How do I add service items to my invoices?

Maybe the question is how do i track "items" separately from "time"

Hello there, @jessica1265. I'm happy to guide you in tracking the items and time separately in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT). 

Let me first discuss some details about the process.

In QBDT, when you've created customer billable hours under your employee name on the Timesheet page, the service item you selected will only show on the Time tab when you click the Add Time/Costs button. See the screenshot for reference:

That said, you'll only see the service item under the Item tab if it is linked to a billable expense for a vendor (via the enter bills feature) or other names (via writing checks). Please refer to the snip below:

Then, to add items to your invoices, you simply need to select that desired product or service under the Items tab of the Invoice form. Here's how:

1. In your QBDT company, select the Customers menu and choose Create Invoices.
2. Next, select the name of the customer.
3. Then, choose the service item (Daily Care) under the Item drop-down and enter 3 in the Quantity column.
4. Fill in the other details and select Save and close when done. 

Additionally, running invoice reports to monitor your customer transactions is a breeze. To get started, simply go to the Reports menu and select the Customers & Receivables section. From there, choose whichever you want. 

I'd love to know updates on how this goes. Feel free to get back here if you have any other questions about managing invoices in QBDT. I'm always here ready to answer your queries to achieve your goal. Have a great week ahead and take care.

Thank you so much.  This gets me closer, but still not quite there.  First, if the item is not really billable to a vendor, do I need to make a fictitious vendor so it shows up as a billable item on the invoice menu?  And second, over the month of activity, how do I easily track what items were done for a customer?  Here is how I currently invoice:  1)  Time is recorded on the time sheet.  The proper service item is clicked, the time spent is added.  At the end of the month, I generate an invoice using the add time costs tab in the invoice.  All time is added to the invoice, and I easily bill.  This would be no problem if each service item last exactly one hour.  I have used workarounds like create a service item - ex. Daily Care billed at $60/hour and then having my employee record 0.25 on their time sheet for the 15 minute activity.  However, I am adding more items and would like to charge a flat rate and not have it tied to time - particularly due to the L&I issue.  If I could easily bill items instead of time it would be best - but as it stands now I would have to go back through time sheets, add up each individual item category, and then bill each manually - this seems like it could lead to lots of errors.  For example, instead of generating my invoice using time hours, I would go back through time sheets, add up for example 3 Daily Cares for the month, then add the exercise fee items up, then add the private lesson sessions up, etc. all separately.  This would get quite cumbersome because I bill at the end of each month for many clients.   Another situation I am running into - my employee may take 1 hour to do a job but I take 30 minutes.  That's okay.  But if is all run as 1 hour, I am paying double L&I on me.  So I really need to track the items and generate the invoice from that.

Hello @jessica1265,

I appreciate you for keeping in touch with us here in the Community space. Allow me to chime in and share some clarification about managing invoices in QuickBooks Desktop.

You can create a billable expense without adding a vendor in QuickBooks. That being said, it's not necessary to create a fictitious vendor for the transaction.

I recommend securing a backup copy of your company file. This way, you can test out features and check the best method for your business. In case things don't work, you can restore your file to how it was before the changes.

You can run reports to track items on your invoices. There are detailed or custom reports available to show the data you need.

If you want to keep track of the items and other information on each invoice, you can run the Sales by Customer Detail report. Here's how:

1. Click the Reports tab at the top menu bar.
2. Hover your cursor to Sales.
3. Select Sales by Customer Detail.
4. Click on Customize Report. From the Display tab, add the columns you want to show in the report.

Alternatively, you can also seek expert advice from an accountant. They can provide suggestions on how you can handle the invoices to show the details you need and at the same time ensure your books are error-free.

QuickBooks allows you to customize the info in your reports like the data, columns, and other fields. For more information about how to effectively use the feature, I've attached an article you can visit: Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

Let me know if you have more concerns or questions about managing invoices or tracking items. I'll keep an eye on your response. Take care.

Thank you for your answers.  I am just now getting back to this.  Am I understanding correctly that to use the items on my invoice, I really need to enter the time (on the time card) and then enter the ITEM in a separate place - billable expenses.

You've got it right, jessica1265.

Ensure to enter the time billable to your customer. Then, add a separate line item for the extra service charge that isn't associated with the timesheet. Please see this article for your reference in creating billable hours: Create and print timesheets.

If you need assistance setting up a service item, you can also read the following resource: Add, edit, and delete items.

You're welcome to post again if you have further questions or concerns. We're always available to help you 24/7.