Balance Sheet and Inventory/Stock Valuation reports show different amounts for Inventory Asset account

Your data file has a discrepancy in the Inventory Asset account:

• The accrual basis Balance Sheet Standard run for All dates shows an amount.
• The Inventory Valuation Summary and Detail reports for all dates show a different amount.

This may happen if:

• You have transactions to Inventory Asset account that do not have inventory items.
• You have inactive inventory items that have a non-zero value.

The troubleshooting steps will depend on the cause of discrepancy. If you're using the Accountant's Edition of QuickBooks, you can use Client Data Review that includes a tool for resolving this issue.

Transactions to Inventory Asset account that do not have inventory items

The Balance Sheet report draws information from the accounts whether they are associated with items or not. The Inventory Valuation reports, however, draw information from items only. This means that transactions using inventory items show on both reports but transactions without inventory items show only on the Balance Sheet report.

Some examples of transactions that will show on the Balance sheet but not the Inventory Valuation reports are as follows:

• Bills, checks, credit card charges with the Inventory Asset account on the Expenses Tab.
• Journal entries using the Inventory Asset account.
• Inventory adjustments offset to the Inventory Asset account instead of a COGS account.

To fix the issue, try one these recommended solutions:

Solution 1: Use the Balance Sheet and Inventory Valuation reports to find all transactions causing the discrepancy

1. Close all QuickBooks windows. (Window menu > Close All).
2. Open the Inventory Valuation Detail report.
   1. From the Reports menu, select Inventory then choose Inventory Valuation Detail.
   2. Select the Dates dropdown and choose All.
3. Open the Transaction Detail report from the Balance Sheet.
   1. From the Reports menu, select Company and Financial then choose Balance Sheet Standard.
   2. Select Customize Report.
      1. Set the report date range to All.
      2. Set the report basis to Accrual.
      3. Select Ok.
   3. In the Balance Sheet report, double click (quick zoom) the Inventory Asset amount to open the Transaction by Account detail report.
   4. In the Total By dropdown, choose Item Detail.
   5. Close the Balance Sheet report.
4. Open both Transaction Detail and Inventory Valuation reports. (Window menu > Tile Vertically)  
5. Compare the two reports.
   • The two reports should be identical.
   • The differences will be at the bottom of the Transaction Detail report in a section titled No Item.
   • These transactions affect the Transaction Detail report but do not affect the Inventory Valuation Detail report.
   • If the root cause of the discrepancy is not in the No Item section, then compare the two reports line by line to find the discrepancy.

Solution 2: Find bills or checks that affected the Inventory Asset account without using items

1. From the Reports menu, choose Custom Reports then select Summary.
2. On the Display tab:
   1. Select the Dates dropdown and choose All.
   2. In the Display rows by dropdown, choose Item Type.
   3. Select the Advanced button and under the Display Rows section, choose Non-zero.
3. Go to the Filters tab then set the Account filter to Inventory Asset.
4. Select Ok.
5. If a No Item row appears on the report, QuickZoom (double-click) the amount in the row to open the transaction. Edit the transaction by associating an item.

Solution 3: Find and correct journal entries that affected the Inventory Asset account without using items

1. From the Reports menu, choose Accountant & Taxes then select Transaction Detail by Account.
2. Select Customize Report.
3. In the Display tab, select the Dates dropdown list and choose All.
4. Go to the Filters tab then set the following filters:
   • Account = Inventory Asset
   • Transaction Type = Journal
5. Select Ok to run the report.
6. Delete all transactions on the report then re-enter them following these steps.
   1. From the Vendors menu, choose Inventory Activities then select Adjust Quantity/Value on Hand.
   2. Enter the adjustment.

Solution 4: Find and correct inventory adjustments that use the Inventory Asset as the adjustment account

1. From the Reports menu, choose Accountant & Taxes then select Transaction Detail by Account.
2. Select Customize Report.
3. In the Display tab, select the Dates dropdown and choose All.
4. Go to the Filters tab then set the following filters:
   • Account = Inventory Asset then under Include split detail? select For detail accounts matching radio button and from the dropdown, choose Inventory Adjustment.
   • Transaction Type = Inventory Adjustment
5. Select  OK to run the report.
6. Double click (QuickZoom) a transaction then edit it by selecting a different adjustment account.

Solution 5: Find inventory adjustments with dates in the future

If inventory adjustments are dated in the future, change the date range to include all future adjustments, and then re-run the Inventory Valuation report.

Inactive inventory items that have a non-zero value

The Balance Sheet report displays both active and inactive inventory, but the Inventory Valuation Summary report displays only active inventory items. The value of an inactive item is included in the Balance Sheet because it affects the Inventory Account but it is not included in the Inventory reports because it is inactive.

To fix the discrepancy, try one of these solutions.

Solution 1: Reactivate the item

1. From the Lists menu, choose Item List.
2. In the Item List window, select the Item dropdown and choose Show Inactive Items. Inactive items will display an "X" in the first column of the list.
3. To reactivate, select the X in the first column for each inactive item that shows a number in the On Hand column.

Solution 2: Adjust the item quantity

1. From the Lists menu, choose Item List.
2. In the Item List window, select the Item dropdown and choose Show Inactive Items. Inactive items will display an "X" in the first column of the list.
3. Adjust the quantity for each inactive item that shows a number in the On Hand column.
   1. From the Vendors menu, choose Inventory Activities then select Adjust Quantity/Value on Hand.
   2. Select the inactive item for which you want to adjust the quantity or value.
   3. Enter 0 in the New Qty field to zero out the inventory, or select the Value Adjustment checkbox and enter 0 in the New Value field.
   4. Use the dropdown arrow in the Adjustment Account field to select the account to use for the adjustment.
   5. Select Save & Close.