Track Inventory Quantity on Hand - Only!

It's great to see you today, @William-01. 

Currently, there isn't a way to only track inventory quantity on hand in the program. Turning on this option in the settings will automatically enable these following features: 

•     Track quantity and price/rate
•     Show Items table on expense and purchase forms

The screenshot below serves as your visual guide. 

If you haven't set up inventory tracking yet, I can provide you the steps and links on how to perform this action. Please take note that this is available in the Plus and Advanced versions. Let me guide you how. 

1. Go to the Settings (Gear) icon at the upper right.
2. Select Account and Settings.
3. Choose Sales.
4. Select the Products and services section.
5. Turn on Show Product/Service column on sales forms. 
6. Check the Track inventory quantity on hand box. Click OK to confirm. 
7. Click Save.
8. Choose Done.

For more information, go through this article: Set Up and Track Your Inventory. This link also provides you the steps on how to add your products, track them what you sell, restock them, and run inventory reports. 

In case you'll discover that you have either more or fewer of an item than the program displays, you can adjust its quantity on hand. This ensures you match it what you actually have in stock. For detailed steps, check out this article: Adjust Inventory Quantity On Hand. 

I'm just a comment away if you need further assistance. Have a nice day, @William-01. 

Thank you for the reply @RaymondJayO 

I understand what you are saying, but your response created some more questions for me.

Knowing that setting up inventory will also automatically track price/rate and show items on expense and purchase forms, what if I don't enter in unit pricing or use purchase orders?

For example, I simple make adjustments to inventory on hand? Meaning, I can run a report to see fluctuations in invent QTY based on adjustments?  Isn't that possible to do without effecting my income and COGS account @RaymondJayO?

I'll take it from here, William-01. Let me address your inventory questions.

Let's start with the first one. You can create an item without the cost. Although, when you use purchase orders, it will not affect the quantity on hand since it's a non-posting transaction.

Regarding the inventory adjustments, it will affect the stock Asset and Cost of Goods Sold (under stock Shrinkage) accounts.

I'll provide the article about adjusting the quantity on hand to better guide you.

Get back to this thread if more questions arise. We'd be happy to fill you in. 

Hello @Kristine Mae 

Thank you for jumping in. I understand what you are saying about the purchase order not affecting the quantity on hand. 

Which is why if I'm not using purchase orders, I would have to make an quantity adjustment manually in order to keep inventory count accurate. Isn't that correct?

I realize this situation is not the perfect way to manage inventory quantity, I'm simply trying to find a way to show changes in inventory without a affecting the Income and COGS account.

What do you think @Kristine Mae 

Hello, @William-01.

Let me share additional information so you'll be able to track the Inventory Quantity on Hand of your items accurately.

The inventory adjustment will still affect the COGS account. You can create a bill to increase the Inventory Quantity on Hand of your items. This will not affect your COGS account. 

Here's how:

1. Go to the Plus icon (+).
2. Under Vendors, select Bill.
3. From Choose a supplier drop-down, select the supplier's name.
4. Fill in the Bill date field.
5. In the Item details section, enter the items purchased from the supplier. And also their amounts.
6. Select Save.

You can also record the purchase as an expense or check. Once the bill, expense, or check is saved, the quantity of the item increases. You can check this article for the detailed steps: What is the difference between bills, checks, and expenses?

Lastly, you can consult with your accountant so you'll be guided accurately in tracking our inventory items.

For more insights on how QuickBooks the products manages your inventory items, you can read through these articles: 

• Understand Inventory Assets and COGS tracking 
• Impacts of inventory tracking on balance sheet and profit & loss reports

You can always get back to us here in the Community if you have other questions. I'm always here to help.

Thank you, @IamjuViel !

Last question. Did the Desktop version of Quickbooks allow tracking inventory on hand only?

Thanks for reaching back out, @William-01.

QuickBooks Desktop updates inventory quantities and value as you track every purchase and sale.

However, you can set the cost and sales price to zero, if you don't want to affect the numbers on your income and COGS account. Take note that, the items you add will not be treated as sales unless you add them to your sales transactions.

To give more insights on how inventory tracking works in QuickBooks Desktop, please check out these links:

• Adjust your inventory quantity or value in QuickBooks Desktop
• Understand Inventory Assets and COGS tracking

Let me know if you have any other questions. I'll be around to help you out. Have a good one!

Thank you, @BettyJaneB @IamjuViel @Kristine Mae @RaymondJayO 

For your patience and help. I'm going to follow up on the links you sent me. I apparently need to rethink this and keep from trying to over complicating things. I'll start a new thread after I've studied the additional resources you provided. 

Thank you again. These forums are a great sounding board.

Cheers!

Bill

Relating to these instructions, which I've seen in a few threads, when I don't use Purchase Orders and use a Bill to receive inventory (and mark that bill paid) my actual inventory counts do not increase, nor does the value of Inventory Asset.  Is creating a PO the only way to actually have QBO track inventory accurately?

Thanks for following this thread, krails.

I can help clear things up about tracking your inventory in QuickBooks Online (QBO).

Creating a Purchase Order to track inventory is optional. This is because it is a non-posting transaction that only serves as a memo in which you tell the supplier what it is that you wish to purchase. A bill, on the other hand, is used to record the goods or services that you received from the supplier and which you are obligated to pay.

Since your inventory counts do not increase when you don't use PO, you'll want to review the accounts use when you create the bill. Otherwise, we can perform browser troubleshooting to isolate this case. 

The browser uses cache and cookies to load web pages faster on your next visit. This can also affect the performance of your account. A private window is a great tool in identifying the issue as this doesn't store cache files. This helps us verify a browser cache issue since this doesn’t store any cache files. You can provide them with these keyboard shortcuts:

Here's how:

• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: Command + Shift + N
• Microsoft Edge: Ctrl + Shift + P

If it works, you may want to clear the browsing history of your regular web browser. This will remove previously-stored browsing data that might have caused the issue. Otherwise, you can try using other supported browsers to be thorough.

I'm also adding a great resource to help resolve unexpected issues when using QBO. It contains some links about clearing the browser's cache and adding Intuit as a trusted site: Troubleshooting browser problems.

To give more information about managing inventory in QuickBooks Online, check out this article: 

• Inventory management.
• Set up and track your inventory in QuickBooks Online

You might also want to check for the available reports that will help you see the product cost, the product on hand, and more: Use reports to see your sales and inventory status.

Anything else you need help with can be answered here in the Community. Just let me know and I'd be happy to assist. Have a good one.