QuickBooks Inventory - Managing & Tracking your inventory

Get the new video and template for use with QuickBooks 2011 Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxVhWunkKjo


As I mention in the video you can e-mail me for a free copy of the template, but if you want it right away you can download it in my knowledge center for $10:
http://nerdenterprises.com/knowledge/2011/03/inventory-tracking-template-orig...

View The Original Web Cast | http://nerdenterprises.acrobat.com/p69591167/

For more great QuickBooks Tutorials and information:
http://nerdenterprises.com/blog/category/quickbooks/

April 15, 2009
Managing and tracking your inventory

When we sell products it is important to understand the dynamics surrounding inventory and particularly how we use QuickBooks for inventory management purposes. QuickBooks average costs inventory and sometimes that is not the most accurate way to value the inventory we have on hand. This web cast goes over a template I designed in MS Excel that lets you take an inventory report from QuickBooks and export it to my template.

There are just a few steps involved in managing and updating your inventory using this template:

1.Run the product listing report in QuickBooks.
2.Customize the report to get only the columns you need and re-order them to match the template.
3.Export the report to Excel and copy and paste the exported report into the template.
4.Update your Inventory.
5.Use your ALT + TAB and Copy & Paste to post your Inventory adjustment in QuickBooks.
6.Analyze your inventory statistics in the template.

Inventory is one of the more complex areas when it comes to running a business and it is also the part of your business that carries the greatest potential weakness in terms of internal controls. That is to say that people can walk out of your warehouse with inventory, inventory can sit on the shelves and become obsolete, and it can be forgotten as new products are developed and brought out. The point is that it becomes very important to put a great deal of emphasis on this area.

Keeping on top of your inventory will help you maximize your profits by minimizing waste and theft. By tracking this on a regular basis you will be clued in to the situations where something is wrong. For example if you have one particular product that is really popular and you keep taking inventory resulting in an adjustment to that product, this might indicate that someone is walking out with the inventory. Just knowing that you are tracking this closely will be a deterrent to employees to take things so make sure you involve them in the inventory taking process.

We also suggest using a special Cost of Goods Sold Account called Inventory Adjustments (very original I know). This is so that you can run your profit & loss regularly and see what is happening with this account. Does it keep increasing? Again an indication there may be a problem worth looking into.

Analyzing the products in this template that we use will help you gain insight into which products are the most profitable in terms of Gross profit, and also which ones are actually generating the most profit based on volume.

Please enjoy the web cast!

View The Original Web Cast | http://nerdenterprises.acrobat.com/p69591167/

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• QuickBooks Inventory
• bookkeeping services
• inventory management
• QuickBooks Tutorial
• QuickBooks Instruction
• accounting for inventory
• inventory tracking

[bluesdealer]

I emailed you a couple weeks ago and have not received a reply. Is there a way I can obtain this template?

Thanks.

[nerdenterprises]

@bluesdealer Sorry I didn't see the e-mail. You can download it immediately for $10 in my knowledge store. Just visit my main website and click where it says "Knowledge Store". You can also send another e-mail and I try to get to them as often as I can. There is also a newer template that I started using in 2011 which is in there for sale with a new video. That one might work better for you.

[c4r3on]

Could you please raise the volume a little more so that I can find an excuse to buy a new pair of speakers?

[nerdenterprises]

@c4r3on Next time I record something I'll be sure and redline the inputs ;)

[npadagas408]

Do you need Quickbooks POS in a retail setting? Or can you use Quickbooks Pro without entering each transactions. With that said. With Pro, do you have to enter a Sales Receipt for the end of day sales then enter a deposit to offset A/R? We are just starting Quickbooks and we are entering information that goes back to 2010. We have the MAC version. Is it pretty much the same as the Windows version? Thank you!

[nerdenterprises]

@npadagas408 If you are not using QuickBooks POS then you have 2 choices. Enter individual sales or a daily summary. That depends on you, how much detail you want in QuickBooks and what is practical (ie if there are an exorbitant # of transactions in a day it may only be practical to do the summary). Pro for MAC can handle it. If you enter as a sales rcpt there is no A/R, but you have to deposit the net amount somewhere. It's more than I can explain right here.

[tycoonvon]

Jeez!!! You startled me. My eardrums just popped! I'll be deaf fo life!LOL

P.S. Thanks for the vid. Very helpful.

[c4r3on]

@nerdenterprises Hahaha… Thanks.

[nerdenterprises]

@TheSugarplum770 The COA or Chart of Accounts is a list of all of your accounts - your bank accounts, income accounts, expense accounts. These are the accounts that appear on your financial reports like your Balance Sheet and your Profit and Loss.

The item list is essentially your product list. these are the things you sell or otherwise charge for. The "Items" that appear in your item list each have to be linked to one of the accounts in your chart of accounts. Usually income or inventory.