In our last QuickBooks Online tutorial article, we learned how to create records for products and services. Now, we’ll discuss where they’re used in QuickBooks Online.
In Part 1 of this series, we reviewed two product-related concepts in QuickBooks Online. If you haven't had a chance to read Part 1 yet, we recommend starting here to get up to speed on how to prepare your QuickBooks platform for creating and using product and service records.
Working with Products and Services
In Part 2, we'll start on the Products and services screen. This is a comprehensive table, a dashboard (or home page) for your products and services. It displays real-time information about your items’ pricing and inventory levels, as well as their type and tax status. At the top of the page, you’ll see big, colorful buttons that provide a total of the number of items that are low on stock or out of stock. When you click on one, a list of those products appears.
QuickBooks Online’s Products and services page displays inventory levels and warns you when your stock is low and at zero.
Each row on this screen contains details about the item listed, like Description, Sales Price and Cost, and Qty On Hand. If you look down at the end of the row, you’ll see options for several types of Actions: Edit, Make inactive, Run report, and Duplicate. Click the gear icon above the table to modify the columns in the table.
The More menu at the top of the screen contains more options: Manage categories, Run reports, and Price rules. If you want to know what actions you can take on multiple items simultaneously, check the box in front of each and click the Batch actions menu, over to the right (Adjust quantity, Reorder, etc.).
Warning: Be very cautious using the Adjust quantity option. There are legitimate reasons for employing it, but you need to make very sure that you understand how this will affect other areas of your accounting. If you're thinking of using this feature, please contact us first.
Using Products and Services in Transactions
Once you start using product and service records in transactions, you’ll see why we suggested that you create those early on and make them as comprehensive as possible. While you can add products and services in the process of creating an invoice, for example, it’s much easier if you have them ready to go.
Let’s look at a sales receipt to see how this works. Click +New in the upper right corner and select Sales receipt. Select a Customer in the first field and verify that the related fields on the form were filled out correctly. Check and make any changes necessary in the Sales receipt date, Payment method, and Deposit to fields.
Once you’ve built up a list of products and services, they’ll be available when you create transactions.
Enter the Service Date, and then click the down arrow in the field under Product/Service. The top of the list has an entry labeled +Add new. Click it if you need to add a product or service on the fly, or just select the existing one that you want. QuickBooks Online will fill in the Rate, Amount, and Tax (status). You only have to enter the Qty (quantity) that you’re selling.
If you have more items or services to add, you can do so on the next line(s). When you’re done, check the numbers in the lower right and save the transaction. QuickBooks Online will adjust your inventory to account for any items you just sold. You can see this change by going back to the Products and Services screen. Or you can run reports, including:
Sales by Product/Service
Product/Service List
Inventory Valuation Detail
Physical Inventory Worksheet
Tip: If you have more complex inventory needs, such as buying and selling in alternate units of measure or creating assemblies, reach out to us for a consultation. We can provide guidance on the best add-on applications that will meet your specific needs.
Supply Chain Woes?
It seems that the serious global supply chain problems many businesses experienced in the past few months have eased up some, but if you're still having trouble stocking select items, QuickBooks Online can help ensure that you know ahead of time when you must reorder. Its inventory-tracking capabilities can also alert you to items that aren’t selling well, so you can avoid overstocking those products. Having the ability to pull up product and service records when you’re creating transactions will save time and keep your inventory levels accurate. Please let us know if you need assistance with this element of your accounting – or any of QuickBooks Online’s other tools.
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