Inventory for a winery - How to create a new Item that carries the cost of another item?

JazLaz · ‎May 16, 2022

We are a winery using the Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale edition of QuickBooks. I have a situation where one batch of unbottled wine was partially bottled and the remainder will be aged further for blending. I inventory wine using bottle as the unit of measure, estimating the number of bottles we expect to get and then correcting the inventory when the item is bottled.

In this situation, I want to create a new item that will represent the wine aged for blending, as there will be additional costs incurred on this item. However, to start, I would like the new item to have the cost of original batch of wine prior to bottling. How can I create a new item, but load in the cost from the prior batch it is derived from? I tried subitems, but that does not work, as it starts with zero average cost. Thank you!

Rustler · ‎May 17, 2022

This is a lot easier to do than to write up

Stock the full amount of bottles you would have got

Create the new inventory item

do an inventory adjustment, set the adjustment type to qty & value, set the adjustment account to COGS-shrinkage.
lower the qty of the first item
at the bottom right of the adjustment screen is the total value of the qty you lowered, note this down
find the new item
set the new total value to the same as what you noted before
set the new total qty to the number you used when you lowered the original item
insure the total value of the adjustment is zero, bottom right of the screen
save

As always back up the file first, just incase.

View solution in original post

Rustler · ‎May 17, 2022

This is a lot easier to do than to write up

Stock the full amount of bottles you would have got

Create the new inventory item

do an inventory adjustment, set the adjustment type to qty & value, set the adjustment account to COGS-shrinkage.
lower the qty of the first item
at the bottom right of the adjustment screen is the total value of the qty you lowered, note this down
find the new item
set the new total value to the same as what you noted before
set the new total qty to the number you used when you lowered the original item
insure the total value of the adjustment is zero, bottom right of the screen
save

As always back up the file first, just incase.

JazLaz · ‎May 17, 2022

Thank you, Rustler! It worked perfectly. I use that Inventory screen to adjust quantities and totally forgot about the ability to move value. Appreciate the assistance.

Eleanor Cleverence

I get why you'd wanna track the aging wine with its initial cost. What ur trying to do makes sense for accurate cost tracking in your winery. The problem with subitems in quickbooks starting with zero cost is way too common. Lemme give it a try.

First off, u wanna keep the link between the original batch and this new aged wine item for blending. You need to reflect that cost cuz it carries the value of the base materials. A practical way is to use journal entries temporarily, to manually adjust the cost of ur new item to reflect the original batch’s cost. Not as seamless as we'd like, but it works.

Here's the deal: Calculate the cost of the leftover wine based on the original inventory value. Then, make a journal entry to debit ur new item's inventory account with this amount and credit the expense account you used for the original batch. This way, ur inventory cost stays accurate and ur financials are spot on.

For tracking, be sure ur regularly reconciles this to avoid deviaton over time, especially since more costs will come as the wine ages further. Once the blending's done, and costs are sorted, adjust the inventory to show the final output. Consider chatting with your quickbooks consultant to make sure it's all good with your financial reporting standards. It's a bit tricky, but keeping financial accuracy is key, especially in winemaking with quickbooks.

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Inventory for a winery - How to create a new Item that carries the cost of another item?