The Item Details Section Has Disappeared from My QuickBooks Online (QBO)!
When you buy goods from your vendors and stock them in your warehouse, you record the purchase in your books. You debit the inventory asset account on your balance sheet — or debit cost of goods sold directly if you expense items at the point of purchase — and credit either accounts payable or your cash/bank account, depending on your payment terms.
When you sell to a customer, you issue a sales invoice or receipt. You debit accounts receivable (or cash), and credit your revenue account. Simultaneously, if you debit inventory assets rather than cost of goods sold upon purchase, you debit cost of goods sold and credit the inventory asset account to reflect the stock leaving your warehouse.
This process of recording financial transactions is called accounting — the language of business finance that helps owners and accountants measure a company’s financial health.
But what about the quantity and the specific products you have in your warehouse?
To give you a clearer picture of what you have and how much of each item you own, the accounting system evolved and introduced an inventory management module — a system to track your inventory.
That is, when you purchase goods from a vendor, you are not just debiting the inventory assets account, but also entering the purchasing details, such as:
| Product Code | Descriptions | Quantity | Unit Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| P100 | Brand ABC 2-in-1 instant Chocolate Malt with Milk | 100 bags | $5.00 |
| P153 | Brand DEF Oolong Tea 12 x 300ml | 80 Cartons | $4.20 |
An inventory system gives you an overview of what you have and the quantity of each item in stock.
How Should One Enter Purchases in QuickBooks Online (QBO)?
Click the Create button in the QBO navigator, then select Bill. In the Bill window, after you have entered the vendor, the date, and the bill reference, you will see a Category Details section and an Item Details section in the middle of the bill transaction.
Category Details
The Category Details section lets you select the ledger account for the transaction. For example, you may select Rent Expense when recording a bill from your landlord, Insurance for a bill from your insurance company, or Cost of Sales when expensing the purchase of goods.
Item Details
If you want to track the specific products and services you purchased, use the Item Details section instead. Here you can select the product, enter the quantity, unit price, and GST rate.
For example, entering:
| Product Code | Descriptions | Quantity | Unit Price | Amount | GST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P100 | Brand ABC 2-in-1 instant Chocolate Malt with Milk | 100 bags | $5.00 | $500.00 | TX 9% |
| P153 | Brand DEF Oolong Tea 12 x 300ml | 80 Cartons | $4.20 | $336.00 | TX 9% |
…will prompt QuickBooks Online to update the quantity and price in your item list and post the appropriate value to the ledger account: debit Inventory Assets and credit Accounts Payable.
I Can Only See Category Details — Where Are Item Details?
In some regions, QuickBooks Online does not enable the Item Details section by default when you subscribe. To enable it, click the Gear icon in the top-right corner and select Account and Settings.
In the Account and Settings page, go to the Expenses section, then under Bills and Expenses, tick the checkbox labelled “Show item table on expense and purchase forms”. Click Save and exit the settings page.
Now return to your Bill transaction (or Cheque or Expenses page). The Item Details section will appear below the Category Details section.
Inventory versus Non-Inventory
Item Details lets you select either a service or a product item. For products, you can choose between inventory and non-inventory items.
For example, a computer accessories reseller may track hubs, switches, cables, and monitors as inventory items, while packing materials such as paper bags are recorded as non-inventory items. A contractor may use non-inventory parts as consumable supplies, such as safety gear, nuts, bolts, screws, or materials consumed on a job. An online retailer may use non-inventory parts for drop-shipped goods, or a trader may use them as a back-to-back product.
In short, non-inventory parts are items you buy and sell but do not need to track their on-hand quantities and values.
Summary
Although QuickBooks Online is designed for small businesses, its inventory module gives business owners a useful picture of what is kept in their warehouses or stores, letting you know whether you are over- or under-stocked.
If you cannot find the Item Details section on your Bill or Expenses page, don’t panic — it simply needs to be switched on.