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dal1cas2
December 6, 2018
Solved

Inventory Tracking without cost or sales

  • December 6, 2018
  • 11 replies
  • 58 views

Is there a way to track inventory without having it affect the accounting side of things? I just want to keep track of my on-hand inventory but not have it go through payables/receivables

 

Best answer by Charies_M

Welcome to the Intuit Community, dal1cas2.

 

At the moment, there isn't a way we can track inventory without affecting cost and sales. Inventory tracking is designed to track quantity, sales revenue, and cost of goods sold. 

 

If you wish to have this feature included in the next update, I encourage you sending this great suggestion to our product developers the the feedback feature in QBO. I'll do the same thing on my end.

Here's how:

  1. Click on the Gear icon.
  2. Click Feedback.
  3. Type in your feedback or feature request.
  4. Click Send Message.

We're always working on providing our customer the best product and service they deserve. We'll keep your suggestion in mind for future development plans.

 

If there's anything else I can do for you, or questions about inventory tracking in QBO, feel free to let me know. I'd be glad to help.

11 replies

Regina_Lend_A_Hand_Accounting
Regina_Lend_A_Hand_Accounting
Level 2
December 6, 2018

When you purchase inventory it becomes an Asset of the business. When you make a sale from your purchased inventory it becomes a cost of goods sold expense for your business. Your inventory is tracked with "accounting", thus your inventory needs to be part of your accounting.

Charies_MAnswer
Level 9
December 6, 2018

Welcome to the Intuit Community, dal1cas2.

 

At the moment, there isn't a way we can track inventory without affecting cost and sales. Inventory tracking is designed to track quantity, sales revenue, and cost of goods sold. 

 

If you wish to have this feature included in the next update, I encourage you sending this great suggestion to our product developers the the feedback feature in QBO. I'll do the same thing on my end.

Here's how:

  1. Click on the Gear icon.
  2. Click Feedback.
  3. Type in your feedback or feature request.
  4. Click Send Message.

We're always working on providing our customer the best product and service they deserve. We'll keep your suggestion in mind for future development plans.

 

If there's anything else I can do for you, or questions about inventory tracking in QBO, feel free to let me know. I'd be glad to help.

    qbteachmt
    qbteachmt
    Level 11
    December 6, 2018

    Of course you can track inventory without running it through AP or AR, and it doesn't have to affect costs or sales.

     

    Let's take these separately: AP is only Enter Bill for something I did not yet pay for. You can list Inventory on the purchase as Check Expense or Credit Card Charge. This is how you show you bought something, with Quantity and Cost.

     

    AR is part of Unpaid Sales. Inventory is not by definition Sales; it is by definition Stuff on hand. So, for instance, a machine shop or fabrication shop might need to track tool bits, saw blades and materials as Inventory for inhouse management, which is never what is sold. Perhaps you sell Trailers, and build them Custom.

     

    So, you list Bar stock, square tubing, cut off blades, etc as inventory on Purchases. When you then Build that trailer to sell, you "Adjust inventory" to remove the Tubing and Bar Stock from on hand. You also Adjust inventory for removing new saw blades as they get placed in the machines.

     

    And you would sell that trailer, as your revenue item. You would never sell inventory, in this type of operation.

     

    I have a client that builds and tests rocket engines. They manage a lot of inventory, all for In House purposes. They sell Engineering Services.

     

    dal1cas2Author
    December 7, 2018

    When I import the data into the Product & Services list, it will not allow me to select "Track" unless "Sell" is selected and it won't allow me to make "non-inventory" if "Sell" is selected? How would I go about tracking the product as non-inventory without affecting the accounting end of the business?

    qbteachmt
    qbteachmt
    Level 11
    December 7, 2018

    Because you want to use QBO to track non-sales inventory, you need to setup this non-sales inventory as  "Inventory" and not "Non-Inventory". 


    If you have it on hand and need to track it as I described, for internal purposes, the "not as sales" means never Selling it. It isn't a question of the setup. It's a question of how you use that in transactions.

     

    If you want to use Noninventory, then never set it up as Sold or "reimbursed." It can be an Expense item only. That isn't the same as tracking inventory for internal purposes only. The point of tracking anything as inventory is because it is on hand of significant value over time, and not already gone = cannot take it as expense.

     

    Example: I buy 50 different Saw Bladed for that machine shop and they run $1,000 each and will last a year or two, but you never know when you would break one, so you want enough on hand to keep operating. You never sell them to customers, but your tool crib manager needs to manage them, get them on hand, keep a minimum level, and the IRS doesn't permit you to report these as Expense when they are still on the shelf. They are an inventory asset.

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