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Add product and service items

by Intuit•379• Updated 2 days ago

You can track income and expenses for each product or service in QuickBooks Online and Intuit Enterprise Suite. Enter products and services that you sell as items so they can be quickly added to sales forms. This process provides more detailed financial reports and helps you complete transactions faster.

This article focuses on setting up product and service items that you don't track as part of your inventory. If you plan to track product quantities, add them as inventory items instead.

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Understanding Product and Service Types

QuickBooks offers different item types for tracking:

Inventory: Products you sell and track quantities for. Inventory features are available in QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced.
Non-inventory: Products or items you buy or sell but don't need to track quantities for. For example, nuts and bolts used for an installation job but not sold directly.
Service: Services you provide to customers.
Bundle: Several products or services sold together as a single item, such as a gift basket.

Step 1: Add a new product or service item

You only need to create a product or service once. After creation, you can add them to sales forms as many times as necessary.

Tip: If you already track your products and services in a spreadsheet, you can save time and import them all at once.

How to set up the item details:

Follow this link to complete the steps in product
Select Non-inventory or Service.
Enter a Name for the product or service and an SKU if you track them.
From the Category ▼ dropdown, select the category that best describes your item.
(Optional) From the Classes ▼ dropdown, select or add a class for tracking purposes.
(Optional) From the Dimensions ▼ dropdown, select one or more dimensions for tracking and reporting purposes (Intuit Enterprise Suite only).

How to add sales information (if you sell the item)

Follow this link to complete the steps in product
Confirm the checkbox is selected for I sell this product/service to my customers.
- Note: If you don't sell the item, proceed to Step 2.
In the Description on sales forms field, enter a description that your customers will see on their sales form.
Enter an amount in the Sales price/rate field.
- Note: If you charge a variable rate for services, you can leave this field blank and add the price when you fill out the invoice or sales receipt.
Use the Income account ▼ dropdown to select the account you want to track the sale from. You can use an existing QuickBooks income account or select + Add new to create a new income account.
- Note: Changing an Income account mapping isn't retroactive. It only affects future transactions.
In the Sales tax section, sales tax is applied by default based on location. Select Edit sales tax for specific options, or to make the item nontaxable.
- If the product or service is tax-exempt, select Nontaxable, then select Done.
- If the item has a special tax rate, use the Search field or Browse all to find and select a more specific product or service type, then select Done.
Select Save and Close.

You can now add the product and service to invoices, sales receipts, expenses, and other sales forms. You can also track it on your financial reports.

Step 2: Add a service or product’s purchasing info

If you want to track how much you spend on a product or service:

Follow this link to complete the steps in product
Find the product or service on the list and select Edit in the Action column.
Select I purchase this product/service from a vendor.
Add a description. This shows on bills, purchase orders, and other forms you send to vendors.
Add the Cost. If the price changes, don’t worry. You can still enter the updated price when it’s time to buy supplies.
Select the account you use to track the cost of things you sell from the Expense account ▼ dropdown.
Select your preferred vendor.
Select Save and close.

Step 3: Managing Your Product and Service Items

Once you’re all set up, you can track what you buy or sell. Here's how to get started:

Edit a product or service item

You can review and make changes from the Products and Services menu.

Follow this link to complete the steps in product
Find the product or service you want to change.
Select Edit in the Action column.
Make your changes.
Select Save and close.

Change a product or service item type

If you mistakenly added an inventory item as non-inventory, or a service item as an inventory item, you can change the item's type.

Make an item inactive

You can make items inactive so they no longer appear on sales forms, lists, or financial reports. This action hides the item but doesn't delete it.

Follow this link to complete the steps in product
Find the product or service you want to change.
Use the Action column, select the ▼ dropdown, then select Make inactive.
Select Yes to confirm.

How to reactivate an item

Follow this link to complete the steps in product
Select the Filter icon.
From the Status ▼ dropdown, select All, then select Apply. This shows you all of your active and inactive items.
Find the product or service that you want to reactivate.
From the Action column, select Make active.

To help keep your customer's account secure, direct them to sign in using the link in the following step before continuing. If they are unable to sign in, help them recover their Intuit account.

Note: You can copy the direct sign-in link and give it to your customer, if needed.