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This guide explains how to set up and follow your stock levels in QuickBooks® Online Plus.
Inventory tracking in QuickBooks Online software covers the basics most small businesses need: you can see how many units you hold, get a warning when stock is running low, and review what you buy and sell over time. Items you don't stock, such as services or consumables, can be set up as well so they are ready to pick on your sales forms. Below we go through the setup in five steps.
Note that inventory tracking is part of the QuickBooks Online Plus plan (and higher plans). If you are on a lower plan, you will need to move to a plan that includes inventory before you can use these features.
Step 1: Switch on the inventory settings
Inventory tracking is turned off by default. To enable it:
- Open Settings ⚙ and choose Account and Settings.
- Go to the Sales tab.
- In the Products and services section, click Edit ✎.
- Enable Show Product/Service column on sales forms.
- Enable Track quantity and price/rate as well as Track inventory quantity on hand.
- Click Save, then Done.
Step 2: Create your product and service items
With the settings on, build your item list. Every item you add can be selected as a line on invoices and receipts, which saves typing. QuickBooks Online software uses a different item type depending on how you want each one handled:
Items whose stock you want to count
- Inventory items: physical goods you sell where you want the software to keep a running quantity on hand.
Items you sell or buy without counting stock
- Service items: work you charge customers for, such as consulting, cleaning or bookkeeping.
- Non-inventory items: goods you purchase or sell but don't need to count, for example screws or cable ties used on a job.
- Bundles: a set of products and/or services sold together, such as a hamper or a starter kit. Adding a bundle puts all of its items on the invoice or receipt in one go.
Note: Quantities are only tracked for inventory items. Services, non-inventory items and bundles do not carry a stock count.
Step 3: Record sales so stock goes down
Each time you sell an inventory item, record the sale on a sales form and the quantity on hand is reduced automatically:
- Use an invoice when the customer will pay you later.
- Use a sales receipt when the customer pays at the time of sale.
See stock levels while you work
While you are filling in an invoice, sales receipt or other transaction, hover over the quantity of an item to see how many are on hand and how many are already on order.
If you enter a reorder point (low-stock alert level) on an item, the software flags it once stock drops to that level.
Note: For a full list of quantities on hand, open Sales and then the Products and services tab, or run an inventory report.
Step 4: Reorder stock
When an item reaches its reorder point, you can raise a purchase order to your supplier from inside QuickBooks Online software. As you record the goods received against it, the quantity on hand goes up and you can see what is still outstanding on order.
Step 5: Review your inventory reports
Built-in reports show your top-selling items, current stock levels, cost of goods sold and more, so you can check the health of your inventory at any time.
