Unable to convert for Sub-Product/Service to Categories in QBO

Good day, Accounting 6362.

Let's work together to isolate the issue of why you're unable to convert for Sub-Product/Service to Categories in QuickBooks Online.
 

Sub-products were replaced by Categories. We use this to keep track of company sales and help organize reporting. If you have a sub-item, you will need to manually add them separately into QuickBooks to accurately account for your inventory quantity and cost.

You can try opening a private window and try it again. Unexpected issues in QuickBooks are sometimes affected by the amount of data stored in the cache. This is because a regular browser will constantly overwrite itself and will not remove history unless done manually.

Here are the shortcut keyboards:

• Google Chrome: press Ctrl + Shift + N  
• Mozilla Firefox: press Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: press Command + Shift + N

If it works, go back to your regular browser and clear its cache. Clearing the cache or cookies is the best way to get a clean slate for your browser. Otherwise, using other supported browsers can be a good alternative too.

Feel free to check out these guides for more information about managing your products and services in QBO:

• Add inventory products in QuickBooks Online
• Add product and service items to QuickBooks Online
• Change product and service item types in QuickBooks Online

This forum is always open if you have other product or service concerns. We're just here to assist you further. Keep safe and have a great day!

Unfortunately, I tried the private window before my original post and in trying again it still does not work. The popup prompting the transition from sub-items to categories just doesn't want to pop up. 

Thanks for getting back with the Community, Accounting 6362.

The only way to create categories is by accessing your Manage categories screen from Products and services.

Here's how:

1. In the left navigation bar, go to Sales, then Products and services.
2. Click your More ▼ drop-down list.
3. Choose Manage categories.
4. Hit New category.
5. Enter a name for it.
6. If you need to create a sub-category, tick the Is a sub-category checkbox and specify its main category.
7. Select Save.
   

You can also edit existing categories by using their Edit option under the ACTION column.

I've also included a detailed resource about working with categories which may come in handy moving forward: Group your products & services into different categories

If there's any questions, I'm just a post away. Have a wonderful day!

But that isn't possible because Categories are not active. My account is still under the old Sub-product/Sub-Service system. That is my problem, that I can't convert to the Category method. I understand how to create items in this lists and how to manipulate them, but the system wont allow me to open up Categories. 

Here is what my "More>" tab currently looks like:

Hello there, @Accounting 6362.

Thank you for sharing a screenshot. I can see how product categories would benefit your business by keeping things organized. I recommend reaching out to our Customer Care Support team to help you activate this feature. This way, you can start grouping your products and services into different categories in no time!

Here's how:
 

1. Click the (?) Help icon in the upper right-hand corner of the dashboard.
2. Select Talk to a Human.
3. Enter a short description of your concern and press Enter.
4. Click I still need a human.
5. Select Contact Us to connect with our live support.
6. Choose Get a callback.
   

When you start using categories and running sales or inventory reports, items are grouped in a way that makes sense to you.

Please let me know how the call goes. I want to make sure you can get this feature activated. I'm also here if you need help with anything else. Have a good day, @Accounting 6362!

I have contacted support twice. The first time, the person did not know what Categories were and after explaining it at least 5 times, after 45 minutes I gave up.

I reached out again the following day and after a similar experience was told that "its only possible to migrate from Sub-Products to Categories when you initial move from QB Desktop to QBO" which I knew was not true. After an hour, I was left with them telling me it was impossible and that I should submit a feature request to the engineering team to recommend adding the feature. It was clear this person did not fully understand what I was talking about either and simply threw their hands in the air.

Needless to say, I am not super keep on calling general support to repeat the process a third time. I was hoping I could get in touch with someone with a more informed insight into the issue. 

I appreciate you for reaching our customer support many times, @Accounting 6362.

We hear you, and we're continuously improving to enhance our customer's experience program features while using QuickBooks. As mentioned by our support team 

it's only possible to migrate from Sub-Products to Categories when you initial move from QBDT to QBO.

 I can see how this option would be helpful for you and your business. That said, I'd encourage you to send a feature request to our development team.

Here's how:

1. Click the Gear icon and choose Feedback.
2. Enter your feedback Suggestion.
3. Press Next

You can track feature requests through the QuickBooks Online Feature Requests website.

We always consider your feedback when updating the product. The more request this gets, the more likely it'll be part of future enhancements. 

I've collected these articles that will guide you in adding sales tax and group them to keep your list organized:

• Group your products and services into different categories
• Add a sales tax category to products and services in QuickBooks Online

If you need anything else, leave a reply below, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Stay safe!

I would love to know if you ever got this fixed.  I'm running into the same problems and I have contacted Quickbooks numerous times and was also told to send feedback.

Adding to this same thread, we converted earlier this year and are having the same problem.  Under More, our menu looks the same as in the screenshot.  Please help!

Hi, JS047.

To see the Manage Categories option, ensure to log in to your account as the master admin. If not, request the admin of your QuickBooks Online account to change your access to the file. 

However, if you're the admin of the account and aren't seeing this option, I highly recommend contacting our QuckBooks Support Team. They can take a closer look at this to determine what's causing the issue.

Once everything's fine, you can check this article for more information when categorizing products and services: Group your products and services into different categories.

Feel free to check out these guides for more information about managing your products and services in QBO:

• Add inventory products in QuickBooks Online.
• Add product and service items to QuickBooks Online.
• Change product and service item types in QuickBooks Online.

Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with categorizing your products and services. Don't hesitate to click the Reply button, and I'll get back to you.

I just ran into this same problem and was able to resolve it using the following procedure:

1) Export existing Product List to Excel using the export button.

2) Remove existing items: Check all and then Batch Actions-> Make Inactive

(you may have to troubleshoot some errors here. I ended up with around 30 items I had to manually remove from parents or make inactive out of the 1,100 items I started with)

3) Go to: https://app.qbo.intuit.com/app/categories and click "Switch Now" button.

(I did not get a screen shot of this page when categories are off)

4) On the Products and Services page, go More-> Manage Categories. You should see all the "Parent Items (deleted)" are now categories. 

5) Edit or remove category names. Even if you want the Parent Items to now be the new categories, you are probably going to want to edit the "(deleted)" off the names.

6) Edit your Excel export file from Step 1. Remove the prior Parent Items. Each other item should be preceded by a category from the list you just edited and a colon symbol just like it had for parent items. "ParentItem:ChildItem" becomes "Category:Item". If you left the parent items as the new categories, you are done. If you created new categories, you need to edit to correct the format. Side notes: (a) if you migrated from desktop, under the type column, change non-inventory to noninventory. (b) if your spreadsheet has over 1,000 rows, it needs to be broken up smaller sheets before import. Hint: There are excel formulas that can speed up all edits.

7) Import updated item list with categories to QBO. On Products and Services, click the dropdown arrow next to New and select import. The next page should already have mapping.

Thanks for joining us here, Allen_Insource Books.

I appreciate your time posting the procedures you've performed to rectify the issue. This will surely help other users who encountered the same problem with their product and service items in QuickBooks Online.

The QuickBooks Community will always be around to lend you a hand any time you need help. If you have any other questions or concerns, don't hesitate to ask. Have a great rest of the day!