I have inventory questions - particularly about adding and adjusting correctly.

Happy Wednesday, @sgtmaj87.

I’m happy to assist you with making sure your quantities are being received through a purchase order. You can receive inventory with our without a bill after you record a purchase order and here’s how:

Receive inventory with a bill:

1. From the Home page, select the Receive Inventory drop-down and choose Receive Inventory with Bill.
2. On the Enter Bills window that appears: 
3. From the drop-down, locate the vendor name.
4. Push Yes to receive a purchase order for the bill.
5. Pick the correct PO and select OK.
6. Review the information on the Bill. 
7. Select Save & Close.
8. When you're ready to pay the bill, proceed to Pay Bills.

Receive inventory without a bill:

1. From the Home screen, pick the Receive Inventory drop-down and click Receive Inventory without a bill.
2. On the Item receipt window that appears: 
3. From the drop-down, choose the vendor name.
4. Select Yes to receive a purchase order for the bill.
5. Locate the correct PO and select OK.
6. Review the information on the Item Receipt
7. Select Save & Close.
8. When you receive the bill for the inventory, proceed to Enter bills against Inventory.

You're able to add the QTY on PO column to Products and Services by following these steps:

1. Select Settings on the toolbar, then go to Products and Services.
2. Find the Settings icon beside Export.
3. Place a check-mark beside Qty on PO, which will add the column.

I’m just a post away, should you have any other questions.

Thank you for your response.  Are you saying that I shouldn't receive inventory through a purchase order?  I have been inputting the inventory in the purchase order first, then when the bill arrives, I receive the po and post the bill.

Also, after adjusting on-hand inventory (which was incorrect) down to a 0 qty., now my items list shows a negative quantity.  What is going on with that and how should it be corrected?  Thanks in advance!

Thank you for your response.  I tried to reply earlier, but it was deleted somehow.

Your response brings a question I have now.  Should I be receiving inventory through a po as I have been?  I input it in the po, then receive the po with the bill and post it.  Is that incorrect?

Also - After I made adjustments in my inventory (zeroing out inventory), now my items list shows a negative number in it!  Please set me straight (if that's possible!)  :-)

Hi @sgtmaj87,

Yes, you can receive your inventory item through your PO and select receive inventory without a bill to avoid doubling your stocks. Let me guide you through the steps.

1. In your Home Page, click the Receive Inventory icon and select Receive Inventory without Bill.
2. Choose your Vendor from the drop-down. You'll get an Open POs Exist prompt, hit Yes and then mark the PO NO.
3. Tick OK. Then, Save and Close in the Item Receipt page.

Please check these handy articles for your guide.

• Accounts Payable workflows in QuickBooks Desktop.

• Receive inventory.

On the other hand, the negative number of your inventory items means you sell inventory items that you don't have in stock. You'll want adjust the quantity on hand of your item to correct this. Here's how.

1. Go to Inventory menu at the top, then Adjust Quantity/Value on Hand.
2. Select the item in question from the Item column, and enter the New Quantity. 
3. Type in other item information and then click Save and Close. 

I've added this article about fixing negative inventory issues in QuickBooks Desktop for your reference. You can also check our in-product help articles to know more about the negative quantities. Here's how:

1. Go to Edit, Preferences, Items & Inventory, and then Company Preferences.
2. Click the How does this work? link beside Don't allow negative quantities to open the article.

Thanks for getting back to us here in the Community and know that you're always welcome to post anytime if you have other concerns. Have a nice day ahead.

Hi !

I don't see any drop down menu for receive inventory ? 

Let me guide you through the Receive inventory option in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT)., cableshark.

You can find this function through the Home page. See the attach screenshot below for your visual guide.

I've added again this link for more details: Receive inventory.

Keep me posted if you need anything else about receiving inventories in QBDT. Just leave a comment below, and I'm always right here to help you.

Is this functionality available in Quickbooks Online Advanced?

Good morning, mcamdh2021.

Thanks for joining in on this thread. I'd be glad to provide some info about receiving inventory in your QuickBooks Online account.

The setup is a bit different, but the functionality to receive inventory items with or without a bill is available in QuickBooks Online (QBO). To get this done in QBO, I recommend using a purchase order. According to the purchase order write-up, "You can create and email purchase orders directly to vendors when you're ready to buy more products. Purchase orders tell vendors your intent to make a purchase." "Once your vendor accepts the purchase order, you can add it to an expense or bill to make the transaction official." This would be the equivalent to the workflow mentioned above in reference to the QuickBooks Desktop system. To get started, here's how to create a purchase order:

1. Click the +New button.

2. Select Purchase Order.

3. Choose your vendor from the drop-down menu.

4. Enter all of the necessary info.

5. Click Save and send or Save and close when you're finished.

I'm linking a few articles below that I believe you'll find helpful:

• Create and send purchase orders in QuickBooks Online

• Add purchase orders to expenses, bills, or checks in QuickBooks Online

• Setting up Inventory in QuickBooks Online

With this info you'll be able to receive inventory that can be connected to a bill if you need it. Please feel free to reach back out if you have any other questions. I'll be here to help.

This is great to be able to receive Inventory with or without a bill and then enter the invoice / bill later. However, QBO does not seem to have it. Do you recommend that I switch to Quickbooks Desktop for this functionality? How can I do it online?

Allow me to provide you a few information on how inventory is being tracked in both QuickBooks Online and Desktop, michaelkirzhner.

With QuickBooks, we always make it simple for you to manage inventory. For a simple inventory, QuickBooks Online (QBO) tracks what's on hand and get's alerts when it's time to restock. If you haven't turned on inventory tracking yet, follow the steps provided below:

1. Click the Gear ⚙ icon and select Account and Settings.
2. Choose Sales.
3. Select Edit ✎ in the Products and services section.
4. Turn on Show Product/Service column on sales forms.
5. Turn on both Track quantity and price/rate and Track inventory quantity on hand.
6. Press Save and then Done.

Then, you can now add your products and keep track of what you sell. To give you more information, go through this article: Set Up and Track Your Inventory In QuickBooks Online. 

Whereas QuickBooks Desktop handles and manages more complex ones. Choosing any of our QuickBooks Products to handle your inventory is up to your business needs on how you want your items to be handled. You can also check out this article in case you want to adjust an item's quantity without recording a purchase or sale: Adjust Inventory Quantity On Hand In QuickBooks Online. 

In addition, you may accidentally oversell products that cause some issues. Read this article for you to be guided: Fix Negative Issues In QuickBooks Online.

Please get back to us if you have any questions about inventory. Remember, we're here to make sure everything is taken care of.