Building Assemblies

Hi Wclark8,

You can select it if you have sub-assembly items that need to be finished first before the main assembly item. Then, QuickBooks will automatically create them for you along with the main item.

If you like to see some additional references, you can press F1 while you're on the Build Assembly window. This will open the Help window, and you can read the articles about building assemblies.

You can always drop by here if you need anything else.

Have a good day!

Could you please show how to get to "automatically create sub-assemblies" in Quickbooks Enterprise?

Thank you,

Hi there, @RichardsNguyen.

It's nice to see again here in the Community. Allow me to chime in for a moment and help walk you through getting to the automatically create sub-assemblies option in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) Enterprise.

Here's how:

1. On your QuickBooks, go to the Inventory menu at the top and pick Build Assemblies on the drop-down.
2. You'll see the Automatically build required subassemblies option on the button part of the Build Assembly page.

Just in case, you can also check out this article for further guidance: Create, build, and work with inventory assembly items.

That should point you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns in the comment section below. I'm always here to help you. Enjoy the rest of the week.

How can I build an assembly from within a job? I want to track actual labor and material costs when building. I don't see any way to charge actual labor and actual material to a build. I also want to compare estimated values to actuals on a build.

Thanks for joining the thread, NoiseSol.

I'm here with some insight to provide regarding the assembly items.

To clarify, are you trying to create assemblies when you're creating your invoices for a certain job? At this time, the option to build assemblies isn't available when you create your sales transactions.

You'll need to go through the Inventory menu and use the Build Assemblies option. For additional insight about this, I recommend following this article: Create, build, and work with inventory assembly items

On the other hand, you can compare the estimate against the actuals by using the Item Estimates vs Actuals report. Here's how you can pull it up:

1. From the Reports menu, select Jobs, Time & Mileage, then Item Estimates vs. Actuals.
2. Change the Date as necessary.
3. Click Refresh to apply the changes.

I hope this clarifies everything for you today. Please keep in touch if you have additional questions, or if there's anything else I can do for you. Have a great day!

We are a manufacturer - we need to track our employees time in Creating each Sub Assembly against the final assembled unit (I.e. Proper costing)

1. we created a sub assembly - in this case let's call it a "frame"

Under Inventory Assembly we call it a frame

in the BOM we enter the Materials we use

HSS, Angle, etc.

We also have Non-inventory items and services that we need to add and track (some are outside services, and some are our own labor - like welding and Painting, cutting etc....

The question is how to get that time into the Part (Inventory Assembly item)

Hey there, @NoiseSol.

You can enter time by adding a service item. Let me show you how.

You'll need to create a service item for the time worked by your employees for the assembly. Here's how:

1. Click on Inventory from the menu bar.
2. Select New Inventory Item.
3. Choose Service under the Type drop-down.
4. Enter all necessary information.
5. Tick the This service is used in assemblies or is performed by a subcontractor or partner checkbox.
6. Click on OK.

Once done, you can now track this on your assemblies.

Feel free leave a comment below if you have any other concerns. 

Thank you, we are doing this to create estimated labor costs in the estimates for an assembly but the challenge is getting "actual" labor costs into the build. They show up as services on the report of actuals versus estimates so I can't tell if my estimate of hours was accurate or not. Similarly, it does not seem possible to associate the building of an assembly directly with a job.

Hi NoiseSol,

We're unable to associate the building of assemblies to a job.

On the other hand, we can only get the actual labor cost if you we add it as a different line item on the estimate, not on the assembly item itself. However, this will not satisfy the purpose of getting the labor cost of the assembly. I'd suggest finding a third-party app that's capable of doing this.

Feel free to post again if you have other questions.

Why is the inventory has a debit and credit from Building Assembly?

Good morning, @RodenA. I'm here to explain why you see a Debit and Credit from the Building Assembly.

Inventory is a current asset with a normal debit balance, meaning Debit will increase the materials and a Credit will decrease the materials. To determine the Cost Of Goods Sold in any accounting period, Inventory information is needed. 

Here's a couple of articles that you may find helpful:

• Track The Products You Manufacture
• Understand Inventory Assets And Cost Of Goods Sold Tracking

If you have any other questions or concerns, don't hesitate and reach out! Have a great day.

Hello there, RodenA,

Can you add a detail of what report you've run to get this debit and credit column? I have tried to replicate this report but so far I'm unable to see this.

We'll be able to help you more if you can add these details.

Let me know by leaving a reply below.

I am running QB Enterprise (Manufacturing & Wholesale) 20.0 and am attempting to create build assemblies with subassemblies.

The checkbox for "Automatically build required subassemblies" is not active (grayed out).  What settings need to change to allow me to build subassemblies?

Hello there, CPI-DGCM,

The Automatically build required subassemblies checkbox is enabled when you use another assembly item to build the product. See the sample screenshot below for your visual guide.

You can visit the Combine your inventory items to build finished goods to learn more about building a product.

If you have already set up the item and the checkbox is still greyed out, the data on your file may be damage. You can run the verify and rebuild utility to fix this.

Don't hesitate to post again if you need anything else while using the inventory assembly feature. I'm always around to help you.

Thank you!  That was very helpful.  Is it possible to take a subassembly item (i.e. Tote of 300 gallons) and combine it with inventory parts which are measured as "each" and build 2348 U/M pints (or U/M "each")?

In the attached screenshot I want to build 2348 pints (or "each"), but the tote is not measured as "each" because all of the BOM used to create that item are in kg not "each" either.  As you can see the maximum number which can be built is 5 pints, which is not correct. Is there a way to convert the U/M Tote to 2400 pints with the "Multiple U/M Per Item?"

Thanks for the detailed information and screenshot you've provided, CPI-DGCM.

I'd like to verify how you created the sub-assembly so I can walk you through from there. I'd suggest reviewing it and make changes if needed. Each item's quantity on hand will matter on the maximum number you can build. 

For more details, you can check out these references that will help you build items:

• Adjust your inventory of finished goods
• Combine your inventory items to build finished goods

Keep me posted and I'll surely help you through it. Take care and have a great day!

Thank you!  I feel as if I am one step closer to resolving my issue.  

In the following article use-single-and-multiple-units-of-measure-for-items, in the Use a Unit of Measure section, #5 looks like exactly what I need.  In my initial assembly I don't need to track the U/M, I just need the BOM inventory items to be reduced.  Unfortunately, I am unable to find the referred to "Begin defining units of measure" checkbox on the New Item window.

I have attached another screenshot, if you could point me to the Begin... checkbox I would most  appreciative.  Thank you in advance for your assistance.

I appreciate you getting back to us and adding the screenshot, @CPI-DGCM.

I have an idea of why you're unable to view the checkbox. This checkbox only available if you are in the New Item or Edit Item window when you click the Enable button. Looking at your screenshot, you can click on the Unit of Measure drop-down to complete your set up. Let me walk you through how.

1. In the New Item window, go to the Unit of Measure U/M Set drop-down.
2. Select <Add New>, choose a type or the Other radio-button to define your own base unit of measure 
3. Hit Next and follow the steps that'll guide you through the rest of the set up.
4. Click Finish. See the attached images below.

After creating your base unit of measure, you can now continue your BOM. Need more details? Check out this guide: Set up your product’s bill of materials.

In case you need help with other vendor tasks, click this link to go our general expenses and vendors topics with articles that'll guide you through the process.

Keep me posted if you still have questions or concerns. I'll be around to help. Have a wonderful day ahead and stay safe.

My apology if this is off topic.

Is there a way to export all the data within an assembly from QB? I need to know all the parts within the assemblies, including the subassemblies.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hello there, shastaktn.

Yes, there is. You can follow the steps below to export your assemblies in QuickBooks Desktop. 

1. From the File menu, select Utilities.
2. Choose Export and select Lists to IIF Files.
3. Click Item List. Then, OK.

It'll then create an IIF file that has your entire item lists with your assemblies. For additional details when exporting them, you can check this link. 

When creating a new item or build assembly, this is how it looks like:

Also, I'd recommend checking the articles below. Each of them talks about using assemblies and sub-assemblies within your company file:

• Track the products you manufacture.
• Combine your inventory items to build finished goods. 

Visit again if you have additional questions. I'm right here to assist you anytime. Stay safe and have a good one!

@shastaktn 

Utilize one of these exporter tool to export Item List, Item Group, or Item Assemblies data.

https://transactionpro.grsm.io/qbd

https://partners.saasant.com/affiliate/idevaffiliate.php?id=5051_2

Hello,
Hoping you can help me with a deeper dive into Sub-assemblies.  We've got the Build Assemblies down but need to understand better what the Sub-assemblies accomplish.  We currently have Assemblies that include sub-assemblies.  We're hoping that when we click the box for automatically build sub-assemblies that it will build the "sub-assembly" that's included in the Bill of Materials within the larger Assembly.  Or do we need to separately build the "sub-assembly"?  We are trying to get an idea of what this function of "automatically build sub-assemblies" does.
Thank you for your help (we've been searching all over for the answer)

Hello,

We could use some help on what the "automatically build sub-assemblies" function does.  We have "sub-assemblies" within a larger assembly Bill of Materials.  We're hoping that by clicking that box that it will automatically build the sub-assembly saving us the time from breaking that out and building it separately.  Please help us clarify as we have been search all over to find the answer.
Thank You!