Inventory vending products

It's good to see you here in the Community, Not_so_in_tuit_ive.

You can set up the bill of materials (BOM) then add it to an item called inventory assembly, this way you can use that item to start building and tracking your products.

Here's how:

1. From the Lists menu, select Item List.
2. Select the Item ▼ drop-down and then New. Then, select Inventory Assembly. Add your product’s name or build number.
3. If you buy from a vendor, select I purchase this assembly item from a vendor. Note: Select this if you buy this product assembled from a vendor. If you build the product yourself, skip this.
4. Add the Cost. This can be the total cost of all the parts in the bill of materials. Or it can include other expenses.
5. From the COGS Account ▼ drop-down, select Cost of Goods Sold. QuickBooks uses this account to track the cost of products you sell.
6. You can also add a description of this product.
7. Add the Sales Price. Then, select the Income Account ▼ drop-down and find the account you use to track sales from finished goods. Tip: If you need a new account, scroll to the top of the drop-down list and select.
8. Under the Bill of Materials, select the items you use to manufacture. You can change the quantity and unit of measure of each item.
9. Under Inventory Information, add the following:
   • Asset Account: QuickBooks uses this to track the total cost of finished goods in your inventory. You can select an account QuickBooks already set up for you. Or go to the top of the drop-down and select <Add New>.
   • Build Point (Min): This is the minimum point when you should build more of this product. QuickBooks uses this to remind you when it’s time to build.
   • Max: The max number of this product to build.
   • On Hand: The current quantity of this product you have on hand.
   • Total Value: This is the total cost of finished goods you have in stock.
10. Select OK.

I also recommend checking out this helpful article, it highlights the steps above as well as other useful information: Set up your products bill of materials.

Additionally, to see how to assemble your product, you can check out this link: Combine your inventory items to build finished goods.

If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to post them down below. Thank you for your time and have a nice day!

Hi, Not_so_in_tuit_ive.

Hope you're doing great. I wanted to see how everything is going about recording and tracking your inventory vending products. Was it resolved? Do you need any additional help or clarification? If you do, just let me know. I'd be happy to help you at anytime.

Looking forward to your reply. Have a pleasant day ahead!

Hi, based on your last message, it sounds like you understand my question about tracking my inventory but your initial response was about creating a BOM and Assembly Inventory.  Maybe there are a few things I'm missing in between what I asked and how you answered about creating an assembly item because I don't see how that is related to tracking inventory in my vending machines. Even following the steps you outlined didn't help me understand what it is that I'm doing.  Please explain how a Bill of Materials and assembly item will help me track sales of vending products.  Currently it has to be done manually which is labor intensive since I have no POS to track it.  I can only go off inventory used.  I would like to know if QuickBooks can help me track the inventory and record the sales.  Thank you. 

Hello there!

Thanks for the reply. Let me explain further how you can manage your vending machine inventory in Quickbooks Desktop.

The Bill of Materials and assembly item let you combine inventory parts to build and track finished goods. This may not be applicable to you if you need to track the individual products.

Instead, you'll want to manually track the inventory and sales of each product. 

Also, you can create an invoice for the products to refill the machine. Then, you can record a partial payment based on how many products were sold. First, you'll need to add the machines as your customers by following these steps:

1. Go to the Customers menu and select Customer Center.
2. Click the New Customer & Jobs drop-down and select New Customer.
3. Enter the details needed, then click OK to save it.

Once done, go back to the Customers menu and select Create Invoices. Enter the products you used to refill the machine and save it.

Then, select Receive Payments from the Customers menu. Select the customer (machine) from the Received From drop-down, select the invoice, and enter the total sales, then enter Save & Close.

I also included these articles for your reference on how to properly track sales transactions as well as how to manage your inventories:

• Get started with customer transaction workflows in QuickBooks Desktop
• Add, edit, and delete items

Would you like some assistance regarding your customer transactions in the future? Or perhaps do you need help managing other entries? Let me know and I'll lay down a bunch of helpful details and guides.