I'm trying to set a cost amount for my Products and Services so my profitability report will work and I don't have the option to set it in my Products and Services.

@jan37 

"I'm trying to set a cost amount for my Products and Services so my profitability report will work and I don't have the option to set it in my Products and Services.
The instructions I found say to: Go into the settings for a product/service. Select I purchase this product/service from a vendor. Add a description. Add the Cost. I don't have those fields."

It depends on which QBO plan you have. If you have Advanced and Plus, you will see this feature option. If you have Essentials and Simple Start, you will not see this feature.

This cost field option mainly for tracking inventory and also using the cost for creating an Estimate.

If you've Advanced plan or Plus plan, you will also need to turn this setting on from the Gear settings (Gear on the top corner > You Company > Account & Settings > Expenses > Bills & Expenses > Turn ON the features > Save.

That's all!

Hope this helps!

I am essential plan, so that explains it.

What I'm confused about is under my reports, I have a profitability by customer report, but there's no data returned in it. I can't assign my cost of goods sold to a particular job/client either, so I'm trying to figure where I can plug cost data in order to see profitability.

Any other suggestions?

Hello there, @jan37.

Since you have QuickBooks Online Essential subscription, you'll have to manually set up and track your inventory. You'll have to create an account to track your inventory value, create an account to track COGS, and create transactions for when you sell inventory. No worries, I have a Community Article that walks you through the whole process with detailed steps and how to keep everything organized: Track inventory manually in QuickBooks Online.

Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with today. I'm just a Reply away.