Cost of Good Sold is set up as an account in Chart of Accounts instead of an item in Products and Services. I'd be happy to guide you through the steps on how to set this up:
First, create an account to track your inventory value.
Go to the Gear icon at the top, then Chart of Accounts.
Select New.
Choose Current assets from the Account Type drop-down.
Select Other current assets from the Detail Type drop-down.
Click Save and Close.
Then, create an account to track your cost of goods sold. I'll show you how below:
Go to the Gear icon at the top, then Chart of Accounts.
Select + New.
Choose Cost of Goods Sold from the Account Type drop-down.
Select the closest type of Cost of Goods Sold that matches your situation from the Detail Type drop-down. If you're not sure, use Other Costs of Service - COS.
Also, you are correct when you say COGS automatically calculates once you issue an invoice or sales memo. Learn more about how QBO calculates COGS through this article: Cost of goods sold: How to calculate and record COGS.
If you're trying to set up a COGS account to an inventory item, then you can add it under the Expenseaccount. To do this, create an item by following the steps below:
Go to Sales and choose Productsand Services.
Click New.
Select your preferred Product/Service information.
Fill in the necessary information and make sure to choose COGS under the Expenseaccount.
Click Saveandclose.
To give more information about managing inventory and what reports are available in QuickBooks Online, check out the following articles:
Under product/service information, I have a COGS amount set up for my inventory item. I do not have anything entered into sales price/rate as I sell at different price to different customers. When I create an invoice, the sales are recorded as A/R but nothing is recorded into COGS. What is the issue here?
Let's say I sell a ball. I have COGS $1 assigned for it. I create an invoice to customer XYZ, for: ball | 1 unit x $3 = $3. I would expect to see in the P&L report $3 in A/R and $1 in COGS. But COGS does not show up.
Hope you’re doing great. I wanted to see how everything is going about the setting up COGS you had the other day. Was it resolved? Do you need any additional help or clarification? If you do, just let me know. I’d be happy to help you at any time.
Looking forward to your reply. Have a pleasant day ahead!