How do I track inventory for my restaurant?

I'm glad to help track the inventory for your restaurant, accounting-manda.

Before we start, you need to know that setting up the first inventory item will automatically create the Inventory Asset (Other Current Asset) and Cost of Goods Sold accounts. Feel free to read through this page for more insights: Understand inventory assets and cost of goods sold tracking.

Also, QuickBooks uses the First In, First Out (FIFO) concept whenever sales of inventory items are entered. You can refer to this link for more details: How to calculate and record Cost of goods sold.

To start tracking your items, you need to turn on the inventory tracking feature. Let me show you how:

1. Go to Settings ⚙, then select Account and settings.
2. Choose the Sales tab.
3. Select Edit ✎ in the Products and services section.
4. Turn on Show Product/Service column on sales forms.
5. You can also turn on price rules if you want to set up flexible pricing for the things you sell.
6. Turn on both Track quantity and price/rate and Track inventory quantity on hand.
7. Select Save and then Done.
8. Once done, add inventory items.

Check out this article for instructions and detailed steps: Set up and track your inventory in QuickBooks Online.

Stay in touch with me if you have follow-up questions about recording your inventory in QuickBooks. I'll be around to help you.

QB inventory does not do it that way, in QB each item is an inventory item, with qty on hand and cost, then as you sell the item it reduces the total of inventory and the cost of what was sold is posted to COGS - this is called perpetual inventory.

What you are asking about is periodic inventory.  

Do not use the special account called inventory asset

create an asset account called Purchases or On-hand (you may want one per area, food, wine, etc)

Post all purchases to that account

Each month, take the amount that is reported to you, subtract it from the account balance and do a journal entry

debit COGS, credit the asset account

do that for each area, food wine etc

Hi @accounting-manda did you solve your issue with tracking inventory for the restaurant? I also want to start tracking inventory for the restaurant. Any insights would be much appreciated.  Thank you

To track inventory in your restaurant using QuickBooks, you've got to get a good grip on how this fits into your financials. You're thinking right with starting inventory, ending inventory, and COGS in your journal entries. Here's a simple breakdown:

1. **beginning inventory**: What's on hand at the start. If this is your first entry, it's the opening balance in QB.

2. **Ending inventory**: Count what's left at month's end. This'll roll over as the starting inventory next period.

3. **Purchases**: Record purchases during the month. Make sure they're tagged right in QuickBooks to keep things tidy.

4. **Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)**: It's calculated as: Beg. Inventory + Purchases - Ending Inventory. Reflects the sold goods cost that month.

For your journal entry, make sure to adjust these balances at month-end. Debit COGS and credit inventory for the COGS amount - reduces inventory moving cost into expenses.

It's not just numbers, tho. In a fast-paced restaurant, you gotta check for errors and bump up accuracy. Clear procedures for counting and recording help. Tools for real-time tracking, like a stock app, can make life much easier. It’s worth it for accuracy and time savings, trust me.

New to this? Ask questions and get help from QuickBooks or inventory management pros. It’s tricky at first, but you’ll get hands-on. QuickBooks documentation or forums are your friends for the nitty-gritty. You're not alone - tons tackle this daily adn online communities can be such a help.