Best way to convert non inventory to invetory

I am experiencing a similar problem.  When I create an estimate with new items, QB Desktop creates the items as NON inventory.  This completely messes up my income from resale as it puts the cost of the item in the income account rather than COGS.

Chuck

I am experiencing a similar problem.  When I create an estimate with new items, QB Desktop creates the items as NON inventory.  This completely messes up my income from resale as it puts the cost of the item in the income account rather than COGS.  These items are being newly created when an estimate has items that don't exist.

Chuck

Hello there, BonnieBorn and Voiceness.

Thank you for joining this thread. Allow me to step in and provide more details about converting non-inventory item to inventory item.

In QuickBooks, you can't convert an inventory item to a non-inventory item or vice versa. As a suggestion, you can deactivate the non-inventory item and create a new one with the correct type.

Here's how to deactivate an item:

1. Click Lists.
2. Choose Item List.
3. Highlight the item.
4. Right-click on your mouse, choose Make Item Inactive.

After that, follow this steps in adding an inventory item:

1. On the same screen, right-click on your mouse.
2. Choose New.
3. Choose Inventory Part.
4. Enter the necessary information.
5. Click OK to save.

For in-depth information, you can use this article as a reference: Add, edit, and delete items. After correcting your items' information, you can already select them when creating transactions which will update your reporting.

Let me know if you have follow up questions about the inventory feature in QuickBooks Desktop. I'd be around to help you more. Have a wonderful day ahead!

Can you use the same SKU number?

Hi there, Cannot connect bank feed. 

Thanks for joining the Community. The SKU number can not be the same, each inventory item needs a unique SKU number. Below I'm attaching a few helpful articles highlight how to set up inventory with the SKU system and how to create a master SKU. 

• Inventory Start up with SKU system. 
• How to create master SKU. 

If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to post below. Thank you for your time and have a nice afternoon. 

We need to switch non-inventory items to inventory items while keeping the same SKUs.

1. Can we do a bulk edit or export/import to change the SKUs for existing non-inventory parts?
2. Will this affect anything?

Glad to have you here, Shelbz0789.

Allow me to share some information about changing non-inventory items to inventory.

In QuickBooks, it's possible to switch non-inventory items to inventory. However, doing so can affect your reporting because it will create a closing journal entry (JE) for the products that will be overwritten.

Instead of editing, we can either delete the non-inventory items or inactivate them if the items are associated with at least one transaction. Then, recreate the product with the correct type.

Here's how to delete the item:

1. From the Lists menu, select Item List.
2. Select the item you want to delete.
3. From the menu bar, select Edit and then click Delete Item.

You're unable to delete several items or the entire item list at once.

Here's how to inactivate the items:

1. Click Lists and then Item List.
2. Highlight the item.
3. Right-click on your mouse, choose Make Item Inactive.

Once done, you can follow these steps in adding an inventory item:

1. Go to the Lists menu and then select Item List.
2. On the Item List window, select Item and then click New.
3. Select the type of item you want to create.
4. Fill out the item fields.
5. Select Save.

To learn more about handling your items in QuickBooks, you can check out this article: Add, Edit, and Delete Items.

Additionally, I've included an article that'll help customize your sales reports. This helps you easily keep track of your data in QuickBooks: Customize Sales Reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

 Also, once you customized the settings, select Memorize to save the report for future use.

You can click the Reply button if you have additional questions in managing your items. This way, we can assist you further.

We have items linked to invoices and sales receipts though. That being the case, will QuickBooks allow us to delete those items? Won't that affect our financials as well?

Thanks for getting back to us here, @Shelbz0789.

I have some information about deleting an inventory item. QuickBooks can't delete items associated with at least one transaction. You'll want to consider making it inactive so it won't show on your item list.

For inventory type items, you'll need to zero out its quantity to make it inactive. This process will affect your inventory asset account balance and won't match with different reports.

Please check out these guides below for your reference.

• Balance Sheet and Inventory/Stock Valuation reports show different amounts for Inventory Asset accou...

• Adjust your inventory quantity or value in QuickBooks Desktop.

If you still have questions or concerns, don't hesitate to drop them below and I'll be happy to answer them for you. Take care and have a nice day ahead.

If there are no quantities on Non-inventory parts, how would changing the type to Inventory Items affect the financials?

Let's get things taken care of, @lynweiss.

In QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), changing the types from non-inventory to inventory may affect the cost of the item. This may also alter the file's financial history from the beginning. 

You can create a new inventory item based on the details of the non-inventory. Then you can make the non-inventory inactive to remove it from the list. Allow me to guide you through the process.

To create a new inventory item:

1. Open your QBDT program and click the Lists tab.
2. Next, choose Item List.
3. At the bottom right part of the page, click the Item dropdown.
4. Then, select New.
5. From the Type field, choose Inventory part.
6. Fill in needed details and select OK.

Make non-inventory items inactivate:

1. Navigate to the Lists menu and select Item List.
2. Look for the Non-Inventory item.
3. Highlight the item and select the Item option below.
4. Then, choose Make Item Inactive. 

See this article for more information: Add, edit, and delete items.

QBDT also gives you the ability to add custom fields for specific details about the products and services you sell. Once you create one, you can also add these item fields to sales forms.

Feel free to click the Reply button if you have additional questions about converting non-inventory items to inventory. This way, we can assist you further. Have a good one. 

If all Non-Inventory Parts have no quantity, how would switching them to Inventory Items affect the financials?

Hi there, lynweiss.

It seems that you've posted similar questions twice. As mentioned above, changing the type from non-inventory to inventory may affect the cost of the items and your financial history.

To avoid messing up your books, you can create a new set of inventory items based on the details of your non-inventory items. Then, deactivate the non-inventory parts to eliminate them from your list. You follow the steps provided by my colleague, DivinaMercy_N to be guided in doing it.

Additionally, here are some resources that will help manage and track your inventory in QuickBooks Dekstop:

• Customize item reports
• Adjust your inventory quantity or value
• Fix negative inventory issues

I'm just a post away if you have any other concerns or further questions about this topic. Have great rest of the day.

is there a way to undo this if I have done this???  

Being able to undo when you want to convert a inventory to non-inventory isn't available, mcfa1981.

You need to manually deactivate the inventory item and create a new one with the correct type. For additional information, you can use this article as a reference: Add, edit, and delete items.

I'm also adding this handy link for your guide with QuickBooks Inventory: Receive inventory.

Keep on posting if you have other questions about inventory or any QuickBooks related concerns. I'm always here to help.

What the QB people are saying is very accurate, if perhaps grossly understated.  IF YOU CHANGE AN ITEM FROM NON-INVENTORY to INVENTORY, QB will go back to the beginning of its time of installation, and change/pervert EVERY SINGLE TRANSACTION that used this particular item.  It will change your GL and everything associated with those transactions.  If you then pull an old hardcopy report from, say, two years prior, it will NOT BE THE SAME AS THE one you ran right after you changed the inventory type. 

Functionally, the ability to change to an inventory item in QB is less than useless.  With the fur-ball that would result from doing so, you'd have to be nuts to do this.  QB should put an effectivity date on such changes, but this is not the kind of functionality that we'll ever see.  This is truly just another example of QB being a lightweight package that is trying, and failing, to hit above its weight class.  This is not a package that has any place in most truly industrial manufacturing environments.  If you need a real ERP system for manufacturing or even component assembly, you WILL need to spend more to get a viable product.

Is this the only was to do it?

Can I delete my inventory and reimport it?  I have hundreds of items and to inactivate and reenter each one seems ludicrous

Hello there, tobid. I appreciate you for joining this thread.

Yes, you can delete your inventory and reimport them.

Deleting the items can be done when there are no transactions associated with these items. Otherwise, we can only make them inactive. Inactivating them doesn't remove them from your book. But they'll be eliminated from the item lists.  

Also, I understand how helpful to have the option of deleting or inactivating multiple items at once. Alternatively, if you have created a backup copy before your first import, I'd suggest restoring it to start a clean slate. Doing this saves you time from correcting the incorrect ones. Here's how:

1. In QuickBooks, go to the File menu and select Open or Restore Company.
2. Select Restore a backup copy and then Next.
3. Select Local Backup and then Next.
4. Browse your computer for your backup company file. It should look like this: [Your company name].qbb.
5. Select a folder to decide where to save your restored company file. Then select Open.
6. Note: If you open the backup in the same folder as your existing company file, you may overwrite your data.
7. To avoid overwriting anything, you can rename your existing company file or the backup so the names are unique. Or you can save the backup in a completely separate folder.
8. When you're ready, select Save. If you see any messages about possibly overwriting your data, select the option that best fits your needs. Don't overwrite anything unless you know you want to.

Once done, reimport the correct items. 

1. Click File at the top menu bar.
2. From the drop-down lists, choose Utilities.
3. Select Import and choose Excel Files.
4. Choose the Product I Sell option.
5. Follow the on-screen instruction.
    

For further guidance with the importing process, check out the following write-ups below. These articles contain information about importing data and handling your existing items.

• Import and export data in QuickBooks Desktop.
• Add, edit, and delete items.

Feel free to add another post if you have more concerns about adding lists or any data within your company file. I'll be around to help you anytime. Take care and stay safe.

Thank you for this detailed post of how to fix this! Here is my question: how can I do this efficiently with 800+ items? We use QBPOS, and for whatever reason, from the beginning, the items have all went into QBDT as non-inventory items, but they all actually SHOULD be inventory. Now that QBPOS is ending, I'm needing to switch to QBO, but all my inventory is "Non-inventory" but need it all to be inventory.
Please help!! Thank you!!!

Hi there, CBPP.

To answer your question, our option is to follow the suggestions of my colleagues. These suggestions involve deactivating the non-inventory items and creating replacements in the inventory. I'm adding this article for your additional reference: Move your QuickBooks Desktop file to QuickBooks Online.

I'm just curious, did you create a backup copy of your QBDT company file before linking it to your QB POS? This is a standard practice to have a spare file in case any unexpected issues arise during the linking process. If you have a backup file, I recommend creating another copy and restoring the original backup. Once restored, you can proceed to link the QB POS to the company file.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any other questions. Take care and have a great day.

Thank you JessT for the quick response. Yes, I created a backup before making any changes, always have and always will. But as I mentioned, the inventory was entered into QBDT as non-inventory from the very beginning of using POS years ago (the items come over in the financial exchange with POS). 

If I deactivate all my items and create new ones in QBDT as you say - will I then have twice the amount of items (even if half of them are "inactive")? I'd really prefer to not have double entries of everything.

Could I essentially just transfer everything Except inventory over to QBO when I begin? Then, create an Excel sheet of inventory and import it into QBO? How would that effect financials?
Thank you!

Hi, sorry, please let me further specify, that my QBPOS and QBDT have been linked for years. I do weekly updates to transfer sales and do accounting. Is that not the way most people do it??