Can I adjust an item with a new unit cost, having a wrong history cost average?

Hi there, 

Working with inventory is an important part of running a small business. Your inventory prices may fluctuate or change over time, and it's important that you can have the flexibility to change the price accordingly. I'd be happy to explain how you can do this in QuickBooks Online. 

Here's what you'll do: 

1. Click the Sales tab, then select Products/Services.

2. Click Edit next to your item.

3. Manually adjust the cost, then click Save and Close. 

That's all there is to it. Please keep in mind that this will affect sales transactions created on or after the time in which the cost was adjusted, and this won't impact any prior historical transactions. 

I hope this helps get your question answered. If you have any other questions, or if I've missed the mark on my response, please reach out to our tech support team for further assistance. 

Have a nice day. 

@accounting259 

Afaik, QBO is still using FIFO, not Average. You need to use an inventory management app to calculate the average cost and integrate it with your QBO.

When you adjust the cost of the item, will the system automatically create an entry to the G/L?

If you have 1000 units at $1 each and you add .50 cents of labor to make the unit cost $1,50 wouldn't QB need to adjust for the additional $500 of cost.  DR BalSheet Inv $500 and CR ???  Again does it do this automatically?

Hi there Kevin,

I love that you're looking to better understand the money movement that takes place in QuickBooks Online. This makes doing your books just that much easier. Let me give you some more information on how the General Ledger report will reflect changes to the cost of inventory items.

If you're to navigate to the Products and Services tab of the Sales menu to adjust the cost of your item from $1.00 to $1.50, you won't notice a change in the General Ledger. It will remain at $1000, because QuickBooks thinks that the adjustment reflects the cost of the item going forward. If you were to restock this item you'd notice a difference in the General Ledeger. However, if you run the General Ledger report, and select the Amount that's associated with the Inventory Starting Value for that item, you'll be able to edit the Inventory Starting Value no.START. Simply make the manual adjustment to the Initial cost and hit Save and close. Then you'll see that the transaction hitting the General Ledger reflects the ajdusted cost and shows $1500. 
 

If you'd like to learn more about how QuickBooks handles inventory, check out this article: What is FIFO and how is it used for inventory cost accounting?

Let me know if you need further clarification and I'd be happy to oblige. Take care!

Thanks Rebecca, While I do understand FIFO and how that relates to QB, I have another problem to propose.  I understand that QBOnline does not allow for a Bill Of Materials.  That said, if I have 1000 bottles at $2.00 ea. (which I hold in inventory....have already purchased).   Then I want to fill those bottles which will cost $1.00 to fill.  I now have 1000 Finished Goods with an invoice from the filler for $1000.  Now I need to add the cost of the bottles which is $2000 from the above example.  How do I accomplish this without a BOM.  Is there any way to transfer the $2000 of cost of the bottles to the Finished Good?

Let me know your thoughts or possible work around.

Thanks for those additional details of what you're looking to accomplish in QuickBooks Online, KevinFoti. You're right, the program doesn't handle Bill of Materials, so I appreciate wanting a workaround for this situation. To get an answer for this sort of question, I recommend connecting with an accountant to see if there are any workarounds you can implement. The My Accountant tab can help you make that connection as it offers you the opportunity to invite your accountant as a user to your books, or you can take advantage of the Find a pro to help button.

Because QuickBooks Online really works with the basics of inventory tracking, for something more involved like what you're looking for, I suggest considering a third-party app for inventory management. There are a variety that even connect with QuickBooks Online, which helps with continuing to keep your data in one place. Check out the Apps tab in your account and use keywords like "inventory" to search the options.

I also invite you submit feedback about what QuickBooks offers by following these steps: How do I submit feedback? This helps our product development team learn the ways that users would like to work with the program so they can consider them for future updates. Feel free to bookmark our QuickBooks Online Feature and Product Updates page as well, where you can check back to see what's new with the program.

Wishing you the best with this!

Thanks again.  While I know you are not selling the third part apps, Do you have one that might solve my problem that you have worked with?

It's my pleasure. QuickBooks Team members like me aren't able to recommend any specific apps to you, but you may find that other users on this thread or who come across it have suggestions. Keep an eye out for more replies! Otherwise, I encourage you to do some research to see what works best for you. :)

@KevinFoti 

Company has acquired a inventory management app with a simple assembly feature last year. You should explore it to integrate with your QBO.

https://go.tradegecko.com/register?code=fiat-lux

Should you need more features, you may explore Katana.

https://katanamrp.grsm.io/katana

Thank you for this.  I am researching these now to add this feature.  Will advise on how it goes.