Use item categories in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

Learn how to categorize your inventory items in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise.

You can use item categories to keep your items organized. You can also get helpful insights with categories when you run reports.

In this article, you'll learn how to:

• Edit an item to add a category
• Create categories
• Edit categories
• Delete categories
• Move multiple items to a category
• Add/Edit multiple list entries with categories
• Filter Find & Select Items by category
• Reports with categories
• Set Price Rules based on Categories
• Customize Columns

Important: If you use categories in QuickBooks Enterprise, upgrade your company file(s) to the latest release. We've improved the categories feature and it'll be turned off in Release 1 (R1).

Edit an item to add a category

You can select a category when you edit an item by:

1. Go to Lists, then select Item list.
2. Select the item to add a category to and select Item, then select Edit Item.
3. Select Category. 
4. Select an existing category or Add New to create a new category. If you have a parent category, you can select Is a sub-category of to create a new sub-category.
5. Enter an optional description. When you're done, select Save, then OK.

Repeat as necessary for multiple items and even create up to 4 levels of item categorization. 

Manage categories

In the new Item list, you can perform multiple operations on categories.

Create categories:

1. Go to Lists and select Category List.
2. Select Manage Categories then select Select Add new category. 
3. Enter the category name. If you have a parent category, you can select Is a sub-category of to create a new sub-category.
4. Enter an optional description. When you're done, select Save, then OK.

Edit categories:

1. Go to Lists and select Category List.
2. Right-click on the category you wish to edit.
3. Select Edit category.  
4. You will see the category name. It'll also show if the category Is a sub-category of any parent category.
5. Now, you can edit the category, by changing the name, path, or description.  
6. When you're done, select Save, then OK.

Delete categories:

1. Go to Lists and select Category List.
2. Right-click on the category you want to delete.
3. Select Delete category.  
4. Make sure you move any items in that category or in its sub-categories before you can delete the category.
5. To confirm, select Yes, delete. 

Move multiple items to a category

You can move one or many items from one category to another.

1. Select the category.
2. Checkmark all the items you want from the category to be moved.
3. Select Batch Actions below the list, and then choose Move to a different category.
4. Choose the new category/sub-category where you want the items to be moved.
5. When you're done, select Save.
6. You'll be asked to confirm the items you moved. Select OK.

Add/Edit multiple list entries with categories

You can now onboard multiple items and categories using the Add/Edit Multiple List Entries screen. 

1. Go to Lists.
2. Select Add/Edit Multiple List Entries.
   Note: You can also select Lists, then CategoryList, then Manage Categories, then Add/Edit multiple categories and items.
3. Select List, then the list you want to work with for Item Categories.
   1. Inventory Parts
   2. Service Items
   3. Non-Inventory Parts
   4. Inventory Assemblies
4. To add entries in the category column, type in the first empty row at the end of the list.
   You can also copy (Ctrl+C) data from Excel and paste (Ctrl+V) it into the Add/Edit Multiple List Entries window.
5. To edit entries in the category column, select any field and begin making changes.
6. To copy:
   1. One field to the other records, highlight the field, right click then select Copy Down. Any data already in the fields will be overwritten.
   2. Copy a row, right-click the row and select Duplicate Row. The record is copied into the next row and starts with the word "DUP."
7. Select Save Changes.

Filter find and select items by category

You can now filter the find and select items to enter your transactions faster. 

1. Once you are in a transaction window, you can select item. 
2. Select Find and Select items/ Filter by Category.
3. Select Filter items by category. 
4. Select the category/sub-category.
5. Select the item of choice from this trimmed list.

Reports with categories

You can see items and their categories in the reports listed below.

1. Select Reports, then select Inventory.
2. Select one of the reports mentioned below:
   1. Hierarchical view: Inventory Valuation Summary, Inventory Stock Status by Item, Sales by Item Summary.
   2. Flat-view: Inventory Valuation Summary, Physical Inventory Worksheet (by enabling the category column from Customize Report).
3. Select  Report, then select  Items.
4. Select one of the reports below:
   1. Item Price List
   2. Item Listing

The report displays and you can see the list of items with their categories and sub-categories.

You can also filter a report by category.

1. Select the Customize Report, then go to the Filters tab.
2. From the Filter list, select Category, 
3. Select the category of choice from the list and then click OK.

Set price rules based on categories

To use categories to set price rules, you need to make sure that Advanced Pricing is turned on.

1. Go to Edit and select Preferences.
2. Select Sales & Customers then Company Preferences.
3. Select Enable Advanced Pricing.

Once Advanced Pricing is turned on, you can create rule based on categories. Here's how:

1. Go to Lists and select Price Rule List.
2. Select Price Rule and then select New. Give a name to the price rule.
3. To add a condition, select the + button and select Items.
4. Select Category then select your desired category.
   Note: ​​Make sure you choose a category other than uncategorized to apply a price rule.
5. Set the date range and price. 
6. Select OK once you’re done.

This rule will apply to all the items which are assigned to the selected category.

To see the price rule in action in a transaction:

1. Go to Customers and select Create Invoices.
2. Set the date in the date range set in the price rule.
3. Select an item in the category with the price rule.
4. Select tooltip.
5. The Applied Price Rules dialog box will contain the price rule that you applied.

Customize Columns

1. Go to Lists and select Category List.
2. Select the Item dropdown from the bottom panel.
3. Select Customize columns. 
4. Now you can change the order of the categories and add or remove the columns you want to see in the Category List screen.

Important: If you’ve ever used Categories in QuickBooks Enterprise 2023 R1 and R3, you might have experienced a crash when you use Search on the Item list. Here’s how you can fix this:

1. Go to Lists and select Category List.
2. Select Manage Categories then select select Add new category. 
3. Name the category as C1, select Save, then OK.
4. In that same category, C1, checkmark all the items.
5. Select Batch Actions below the list, and then choose Move to a different category, select Uncategorized. 
6. When you're done, select Save.
7. Lastly, right-click on this category C1 to delete it.
8. Select Delete category.