Learn how to add, edit, and delete items in QuickBooks Desktop for Windows.
Item is anything that your company buys, sells or resells in the course of business, such as products, shipping and handling charges, discounts and sales tax (if applicable). It shows up as a line on an invoice or other sales forms.
Add items
Item Types
There are different item types in QuickBooks with each one following a specific guideline. Here's a quick list to help you decide before you start adding your items.
| Service | A service you provide to a customer. You can create services that are charged by the job or by the hour. |
| Stock Part | A product you buy for the purpose of reselling. This item type isn't available if you haven't enabled the stock during the Easy Step Interview or activated stock on the Items & Stock section in the Preferences. |
| Non-Stock Part | A product you:
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| Other Charge | An item type used for things like shipping charges, markups, or other line items that appear on your invoices. |
| Subtotal | An item type that adds up everything that comes before it. It provides a subtotal before you add shipping charges, markups or subtracts any discounts or prepayments. In Enterprise 15 and later you can also subtotal Quantity, Price, Cost, and numeric custom columns. |
| Group | This item type can be used to enter a group of items (all of which must exist in the Item List) all at once. For example, if you frequently have a shipping charge accompanying another type of charge, you can create a group item that includes those two items. |
| Assembly | An assembly (available only in Premier and Enterprise editions) is a product you assemble from parts. It is tracked as an stock item in QuickBooks. |
Here are the item types that calculate. If you want to perform any of these calculations, you must have an item for each calculation that you need.
| Discount | A discount as a line item cannot be given if this item type does not exist. You may have more than the item that falls within this item type - for example, a discount for wholesale customers and one for volume purchase. When entering a discount item, you can indicate a flat rate or percentage. |
| Payment | If a payment is received (either a total payment or a partial payment as a deposit), you can indicate it as a line item using this item type. |
| Sales Tax Item | Create one of these item types for each sales tax authority for which you collect (available if sales tax is enabled). |
| Sales Tax Group | This is for multiple sales taxes that appear on the same invoice (available if sales tax is enabled). |
Create an item
- Go to Lists, then select Item List .
- On the Item List window, select Item then New .
- Select the type of item you want to create.
- Fill out the item fields.
- Use Custom Fields to add your own customised fields.
- Select Save.
The following are the common fields for all item types:
| Item Name/Number | Enter your desired name for the item. You can use up to 31 characters. |
| Description | Use this field to add information about the item. |
| Sub-item of: | Select the checkbox if you want the item to be a sub-item of an existing item. |
Purchase Information and Sales Information
The following additional fields under Purchase information and Sales information appear when you create an Stock Part, Non-stock Part, Service, Stock Assembly, or Other Charge.
| Cost | Enter the cost of the item when you purchased it. |
| Expense Account | The account you use to track the amount spent on purchasing the item. |
| COGS Account | Cost of goods sold is the total amount spent on the production of the goods sold. It’s also the account you use to track payments for the item. |
| Preferred Supplier | Choose the name of the supplier where Stock is usually purchased. |
| Sales Price /Rate /Price/Amount | This field varies depending on item type:
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| Income Account | The account you use to track the amount you earn from selling the item. |
| Tax Code | Select the Taxable account if you charge sales tax for the item. When you make a taxable sale, QuickBooks will calculate tax on the item. |
Stock Information
These fields under Stock Information appear when you select Stock as the item type.
| Asset Account | Generated by QuickBooks and automatically assigned. If you don’t want to use the default account, here are the two types of assets:
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| Reorder Point | The number of items before QuickBooks prompts you to reorder the item. |
| Quantity on Hand | The quantity of stock you have on hand.** |
| Total Value | The total value of the stock you have on hand.** |
| As of | The date to which your reorder point, quantity on hand, and total value applies.** |
**For Quantity on Hand and Total Value:
- If this is a new item that you are adding to your stock, leave the quantity-on-hand and value at zero.
- If this is an item you already have in stock, enter the quantity on hand and value as of the last time you measured your stock. Then, be sure to enter any sales or purchases of the item that occurred between the date you measured your stock and today. This
- If this is an item you are converting to an stock part item from a non-stock part, service, or other charge item, the date you enter must be a date that is after the date of the last transaction that uses the item.
**For As of date:
- If you're converting this item from a different type, use the current date for accurate records.
- If you use your start date or any date in the past, you need to enter all purchases and sales of the item up to the current date so your quantity on hand and value are accurate.
The following fields appear when you are creating a Group Item. Before you create a group item, all individual items must already be set up.
| Item List | A table that lets you choose the items to include in the group item and their respective quantities |
| Print items in a group | Select this checkbox if you want the individual items to show on invoices and other transaction forms when you use the group item. |
The following appears when you create a Payment Item.
| Payment Method | Select the dropdown to choose the payment method you want to use for when the payment item is used in transactions. |
| Deposit option | Select Group with other undeposited funds or Deposit To. |
Add an item as you need it
You can create an item without leaving the Invoice or any sales form. Just enter the name of an item and select Yes when you get the prompt asking if you want to set up the item.
Create multiple stock or service items
Note: You can select Default at any time to return to the preset columns for the list.
Edit items
Update item information
After you create an item, you can edit information about it at any time.
- From the Lists menu, select Item List .
- Double-click the item you want to change.
- Enter your changes in the Edit Item window.
- Choose OK.
If you need to edit multiple items, go to the Add/Edit Multiple List window (List > Add/Edit Multiple List) instead.
Change item type
You can change an item's type if the item is a Non-stock part, an Other Charge item, or an stock part.
- From the Lists menu, select Item List .
- Double-click the item you want to change.
- From the Type drop-down, select the new item type.
- Choose OK.
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Duplicate an item
Your business may require the creation of a large number of similar items. Save time by making a duplicate, or copy, of an existing item, modifying it, then saving it with a new name. Note that this is only available in QuickBooks for Windows.
- From the Lists menu, select Item List .
- Highlight the item you want to copy, then right-click and choose Duplicate Item.
- Changes the item’s information as necessary. The item’s name will be the same but the "DUP" will be appended to it. You can rename the item as desired. Remember though that two items cannot have the same name.
- Choose OK.
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Remove Items
Combine two items
If you mistakenly entered the same item twice but with a different name, you can merge them so that all of your transactions are associated only with one item name.
- From the Lists menu, select Item List.
- Right-click the item you don’t want to use then select Edit Item.
- In the Edit Item window, change the item name to the same name as the item you’re combining it with.
- Select OK then, Yes to confirm that you want to merge the two items under the same name.
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Hide an item
For good record keeping, QuickBooks will not allow you to delete an item if it’s ever been used in a transaction. If you no longer use or sell the item, it’s better to just hide it.
- From the Lists menu, select Item List.
- Double-click the item you want to hide.
- In the Edit Item window, select Item is inactive .
- Select OK.
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Delete an item
- From the Lists menu, select Item List .
- Select the item you want to delete.
- From the menu bar, select Edit and then Delete Item.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many items can I set up in QuickBooks?
- QuickBooks Pro and Premier: Up to 14,500 items (active and inactive).
- QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions: can handle the unlimited number of items.
How many characters can I use for the item name?
You can use up to 31 characters for each item name.
How many items can I use in a group?
- QuickBooks Pro and Premier: Up to 50 individual items
- QuickBooks Enterprise: Up to 500 individual items
How many items can be added to an assembly item?
- QuickBooks Premier: Up to 100
- QuickBooks Enterprise: Up to 500
If you are using QuickBooks Pro, you cannot create new stock assembly items. You can view and edit stock assembly items from the Item list in any edition of QuickBooks, and you can also view and edit the transactions that use them. For more information about stock assembly, refer to Create, build, and work with stock assembly items
Why do items appear with a negative amount on my invoice?
If you create an item as a Discount type, this item will appear as a negative amount when you use it on an invoice. Discount items should only be used to subtract a percentage or a fixed amount from a total or subtotal. Once you create an item as a Discount item, you cannot change it to another type. If you have created a Discount item by mistake, the best solution is to delete the Discount item and create a new item using a different type.
Why can't I use a discount item on a purchase order?
You can't use discount items on purchase orders or bills. They will not appear in the Item drop-down list. A workaround for this is to create an Other Charge item and enter a negative fixed amount (percentages will not work), for example, -10.00, in the Amount or % field.
How can I discount all items on my invoice?
You must create a subtotal item if you ever want to apply a percentage discount or surcharge to several or all items on an invoice. Because QuickBooks calculates percentages only on the line above, you must subtotal the items before entering a discount item that calculates on a percentage basis.
What's the difference between price levels and discounts?
Price levels let you set custom pricing for certain customers or jobs. Once you create a price level and associate it with one or more customers or jobs, each time you create an invoice, sales receipt, sales order or credit note for those customers or jobs, QuickBooks automatically pulls up the correct custom price for a customer or job. Discount items can be used on any invoice.
If I change the price of an item, will it affect my existing transactions?
No. If you change the price of an item, it will not affect existing transactions.