My company purchases items and resells them for a profit. How do I log the purchased items and the sold items in quickbooks online?

You need QBO+ at the minimum because it has inventory

then you need to study up on basic accounting and inventory procedures

You buy inventory as an asset, when you sell it the cost of the item is removed from the asset account and posted to COGS

Thanks for reaching out to the QuickBooks Community, Adam.

Joining the threat help you log your purchases and sales in QuickBooks Online.

You can follow Rustler's advice to get the Plus subscription to add inventories. See this link for the updated features and pricing: Choose the plan that's right for your business (QBO)

Once done, make sure to turn on inventory tracking so you can add inventory items. Then, you can add the items you purchased. Make sure to follow the steps in this article: Add inventory products in QuickBooks Online

After creating the product, you can assign it to expense transactions. Simply go to the + New icon and choose Bill, Expense or Checks. Then, if you sell them, go back to the + New icon and choose income transactions like invoices, or sales receipts. The articles below has the streamlined processes on how to account purchases and sales:

• Invoice and Sales Form Basics
• Enter and manage expenses in QuickBooks Online

I'm also including other Resource Guides and tutorials to help your way around QuickBooks:

• Get started with QuickBooks Online
• Video tutorials for QBO

Comment here again if you need further assistance with managing your sales and purchases in the program. I'll be right here if you need anything else. Have a lovely day!

So let me clarify something...we actually are not buying a physical item. We purchase airfare at a discount and resell with a markup. But each purchase is for a specific individual. So I am not bulk buying airfare and reselling. I am buying airfare for a customer cheaply and reselling it to them with a markup. So how do I log the airfare charge from the airline? Obviously, I invoice the customer with the markup....

Thanks for coming back, @adam-codeshair-c.

I'll share some information about recording purchase items. When you purchase and resell, you involve money in and out of your account. Thus, you'll still have to record these transactions in QuickBooks to properly reflect your income and expense.

To create a non-inventory item:

1. Go to Gear.
2. Select Products and services.
3. Tap New. Then, choose Non-inventory (or Inventory depending on your preference).
4. Enter the airfare details and the Income account.
5. Click Save and close.

Learn more about steps in this article: Add product and service items to QuickBooks Online.

However, I'd still recommend consulting with your accountant to ensure your book is accurate.

I'm also attaching these links here to guide you along:

• Efficiently manage accounts receivable with QuickBooks.

• Run a Profit and Loss report by bank account in QuickBooks Online.

Please let me know if you have follow-up questions or concerns with purchases and sales. I'll be around to help. Take care and have a good one.

How do you set up inventory item that you buy and re-sell.  I have to track in inventory and invoivce however, it is putting cost of goods when I invoice and I am paying the vendor and putting to cost of goods as well. Isnt this duplicating cost of goods???

I'm here to ensure you can track and set up your item successfully in QuickBooks Online, janet.

To effectively manage inventory in QuickBooks, it's essential to understand how the software handles inventory assets, average cost, and Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).

When adding your first item, QBO will automatically add two accounts, and these are the following:

• Inventory Asset - Other Current Asset
• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) - Cost of Goods Sold

When purchasing products, your Bill, Check, or Credit card will debit the Inventory assets account and not into an expense since this is an asset that can be sold in the future.

On the other hand, COGS is affected when you sell a product on invoices or sales receipts. 

To verify this, you can check your Transaction Journal Report to see the accounts they're linked to. To do here's how:

1. Go to Reports. 
2. In the search field provided, enter Transaction Journal Report.

For reference, check this article: Understand inventory assets and cost of goods sold tracking.

In case you want to learn more about what affects inventory tracking in your financial report, please read this article: Impacts of inventory tracking on the Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss reports.

If you have other questions in mind about tracking your inventory items in QBO, feel free to use the reply button and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.