Creating items for non-inventory sales or purchases

QuickBooks provides three different item types for products or services that you EITHER buy or sell.

Item type Used for...
Service Services that you either charge for or purchase. Examples include specialized labor and consulting.
Non-inventory Part Materials or parts you buy but don't keep on hand as inventory. These can 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.
    • 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.
    • 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 ( image).
  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.

  7. Enter the rate, price, or amount:
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
  8. Enter an account for the item:
    • Sales: The name of the INCOME account you use to track income from this item.
    • Purchases: The name of the EXPENSE account you use to track purchases of this item.
  9. (Sales only) If you don't charge sales tax for this item, clear the Taxable checkbox.
  10. (Optional) Fill in any custom fields that apply to this item. For more information, see custom fields.
  11. To mark an item as inactive, select the Inactive checkbox. More info