Inactive Items - Removed from older Inventory Reports

Hi there, Arwen.

Thank you for visiting the QuickBooks Community. I'll be sharing details on how activating an item works in QuickBooks Desktop. Then, to ensure you're able to see them on the report.

When inactivating an inventory item with a quantity value, this won't be automatically zeroed out and deleted in QuickBooks Desktop. This is maybe why those inactive items don't show up in the past reports. With this, I suggest adjusting the quantity or total value of your products before inactivating them. This is to ensure that this will show on the report and to keep your inventory status in QuickBooks accurate. Please note that you'll have first to activate the item before performing the instructions below.

To begin with, you'll have to create a separate account in your chart of accounts to track your adjustments. It’s would be best to reach out to your accountant before adjusting the inventory value to ensure that everything is in the legal process.

Here's how:

1. Select the Company menu at the top.
2. Choose Chart of Accounts.
3. Click the Account ▼ dropdown. Then, New.
4. From the Other Account Types ▼ dropdown, select Cost of Goods Sold.
5. Name this account “Inventory Adjustments”.
6.  Click Save and Close.

Once done, you can now adjust the product’s quantity, value, or both. Please click this article to see the steps on how to perform the process: Adjust your inventory quantity or value in QuickBooks Desktop.

After that, you can run the same report and customize it to show all the Inactive items.

You can click this article to view further details on how you can customize the data and even personalize the font and style of the report so you're able to see what you need: Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

Lastly, I'm adding this article on how you can fix issues arising from negative inventory: Fix negative inventory issues in QuickBooks Desktop.

Should you have other concerns about Inventory items in QBDT, just let me know. I’m here determined to help. Take care and have a good one!

Thank you for this information, but it isn't my issue, this time. :)

I'll try to explain in a different way.

Starting September 1 we had many items reach 0 inventory. When this happened I inactivated the item so they won't clutter future reports.

Today I am running inventory reports for August for tax purposes. The inactivated items (set inactive in September because of a 0 balance), had an inventory balance in August, but are now not showing up on my inventory report.

I tried to customize the report to "Show inactive items" but that doesn't seem to do anything and they are still missing from the report. 

Does this help explain better?

Thank you,

Arwen

Hi @Arwen,

I appreciate you for getting back to us with more information. The details you've provided helps me understand better regarding the issue when running inventory reports in QuickBooks.

Ideally, inactive items should still show on your previous inventory reports regardless of the status. If you've already checked the reporting period, enabled "Show inactive items", and the issue persists, I recommend performing some troubleshooting to isolate the problem.

Inactive items will only reflect in the report if there are transactions previously associated with them. You can go through your transactions from August and review if they are still showing up (transactions that contain inactive items) in QuickBooks.

Here's how:

1. Click the Reports tab at the top menu bar.
2. Hover your cursor to Accountant & Taxes, then select Transaction List by Date. 
3. Filter the date range.

If everything is showing up fine, please proceed with running the Verify Data and Rebuild tools. These features in QuickBooks will help self-identify data issues within a company file and self-resolve them using Rebuild Data.

To run Verify Data:

1. Click the File tab at the top menu bar.
2. Hover your cursor to Utilities.
3. Select Verify Data.

Next, please run the Rebuild Data option through these steps:

1. Click the File tab at the top menu bar.
2. Hover your cursor to Utilities.
3. Select Verify Rebuild.

After following the solutions above, please restart QuickBooks. Once open, attempt to run the reports and check the data showing up for August. You should be able to see the older data after performing the process.

You can also check this article for more details about personalizing reports, like changing the display, as well as adding filters: Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

Drop me a comment below if you have any other questions about running inventory reports. I'll be happy to help you some more.

Thank you. I will try these steps and see if it helps. I will let you know.

@Arwen 

RE: I have noticed that items that have been turned to Inactive (after the date of the report) do not show up on these past reports.

I was going to write and say that the active/inactive status of your items doesn't matter, because that is how most reports in QuickBooks work, and it doesn't make any sense (to me) that any would work otherwise. For example, inactivating an item or an account or a customer or any other list item won't change your balance sheet. If it did, then the balance sheet numbers would change and it probably wouldn't balance.

However, as I tested this I realize that the inventory reports are impacted by items' active/inactive setting. I have no idea why this is the case. It does not seem helpful at all, and there appears to be no way to get around it.

When I start to make an inventory item that has a balance inactive, I get a message that basically states what you're seeing will happen:

The message is somewhat inaccurate in that the issue is too narrowly stated. Making the item inactive will impact more than just the noted report. It also impacts the report shown, the Stock Status by Item report, and perhaps all inventory reports. And it impacts them whether or not the QOH is currently zero.

In your case, if the items had a zero QOH when you inactivated them, you didn't get the message, or any message to inform you of the case. Something like, "Making any inventory item inactive at any time, regardless of its balance and if you will ever use it again, will change your current and past inventory reports, making them incomplete and useless. So, this is likely a feature you should really never use for inventory items!" would be appropriate.

IMO inventory reports where you cannot include inactive items, even by customizing the report, are a design error. I don't know why whoever suggested such a thing thought it was a good idea and how a whole team of people working on inventory also thought it was OK. That's probably an unanswerable mystery.

@AlcaeusF 

RE: Ideally, inactive items should still show on your previous inventory reports regardless of the status.

Yes, except they don't.

RE: Inactive items will only reflect in the report if there are transactions previously associated with them.

No. They are removed from the inventory reports no matter if they are used or not.

RE: If everything is showing up fine, please proceed with running the Verify Data and Rebuild tools.

Verify will not find any errors due to this case and Rebuild will not fix any data or the reports, which are designed to hide all inactive items. Which is a design error. Which you would have seen to be the case had you tested what the OP did.

RE: You should be able to see the older data after performing the process.

Do you? No, you don't, because Rebuild won't change how the inventory reports work.

RE: You can also check this article for more details about personalizing reports, like changing the display, as well as adding filters: Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

Nothing in that article apples to this case.

RE: Drop me a comment below if you have any other questions about running inventory reports. I'll be happy to help you some more.

Do you think you've helped so far? You didn't duplicate the OP's case, or explain how inventory reports work, or test your solution - which does not work.

Thank you! I was starting to think I was going insane, but really it's just gaslighting. :)

I guess I'll have to be extra careful with my monthly inventory reports and go through and re-activate all items before running the annual taxes (for us has much to do with quantity on hand). This year I had to correct over 50 line items because the item wasn't included on one of the reports I submitted to the state.

What a pain!