As an interior design business, where in chart of accounts, do you record cost of "samples"? like fabric, trim,etc

@jnewsomeinterior 

Since these are legitimate business expenses, it's really up to you as to which category you want to post those transactions to.  If you want to track them separately, you can create an expense account called 'Samples'.  If it's not important that you break them out on your P&L report, you can just use a generic 'Materials & Supplies' expense account.

You've come to the right place for assistance, @jnewsomeinterior. Let me provide a detailed step-by-step guide on how we can create an account in your Chart of Accounts to record promotional samples in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

Customers' promotional samples are considered inventory items. We'll walk you through how to make inventory adjustments and how to transfer the cost of goods to a promotional expense account. Please note that inventory tracking is only available in QBO Plus.

First, we'll have to create an expense account to track. Here's how:

1. Go to Settings and select Chart of Accounts.
2. Select New.
3. Choose Expenses for the Account type.
4. For Detail type, select Advertising/Promotional.
5. Enter the name and select Save and close.

Next, let's create an invoice for the item. In the Description or Memo field, explain the action (ex: to write off Promotional Sample Invoice #). Doing so will reduce the item count in your inventory.

For your further guidance, please refer to the procedure stated in this article: Write off inventory items given as promotional samples.

In addition, let's keep up with our backorders. In QBO, we can reorder supplies from vendors and track them as they arrive to keep your inventory up-to-date.

If you have further clarifications about tracking your sample items, please don't hesitate to get back to us. We're always available to lend you a helping hand. Stay safe, and more power to your business.