I cannot save transactions because the transaction date is BEFORE the opening balance date of an inventory account. How to change the date on the inventory account

Hello there, @chris75.

I can furnish you with some details so you'll be able to record and save your transactions in QuickBooks successfully.

You received the prompt because the date of the transaction you're trying to record is after the start date of the inventory item.

To remove the prompt, here's how:

1. Click the Gear icon (⚙).
2. Choose Products and Services.
3. Look for the inventory item.
4. Click the Edit button.
5. On the Quantity on hand, select Starting value.
6. Click the Got it button.
7. Change the date under As of date.
8. Hit Save and close.

That should do it! Let me know how it works on your end. I'm always here to help you in tracking your inventory in QuickBooks Online.

QB Online will not allow me to set the date for BEFORE the transaction occurred (e.g. we received inventory in September and sold it in October but the start date of October 1 is throwing the error.  I cannot move the date back).  QB is forcing me to se an inventory level effective AFTER the first sale for the item.

I have done that - but the problem is that I now have to go back and correct 75 sales one at a time.  QB has all sorts of hicks like this.  You should be able to move the date back on the inventory which will affect balance sheets, etc. and then run a recalculation of balance sheets based on the new inventory dates.  A lot of these errors are from an import from QB2015 on Mac and I am literally editing 600+ records by hand.

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@chris75 wrote:

IYou should be able to move the date back 

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You can. In the Item edit screen click the link that says "Starting value", then "Got it". That opens a "Inventory Starting Value" transaction where you can change the date

I take it back. It seems you can't

@chris75 

I have not tried this recently, but it used to work

open the chart of accounts, use the register for inventory asset, find the entry for the item that says START, edit that entry and change the date

It is one at a time though

You get this bizarre message:

"Please select a date that comes after the last transaction that used this item when you weren’t tracking it as inventory."

It makes no sense

How do you change the accounting method from accrual to cash?

Changing your accounting method only takes a few steps, abbyco.

Here's how:

1. Click the Gear icon.
2. Select Account and Settings.
3. Click Advanced on the left pane.
4. In the Accounting section, select Edit ✎ icon.
5. Choose the Accounting method.
6. Select Save, then Done.

Here's an article for future reference: Choose between cash and accrual accounting methods in reports.

If you have additional questions, don't hesitate to leave a reply.