Track the products you manufacture

Learn how to track the products you build using inventory parts. You can do this in QuickBooks Desktop Premier, Enterprise, or Accountant.

Skip manual tracking and focus on making the products your customers love. QuickBooks has everything you need to manage the products you build.

In QuickBooks, you can combine inventory parts to build and track finished goods. When you build, QuickBooks automatically updates your stock of components. You can also track your pending builds, check shortages, and more. We’ll help you set it all up.

Step 1: Turn on inventory tracking

If you haven’t already, be sure to turn on your inventory settings first.

1. From the Edit menu, select Preferences.
2. Select Items & Inventory. Then, select the Company Preferences tab.
3. Select Inventory and purchase orders are active.
4. Select Warn if not enough inventory to sell. Then, choose which type of warning you want to see.
   Tip: If you use QuickBooks Enterprise, you can select Don’t allow negative inventory quantities. This helps you keep your books accurate.
5. If you use a unit of measure to track products, select Enable in the UNIT OF MEASURE section. Learn how unit of measure works in QuickBooks.
6. Select OK once you’re done.

Step 2: Set up your product’s components

Once your settings are in order, set up all the parts you use to build your product.

• If you track a component’s quantity, set it up as an inventory part.
• If you use a component that you don’t (or can’t) track, set it up as a non-inventory part.
• If you include other charges or fees in each build, set them up as other charge items.

Tip: Avoid setting up an item twice. Check your item list to see if any of the components you need already exist.

Step 3: Add your product’s bill of materials

Set up a list of all the components you use to build a single product. In QuickBooks, we call this your bill of materials. It lets you track the inventory parts you assemble and then sell.

Learn how to add and track bill of materials.

Tip: For products that you buy or sell together but don’t track as a single item, create a group item instead. For example, a gift basket of fruit, cheese, or wine.

Step 4: Build your product

Once you set up all the parts and add them to your bill of materials, you can start building your products.

Learn how to combine inventory parts to build your finished goods.

Step 5: Keep track of what you sell

Ready to start selling? You can keep track of each sale in two ways.

• Create an invoice if your customer will pay you later.
• Create a sales receipt if they paid on the spot.

Tip: If you don’t have enough products built yet, you can create sales orders to track backorders. Once you have enough products to sell to a customer, turn the sales order into an invoice.

Step 6: Check your stock and pending builds

QuickBooks reminds you when it’s time to build more products. But if you need a quick overview of your inventory status, you can run reports anytime.

To find the reports you need, go to Reports and then select Inventory.

Step 7: Reorder components from vendors

If you need more components, you can order what you need right in QuickBooks. Then, you can track what you receive from vendors and what’s still on order. When you do, the quantity on hand of each component increases automatically by the number of items you receive.

To restock components, send a purchase order to your vendor. Then, track the items you receive.