I have products on consignment, I am consignee. I see entries to the sales/income when I create the invoice but I do not see expense/COGS, I am having to manually enter

Thank you for voicing your concerns, @colorworksacctg-. I’m here to help clarify why the expense, or cost of goods sold, isn't visible. 

Generally, the bill (expense) will show up in the Cost of Goods Sold account if you've selected COGS as the account for that particular non-inventory item. That said, you'll want to set your consignors as vendors and turn on classes first.

If you sell items on consignment, you can track and generate a report that shows consignment sales you have made and how much you have paid out to consignors. You can follow the basic steps below:

1. Set up consignors as vendors and classes.
2. Set up consignment income accounts and items.
3. Record consignment sales and payouts.
4. Create consignment reports.

Let's make sure we turned on the class tracking feature before we set consignors up as vendors and classes.

1. Go to Settings ⚙ and select Account and Settings.
2. Select Advanced.
3. In the Categories section, select Edit ✎ to open the fields.
4. Tick the Track classes checkbox, then tap Save and close.
5. Select Done.

After we enabled the Class tracking feature, we can now setup your consignors as vendors. 

1. Select Expenses, then Vendors.
2. Select New Vendor and enter the consignor's information in the Vendor information.
3. Select Save and close.

Once done, you can assign each of your consignors to a class for reporting purposes. Kindly refer to the steps below:

1. Go to Settings ⚙.
2. Under Lists, choose All Lists.
3. Select the Classes item to open the Classes page.
4. Select New and enter the consignor's Name in the Class dialog.
5. Select Save and close.

To set up reports for your consignors, repeat these steps for each of them. Next, set up the accounts and products that will allow you to track consignment sales. To proceed, please check out this article for steps 2-4. 

I highly recommend consulting your accountant for further help and assistance regarding a journal entry. This way, we can ensure the best for your business.

If you'd like to know more about personalizing reports in QuickBooks Online, I've added these resources:

• Customize reports in QuickBooks Online.
• Common custom reports in QuickBooks Online.

Let me know if this helps. I'm always here if you need further assistance setting up a consignment in QBO. Feel free to post a comment below to notify me of your response. Take care.

Thank you. I have completed all those steps. If the sale was true inventory then COGS would be recorded when entering an invoice. Why isn’t consignment payout recorded for this activity?  Or if it can be, how is that setup?  

Hi colorworksacctg-!

Thanks for the reply. Allow me to help you in recording consignment sales and costs.

You're right. QuickBooks Online will automatically calculate and track the COGS for inventory items. Check this link if you need to start tracking inventory: Set up and track your inventory in QuickBooks Online.

With regard to the payout, you'll want to make sure that the Consignment Payout account is selected when you create a check. Also, the consignor's Class must be listed on the same line as the payout account.

Please check this article for more details: How to record consignment sales.

I also added these links if you need more help with COGS:

• What is FIFO and how is it used for inventory cost accounting?

• Impacts of inventory tracking on balance sheet and profit & loss reports

Comment again here if you need more help. Thanks!