Question

Promotional Items

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
July 5, 2022
1 reply
41 views

Hello. I use QB Desktop. I do not track inventory in QB, but on my website. We recently had an event and gave away T-shirts, hats, and totes. I have no idea to whom we gave these items. I have created an account for promotions/giveaways (an expense account). I am wondering what my journal entry should be to account for these items. Thank you so much for your help.

QuickBooks Desktop

C

Charies_M

Level 9

I got the help you need, cindymac1011.

You're in the right track for creating an expense account for your promotions/giveaways. For the Journal Entry part, here's how you do it:

Go to the Accountant menu.
Choose Make General Journal Entries.
Fill in the necessary information.
Click Save & Close.

You can refer to the information below on what accounts to use. However, I'd still suggest reaching out to your accountant for an expert advice in dealing with this situation.

On the first Line:

Under Account, select Sales of Product Income.
Under Debits, enter the amount you are writing off.
Under Description and Memo, type something like "To write off Promotional Sample Invoice # - [insert client name]".

On the second Line:

Under Account, select Cost of Goods Sold.
Under Credits, enter the amount that the Cost of Goods are for this product.
The Memo field should auto-populate.
Under Name, select the customer name.

On the third Line:

Under Account, select Accounts Receivable.
Under Credits, enter the same amount as the write-off.
The Memo field should auto-populate.
Under Name, select the customer name.

On the fourth Line:

Under Account, select Promotional/Samples.
The Debits amount should auto-populate.
The Memo field should auto-populate.
Under Name, select the customer name.
Select Save.

Here's a good reference to learn more about creating a journal entry in QuickBooks Desktop.

If you wish to review the entries, you can do so by going to the bottom pane of the Make General Journal Entries window.

By default, only entries from the last month are displayed. To change or expand the list of entries, click from the List of Selected General Journal Entries drop-down list and select which period.

Check out these articles for more details about how inventory works in QuickBooks:

For tips on how to handle promotions or giveaways in QBDT, here's an article that you can read:

Don't hesitate to let me know if there's anything else you need help with managing inventory. I'm here to help anytime.

C

cindymac1011Author

Thank you for the response. I dont know who received the products so how do I handle that?

M

MadelynC

Moderator

I’ll help you handle this, Cindy.

You can create a dummy customer name. This way, you can completely account for the items in your journal entry. You can leave the name blank under the first, second, and fourth lines. Just make sure you set up a name in the Accounts Receivable.

Here’s how you do it:

On the third line, click Add New in the Name dropdown.
Choose Customer in the Select Name Type window.
Enter a name, then select OK.
Press Save & Close after.

If you’d like to track your products in the future, you can bookmark this guide: How to set up inventory in QuickBooks Desktop.

Moreover, here's an article in case you need tips to customize your accounts in QuickBooks: How to organize your chart of accounts. This will allow you to quickly determine your financial health so you can make better arrangements moving forward.

Drop a comment below if you have any other questions or concerns besides tracking promotional items. We’ll be glad to answer them for you. Keep safe always!

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