Get started with inventory

Inventory tracking is available only in QuickBooks Plus.

You can use QuickBooks to track the items you keep in inventory and sell to your customers. If your business purchases or makes items for resale, keeps them in inventory, and then sells them, QuickBooks can track quantities on hand and the value of your inventory after every purchase and sale.

Why track inventory in QuickBooks?

• When you use purchase orders to buy inventory items, QuickBooks updates your inventory, so you know which items are on order and when they're due to be received
• You can easily keep track of the cost to you of the items you have sold (the cost of goods sold)
• You can easily keep track of the income you receive from the sale of inventory items
• You always know your current quantities on hand
• You always know the current value of your inventory

To turn on inventory tracking:

1. Click the Gear icon > Company Settings (or Account and Settings depending on what you see).
2. Click Sales.
3. Edit the Products and services section and select Track inventory quantity on hand.
4. Click Save.

To add your inventory items:

You can save time by importing items from an Excel or CSV file. Learn how

1. Click the Gear icon > Products and Services.
2. Click New.
3. Click Inventory.
4. Enter the name of the item.
5. (Optional) If you want to track the item’s SKU, enter it. What is a SKU?
6. (Optional) Upload a picture of the item. 
1. Click the image box.
2. Find the image you want to upload.
3. Click Open.
7. (Optional) If you want to track the item by category, click the drop-down arrow and select a category, or select Add New to create a new one. Learn more about Categories

If you don't see the Category field, don't worry. It's coming soon. We'll let you know when it's available.

8. In Initial quantity on hand, enter how many of this item you have. If you don't have any yet, enter 0.
9. In As of date, enter the date you want QuickBooks to start tracking this item's quantity on hand.

Choose the as of date carefully. You can use this item only in transactions that come after this date. Learn more

10. (Optional) In Reorder point, enter the minimum quantity you want to have on hand. Learn more
11. If necessary, click the Inventory asset account drop-down arrow and select a different asset account. We set up one for you already, but you can change it if you want to.
12. (Optional) Enter the description that customers see on sales forms.
13. (Optional) Enter the sales price or rate for this item. If the sales price or rate varies, you can leave this field blank.
14. If necessary, click the Income account drop-down arrow and select a different income account. We set up one for you already, but you can change it if you want to.
15. If you charge sales tax when you sell this item, select Is taxable. If you don't see this checkbox but need to charge sales tax, learn how to set it up.
16. (Optional) Enter the description that appears on purchase forms, like purchase orders and bills, when you order or receive this item.
17. (Optional) Enter the cost of this item.

Although you can leave the Cost field blank if the purchase price varies, we recommend that you enter the typical cost if you entered an initial quantity on hand that's greater than 0.

18. If necessary, click the Expense account drop-down arrow and select a different expense account to track the cost of goods sold. We set up one for you already, but you can change it if you want to.
19. If you need to add more inventory items, click the Save and close drop-down arrow, select Save and new, and repeat the steps to add more inventory items. Otherwise, click Save and close.

Manage your inventory

After you add your inventory items, you can run inventory reports to help you track what you’ve sold, what you need to reorder, and what your inventory is worth. For example, run the Sales by Product/Service Summary report to identify your top-selling products or services. Run inventory valuation reports to see the value of the inventory you have on hand.

To find your inventory reports:

1. In the navigation bar, click Reports.
2. Click the All Reports tab.
3. Click Manage Products and Inventory.

See all your inventory in one place on the Products and Services page. To get there, click the Gear icon > Products and Services.