QuickBooks Enterprise has provided you with multiple ways to identify your items/inventory including:
- Item name/number
- Purchase description
- Sales description
- Manufacturer’s part number
- Serial or lot numbers (for Advanced Inventory users)
- Barcodes (for Advanced Inventory users)
- Custom fields
But only the Item Name/Number field allows you to configure a hierarchy of items by creating sub-items of an item. But nothing prevented a user from selecting the parent item rather than being required to choose only sub-items.
Furthermore, QuickBooks provided no way to effectively track or report on items using the item/sub-item convention. So, there was no effective way to really use this type of tracking.
QuickBooks Enterprise v23 includes Inventory Item Categories, which offers a more effective way to manage inventory classification and even permits establishment of a hierarchical system for Inventory items by creating up to four (4) subcategory levels.
With Inventory Item Categories, QuickBooks Enterprise users can:
- Create categories for their inventory items
- Establish a hierarchy for their categories with up to four (4) levels of subcategories
- Assign a category or subcategory to inventory items
- Run reports based on inventory categories (or subcategories)
And, with the Maintenance Release 3 (R3) to Enterprise (v23), a variety of enhancements have been made to this feature, including a new Category Center to help users better manage this new functionality. This article will examine some of the new enhancements and review some of the basic functionalities that have been tweaked, as well.
Inventory Item Categories
To use Inventory Item Categories, inventory and purchase orders must be active in Items and Inventory Company Preferences.
Activating Inventory Item Categories
The Company file Admin must activate the Company preference for this feature:
(1) Log in to QuickBooks Enterprise as the Company file Admin in Single-user mode
(2) From the Edit menu, choose Preferences
(3) On the Preferences menu, select Items & Inventory
(4) Choose Company Preferences
Source: Image captured from a Pre-release of QuickBooks Enterprise (v23).
(5) Check the Activate categories box in the Categorize Items section
(6) Click "OK" and confirm you want to save your preference change
Manage Inventory Item Categories
There are multiple category related operations you can perform from the Item list.
Create Categories
(1) Go to Lists and select Manage Category. The new Category Center opens (as shown below).
(2) Select Manage Categories then select Add new category.
(3) Enter the category name. If you have a parent category, you can select "Is a Subcategory of" to create a new sub-category.
(4) Enter an optional description.
(5) When you are done, select OK.
Edit Categories
(1) Go to Lists and select Manage Category.
(2) Right-click on the category you wish to edit and select Edit category.
(3) You will see the category name. It also will show if the category Is a subcategory of any parent category.
(4) Now, you can edit the category, by changing the name, path or description.
(5) When you are done, select OK.
Assigning Items to Categories
Users can assign categories to their Inventory Items either item-by-item as they are organizing their items, or they can assign multiple inventory items to a category in a batch process if they have predetermined how they want their categorizations to be used.
We will look at the item-by-item assignment procedure first, and then look at the batch assignment process.
Assigning an Individual Item to a Category
Users can assign categories to their Inventory Items.
(1) Access the Item list from the Lists or Inventory menu of QuickBooks Enterprise.
(2) From the Item drop-down menu, select either Add or Edit Item.
(3) To add a category to an existing item, select the Item you wish to edit.
(4) The Edit Item window will be displayed.
(5) The Category field shows “Uncategorized.”
(6) Click on the Category field drop-down.
(7) From the list of Categories displayed, select the category/sub-category you wish to use.
(8) Your selected category/sub-category now is displayed in the Item information window.
(9) Click "OK" to save your information and return to the Item list.
As an alternative, you could add a new category to the Category list directly from the Add or Edit Item window. Rather than follow the steps above, when you click on the Category field drop-down, you would follow the steps below:
- Select <Add New>.
- Enter the category name you wish to create in the Category field.
- Checkmark “Is a subcategory of” (only if you have an existing parent category).
- If a subcategory, select the parent category from the subcategory drop-down list.
- Add a Description for the new category (or subcategory); the description is optional.
- Save when you are done.
In either case, selecting from an existing Category or adding a new one, you will need to make sure to click "OK" to save the edits you have made to your inventory item.
Assign Multiple Inventory Items to an Inventory Item Category
You can assign multiple items from one category to another as a batch, if needed.
(1) Go to Lists and select Manage Category.
When the Category Center opens, select the Category you wish to move items from.
Check-mark each of the items you want moved from the category you selected.
Select Batch Actions below the list, then choose Move to a different category.
Choose the new category/sub-category where you want the items to be moved.
When you are done, select Save.
You will be asked to confirm the items to be moved. Select OK.
Additional Inventory Classification Maintenance
Delete Categories
(1) Go to Lists and select Manage Category.
(2) Right-click on the category you want to delete.
(3) Select Delete category.
(4) Make sure you move any items in that category or in its sub-categories before you can delete the category.
(5) To confirm, select Yes, delete.
Filter Find and Select Items by Category
Users can filter the "find and select" items to enter transactions faster using categories.
Follow these steps:
- Once you are in a transaction window, you can select item.
- Select Find and Select items.
- Select Filter items by category.
- Select the category/sub-category.
- Select the item of choice from this trimmed list.
Inventory Reports with Classification Information
You can run various Inventory item reports and include the new Category field in the following reports. If the category field does not already show in these reports, enable it by selecting Category from the Column selector within the Customize Report option.
- Inventory Valuation Summary (Hierarchical view)
Source: Image captured from a Pre-release of QuickBooks Enterprise (v23).
- Inventory Valuation Summary (Flat view)
- Inventory Valuation Summary by Site
- Inventory Stock Status by Item
- Physical Inventory Worksheet
- Item Price List
- Item List Report
Item Categorization still is a work-in-progress. Please use the Send Feedback feature inside QuickBooks Enterprise to let the development team working with this feature know what you think and what enhancements you feel would benefit this feature.
Who has Access to This Feature
Inventory Categories are available to all QuickBooks Enterprise (v 23) subscribers, including Enterprise Accountant subscribers, in both the US and Canada. Because of substantial improvements made to the feature in Release 3 (R3), the feature actually is being deactivated from the initial Release 1 (R1) versions of Enterprise v23.
Disclosures
Adapted from Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise v23 R3 and related content. Source materials were adapted by Insightful Accountant solely for educational purposes.
As used herein, QuickBooks, QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Enterprise (both US and Canada) refer to one or more registered trademarks of Intuit Inc.; a NASDAQ publicly traded "INTU" corporation, headquartered in Mountain View, California (USA).
Any or all other trade names used herein, including any other vendor (app/software) products discussed within this article, may be registered, trademarked or otherwise held by their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged. They have been referenced for informational and educational purposes only.
This is an editorial feature, not sponsored content. No vendor within this article has paid Insightful Accountant or the Author any remuneration to be included within this feature. This article is provided solely for informational and educational purposes.
Publication of this article does not represent an endorsement by either the author or Insightful Accountant.
Note: Registered Trademark ® and Copyright © symbols have been eliminated whereever practical from this article for brevity due to the frequency or abundance with which they might otherwise appear or be repeated. Every attempt is made to credit such trademarked products or copyrighted materials within the respective article footnotes and disclosures.
Like what you're reading?
Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and we'll deliver content like this directly to your inbox.