Group products and services into different categories in QuickBooks Online

Learn how to organize your products and services in QuickBooks Online.

When you use categories in QuickBooks Online, it helps you organize your products and services. This provides helpful insights into your sales and inventory when you run reports. Use categories and sub-categories to group similar items, gain insight into your sales, and help spot popular types of products or services.

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Create a category or sub-category

Use categories to group items of the same type. If you want to be more specific with grouping items, you can also create sub-categories.

1. Go to All apps , then Sales & Get Paid, then Products & services (Take me there).
2. Select More ▼, then Manage categories.
3. Select Create New category, then enter the Category Name for the new category.
   Note: If you need a create a sub-category, select Is a sub-category checkbox and the main category.
4. Optional: For a sub-category, select the This category is a sub-category checkbox, then choose the Parent category.
5. Select Save.

Inventory features are available for QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced. If you don’t have Plus or Advanced, upgrade your QuickBooks plan to start tracking your inventory.

Add an existing product or service to a category

If you have an item that’s not in a category, follow these steps to add it to one. You can also select a category when you add a new inventory product or a service or non-inventory product.

1. Go to All apps , then Sales & Get Paid, then Products & services (Take me there).
2. Find the product or service you want to categorize.
3. Select Edit.
4. Select the Category ▼ dropdown, then select one that fits this item. You may also select + Add new to create a new category.
5. Select Save.

Manage categories: Edit or remove

You can make changes or delete categories directly from the Product Categories page.

1. Go to All apps , then Sales & Get Paid, then Products & services (Take me there).
2. Select More ▼, then select Manage categories.
3. Find the category you wish to update, then select Edit.
4. Make the changes you want, then select Save.

To remove the category:

1. Go to All apps , then Sales & Get Paid, then Products & services (Take me there).
2. Select More ▼, then select Manage categories.
3. Select the dropdown ▼ next to Edit, then select Remove. 
4. Select Yes to confirm.

How categories help on reports

When running sales or inventory reports, products and services are grouped by category. This allows you to expand or hide each category and quickly find details for specific items. The total for each category helps you know where the bulk of your sales come from.

Related links

• Add inventory products in QuickBooks Online
• Remove a product or service from your account
• Run sales or inventory reports