Learn how to organize your products and services in QuickBooks Online.
Categories can provide helpful insights into your sales and inventory when you run reports.
Create a category
Use categories to group items of the same type. If you want to be more specific with grouping items, you can also create sub-categories.
- Go to Settings ⚙, then select Products & services (Take me there).
- Select More ▼, then Manage categories.
- Select New category, then enter the name of the category.
Note: If you need a create a sub-category, select Is a sub-category checkbox and the main category. - Select Save.
Categorize the products and services you sell
You can select a category when you add a new inventory product, service, or non-inventory product.
Add an existing product or service to a category
If you have an uncategorized item, here’s how to add it to a category.
- Go to Settings ⚙, then select Products & services (Take me there).
- Find the product or service you want to categorize.
- Select Edit.
- Select the Category ▼ dropdown, then select one that fits this item. Or select + Add new to create a new one.
- Select Save and close.
How categories help on reports
When you run sales or inventory reports, products and services are grouped by category. You can expand or hide each category and quickly find details for specific items.
This way of grouping also gives you a clearer picture of your sales. See what types of services are popular. And the total for each category helps you know where the bulk of sales comes from.
Edit or remove a category
- Go to Settings ⚙, then select Products & services (Take me there).
- Select the dropdown More ▼, then Manage categories.
- Select Edit.
- Make the changes you want and select Save. Or select Remove, then OK.