When you choose an item throughout QuickBooks, such as on an invoice, QuickBooks fills in a description of the line item and calculates its amount for you. Add items to your Items list so you can select them in other areas of QuickBooks.
To add or edit an item:
1 Choose Lists > Items.
2 Add a new item or open an existing item.
o To add new Item, click the + menu at the bottom of the item list. o To edit an existing item:
§ Double-click the item name.
§ Or select the name of the item and click the Edit button at the bottom of the list.
§ Or in the Items list, Control-click the name of the item you want to edit and choose Edit Item from the shortcut menu.
3 From the Type pop-up menu, choose the item type. I’ll go into what to enter for each
item type in the following sections. One thing to keep in mind is that, you can change an item's type only under these circumstances:
o Service, Non-inventory Part, or Other Charge. A service, non-inventory part, other charge, or inventory part item. If you are changing the item to an inventory part item, the “as of” date you enter for the total value of the item must be a date that is AFTER the date of the last transaction that uses the item. Note: You cannot change a Service item to any other type. You can change Charge and Non-Inventory parts to Service and Inventory types.
o Anything else. Nothing else. You must leave the item type as it is.
4 Enter the item name, as you want it to appear on purchase and sales forms.
5 Enter the item description, as you want it to appear on purchase and sales forms. You
can enter multiple lines for your description, up to 4095 characters. Use Option- Return to put in a line break.
7 In the Account field, choose the account that is associated with this item. (In most
cases, you will assign the item to an income account.)
8 Click OK or Next (if you want to enter another item).
Creating service, non-inventory part, or other charge items
QuickBooks provides three different item types for products or services that you EITHER buy or sell.•
Service—Services that you either charge for or purchase. Examples include specialized laborand consulting.
•
Non-inventory Part—Materials or parts you buy but don't keep on hand as inventory. Thesecan be either part of your overhead (for example, office supplies), or they can be materials you buy to finish a specific job and charge back to your customer.
•
Other Charge—Miscellaneous charges that are not services, labor, materials, or parts.Examples include delivery fees, setup fees, and service charges.
If you have products or services that you both purchase and sell, see the information about inventory items and subcontracted services.
To create items for non-inventory sales or purchases:
1 Decide whether the new item will represent purchases or sales. It CANNOT represent
both.
o Purchases—You'll be able to use the item on purchase orders and create purchase reports that show units purchased and amounts spent by item.
o Sales—You'll be able to use the item on sales forms and create sales reports that show units sold and sales by item.
2 Choose Lists > Items.
3 Choose New from the Action pop-up menu ().
4 From the Type list in the New Item window, choose the item type.
5 Enter an item name or number. What you enter here appears on the list of items when
you are filling out a sales form or purchase order. Enter a name or number that will help you distinguish this item from all the others on the list.
6 Enter a description of the item. The description prefills on sales forms or purchase
orders when you use the item. Enter the description, as you would like your customers — or vendors — to see it.
o Service—The RATE for the service. The amount can be either a flat fee or an hourly rate. If you purchase this service, enter the vendor's rate. If you sell this service, enter the rate you charge your customers.
o Non-inventory part—The PRICE of the part. If you purchase this part, enter the vendor's price. If you sell this part, enter the price you charge your customers. o Other charge—The AMOUNT of the charge. You can enter either a dollar amount or
a percentage. If the amount is a percentage, be sure to include a % sign. o Enter an account for the item:
o Sales—The name of the INCOME account you use to track income from this item. o Purchases—The name of the EXPENSE account you use to track purchases of this
item.
8 (Sales only) If you don't charge sales tax for this item, clear the Taxable checkbox. 9 (Optional) Fill in any custom fields that apply to this item.
10 To mark an item as inactive, select the Inactive checkbox. 11 Click OK.