Is there a way to search by/display Item Description in the Inventory Center?

I am wondering if it would help you to categorize things in the Item List.  If you look at the New item window, you can name something then make it a Subtime of a specific category.  

For instance, if you have an Item called LIghts, then items such as flood lights, incandecent lights, CFL lights, and so on would all be subitems of Lights.  Once the word Lights is typed in, a list of all the various lights shows on-screen and the specific item can be selected.

I totally realize that rearranging everything to make it easier to find a specific item would be a HUGE undertaking, but it might save time and confusion in the future...

I don't put names in items name, only number because I have the same problem that you. My company is for food, and you can imagine how many items similar? I put for categories numbers and them the last is the classification. In the description I put characteristic of the product, and in the new note the rest.

Hello,

I know this is an old post, but I was wondering if there was a way I can find the screen shots you posted. 

I've tried customizing the columns, but Description is already on the right. 

What I'm specifically looking for is the ability to type into the Description box while creating a new invoice, and have it search and autofill products by the Description, not by the Item Name. Maybe your instructions do show how to do this, and I'm just not understanding it...? 
I've also tried customizing the data layout of the invoices, but it seems that's just how the invoice is presented, not how QB filters and searches.
Please help me if I am missing something simple - I would really appreciate the screen shots to see if I'm following your steps correctly.

Thanks!

Hi there, @Mint11.

Thanks for joining this conversation. Allow me to chime in for a moment and share some insights about using the description field/box when creating an invoice in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

To start off, I appreciate you following the steps provided on this thread. The answer given by @qbteachmt is different from what you're trying to achieve.

In your case, QBDT currently doesn't have an option to autofill the products by entering their description when creating an invoice. You need to use/select their item name instead.

Just in case you need it, below are the sample screenshots posted by @qbteachmt.

You can also check out this article for future reference: Create an invoice in QuickBooks Desktop.

This should answer your question. Please let me know if you have any additional concerns by leaving a comment. I'm always here to help you out. Take care and have a wonderful rest of the day!

Is this a feature that potentially will be updated in the near future? 

Every other inventory system we've used has been easy to work with in this sense; however, we switched to QB on recommendations from a friend and accountant (however, they admitted they were unfamiliar with the inventory end of QB). I likely never would have purchased QB had I known, but I do enjoy many of the other features. Best case scenario would be for an update in this area - do you foresee that happening?

Hi there, Mint11.

We are collecting similar feedback and feature request. I will forward this to our product engineers for further review. The more request we receive about a specific feature, the more likely it will be implemented on future updates.

Please continue to visit us again in the future if you have other questions. 

Hard to believe this feature (to search/drill down into the item name) is not implemented (for sales receipts).  Without it the operator is required to know the item number for every item we sell on a sales receipt.  How silly that they have to refer to a printed copy of our inventory (which or course isn't "searchable") and find the item they're looking for within the categories of products.  I would expect more from Intuit and a product as mature as Quickbooks Pro.

Please add this. As it is, people need to know item codes. Think about a company with thousands of items for example, as we have.

People have to use parts of keywords on item names and end up with hideous codes, such as ShirtLargeGreenLongSleeve instead of 999 for example.

As is is now, this is what has to be done, and to search on item codes, everything needs to be in order as well, as LargeShirt would not work.

This is not the way its supposed to be.

We're supposed to be able to have an item name / number as 999 with a description as Green Shirt Long Sleeve Large and when doing a sales order / invoice, type ANY or ALL of these keywords Green Shirt Long Sleeve Large in ANY ORDER to then narrow down the item.

This would decrease the time to write an order greatly.

I've used such simple software in the past, cheap, by incredibly smaller companies where this was available. 

This is a must have.

Hi sheetmetal85,

Thank you for joining the thread, and for explaining the benefit of having an option to use keywords from item descriptions. This will really save a lot of time especially if you have thousands of items. I'll include these details in the product suggestion that I'll send for you.

The workaround that we can do for now is to export the list of items to Excel. Then, use the Find feature (Ctrl+F) to look for items using keywords. You may not need to do this every time you create a transaction.

Please feel free to go back to this thread if you have other suggestions about invoicing or anything that can make your work easier. Thanks.

I appreciate you taking the the time to answer, however, this is really not what anyone is looking for.

This is suggesting using a second software. Its an extra, unnecessary step.

The easiest way this should work is to:

1 - Create sales order

2 - Click on Item name

3 - Have a field popup where you can type either an item code or description

4 - Start filtering automatically as its being typed (no button)

5 - Filter by any keyword or partial keyword in any order

An item numbered 999 with description "Large blue XL shirt long sleeve" should popup with any other items that match the same partial keyword description as the input, for example:

"bl lo sh"

Anything what matches that (in any order) should popup. In the case above Large blue XL shirt long sleeve

Thank you for providing us more information, @sheetmetal85. 

I can see the importance of having the option to search or drill down into the item name. I'll take this feedback and pass this idea to our product engineers.

For now, you can visit the QuickBooks Blog to check for new updates and features that we have. 

Let me know if there's anything else that I can assist you with. I'm always glad to help in any way I can.  

Thank you, much appreciated.

Yes, we need an update. We need to be able to enter the description of the item from the invoice being created. We don't always have the item number and neither does the electrician out in the field. ( We also have an electrical contracting company and I am stuck with billing because there is no one who knows these items and numbers like I do.) 

This didn't work. I tried to "right click" the item list, but, nothing happens. We are dealing with: creating an invoice with items from the item list and having the ability to insert the item by the description. Yeah, that would be good. So, how about it, QB?

The option to auto fill the products using their description is still unavailable when creating an invoice, ahanova.

In the meantime, you can use the different workarounds that are shared in the previous responses in this thread. 

We'll send another feedback and feature request about this to our product engineers. Customers' suggestions are reviewed based on the number of similar request they received. The more request we get about a particular function, the higher chance it'll be added in the future updates. 

Let me know if you need anything else.

Please let’s not let this issue die.  When creating an order, we truly need the option to auto fill the products using keywords from the item’s description.

While the different workarounds suggested by the QB team might be helpful for others, unfortunately it is not an option for our company.  Usually we have a customer on the phone and we’re trying to enter their order as quickly as possible. 

An item “description” search would be extremely beneficial to our company, and it appears it would be to many others as well.

Any updates on adding this feature?

And, while I sincerely appreciate this forum and the QB team’s quick responses, is there a better way to have our voices heard?

Please let’s not let this issue die.  When creating an order, we truly need the option to auto fill the products using keywords from the item’s description.

While the different workarounds suggested by the QB team might be helpful for others, unfortunately it is not an option for our company.  Usually we have a customer on the phone and we’re trying to enter their order as quickly as possible. 

An item “description” search would be extremely beneficial to our company, and it appears it would be to many others as well.

Any updates on adding this feature?

And, while I sincerely appreciate this forum and the QB team’s quick responses, is there a better way to have our voices heard?

Thanks for joining us in this thread, Bamagirl1.

We appreciate and have taken notes of your feedback about the search feature in the Inventory Center.

For now, we're unable to provide a timeline when a specific feature request will be added in QuickBooks Desktop. You can also continue to share your thoughts, feature requests, and product feedback in the Community. 

In the meantime, you can check out this site: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/blog/. 

All new features and changes to the products are published in that site.