inventory management - superceeded part number

Thank you for reaching the Community, spirited-chemistry.

Let me share some insight about inventory part numbers in QuickBooks Desktop.

When adding inventory item, you can manually enter an inventory part number in the Manufacturer's part number. This will help you track part number's purpose in your inventory items. 

Another option is by adding a custom field for your inventory item. However, you'll need to take note of each part number as you change or add them to your inventory items. Since, QuickBooks doesn't have a feature to hold the an alternate ID number for each item.

To add a customer field:

1. Go to Inventory menu at the top.
2. Choose Item list.
3. Pick the Inventory item and double-click it, or right-click and then select Edit item.
4. Click on Custom Fields button.
5. Enter the Label and complete the other fields.
6. Click OK.
7. Enter the part number in the custom field you created, and hit OK.

I've added this article for more information: Create and use custom fields in QuickBooks Desktop.

You can also check out this link for other related articles to help you Manage inventory.

You're always welcome to reach us again for any other concerns about inventory items. I'd be glad to help. Have a good one!

if we use the customer defined fields- are these searchable?   specifically, i someone enters an obsolete entry - (which is stored in a customer defined field) - will search find it and bring up the correct (newer) part number?

i am trying to avoid entering all the old part numbers as separate entities.  I understand quickbooks has some limitations on the number of inventory items it can manage.  is that correct?

thanks for the help.

Thanks for getting back to us, spirited-chemistry.

Yes, using the custom fields will allow you to search part numbers. When you create a transactions, you can utilize the Find & Select Items option to search for the item list.

I'm glad to show you how to do it.

1. Choose the transaction you want to create.
2. From the Item column, click the drop-down and select Find & Select Items.
3. From the Find field, search for the item with specific characteristics. Then, choose either Man. Part Number or  Custom Field in the All Fields drop-down.
   
4. Select Search.
5. Put a checkmark on the items you want to add to the transaction.
6. Click Add Selected Items.

Also, when you run reports, QuickBooks Desktop also uses a concept called Source and Targets. Please browse this link to learn more about this: How QuickBooks generates reports. This is for you to check if information from custom fields will show up on the report.

Stay in touch with me if there's anything else I can help you with managing inventory items. I'll be right here whenever you have follow-up questions about it.