1. Go to the Lists menu.
2. Select Item Lists.
3. Find the item. Right-click to select QuickReport.
4. Click the Customize button. Search and tick the Memo.
5. Include all the details you need.
6. Click OK to reflect the changes.
   

Then, I recommend sending your feedback to our product developers. Our team will review your suggestion and might include this in the product updates. We can follow the steps below and share with them the benefits of this option.

1. Open the QuickBooks Desktop program and select the Help menu.
2. Click on Send Feedback Online and choose Product Suggestion.

Still, we can visit and check these articles for guides about managing vendor transactions and reports:

• Accounts Payable workflows in QuickBooks Desktop
• QuickBooks Desktop reports that you need.

If you have more questions or clarification about recording transactions and managing items in QBDT, please let me know by commenting below. Stay safe.