{"id":147,"date":"2026-04-18T04:40:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T04:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacostasaccounting.com\/blog\/?p=147"},"modified":"2026-04-18T04:40:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T04:40:05","slug":"5-tips-for-managing-inventory-in-quickbooks-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacostasaccounting.com\/blog\/5-tips-for-managing-inventory-in-quickbooks-online\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Tips for Managing Inventory in QuickBooks Online"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running out of products? Stocking too many? How QuickBooks Online can help solve both problems<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintaining a healthy inventory of products to sell is always a balancing act. And it usually involves a lot of trial and error when your business is young. If you\u2019re selling unique products that you\u2019ve created yourself, it\u2019s not so hard. You make one, you sell it, and your inventory is gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It gets trickier if you\u2019re mass-producing the same item or buying items in bulk, or wholesale. How many will you be able to sell? Your first estimates may be wildly off base. You take those early losses and try to make better buying decisions. You want to have enough products in stock that you don\u2019t have to turn away sales, but you also don\u2019t want to tie up a lot of money in excess inventory that isn\u2019t moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a business manager, you have to learn on your own where that sweet spot is for every item you stock. It can take months or even years. QuickBooks Online can\u2019t make those buying decisions for you, but it can warn you when you\u2019re running low and when you have too much on hand that isn\u2019t selling so well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are five ways to improve that delicate balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make sure all of the inventory tracking options are turned on<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click the gear icon in the upper right and scroll down to Sales<\/strong> on the Account and Settings page<\/strong>. In the Product and services<\/strong> section, make sure all of the options are set to On<\/strong> (we\u2019ll get to price rules<\/strong> later). Be sure to click Done<\/strong> when you\u2019re finished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t skip the detail on inventory product records<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We strongly urge you to complete all fields in inventory item records.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve described the process of creating inventory item records before. You click the gear icon in the upper right corner and select Lists | Products and services<\/strong>. Click New<\/strong> in the upper right and Inventory<\/strong> in the panel that slides out from the right. You\u2019re only required to complete three fields here: Name<\/strong>, Initial<\/strong> quantity on hand<\/strong>, and As of date<\/strong>. This allows you to include those item records in transactions. QuickBooks Online will subtract items when you sell them and keep your inventory level current.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Reorder point<\/strong> field is very important. When the inventory level for that product drops to the number you specify, QuickBooks Online will let you know. In fact, when your cursor is on the QTY<\/strong> (quantity) field in an invoice, the three numbers pictured above will appear in a pop-out window (Quantity on PO<\/strong> automatically appears in the record based on your current purchase orders). Be sure you pay attention to this information when you\u2019re selling products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set up flexible pricing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There may be times when you want to temporarily lower the price of a product or products because they\u2019re just not selling. Maybe it\u2019s a seasonal issue, and you expect that sales will pick up at a later time. You can use QuickBooks Online\u2019s Price rules<\/strong>. This tool allows you to discount certain products for a specified period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say you\u2019re overstocked on fountain pumps and you want to discount them for a month to see if you can reduce your inventory level. Click the gear icon in the upper right again and select Lists | All lists | Price Rules<\/strong>. Click Create a rule<\/strong> and give it a Rule name<\/strong>. Price rules apply to all products and all customers by default. So you\u2019d leave Customer | All customers<\/strong> as is. Scroll down under Products and services<\/strong> and click Select individually<\/strong>. Under Price adjustment method<\/strong>, select Fixed amount<\/strong>. Choose Decrease<\/strong> by<\/strong> and 12, and in the next two fields, then No rounding<\/strong>. Enter the Start<\/strong> date<\/strong> and End date<\/strong> (optional).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can create <\/em>Price rules<\/em><\/strong> to decrease (or increase) prices temporarily for some or all customers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click +Add product or service<\/strong>, then click the down arrow in the field under Products<\/strong> in the lower half of the screen. Scroll down to Fountain Pump<\/strong> and select it. Your Adjusted Price<\/strong> should appear in that column. Click Apply rule<\/strong> and then save it. This price will appear automatically when you create an invoice, though you can override it, or delete it on the Price Rules<\/strong> page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use the site\u2019s inventory reports<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you might imagine, QuickBooks Online offers excellent templates for inventory reports that you should be running on a regular basis. We talked about how the site alerts you to low stock levels when you\u2019re creating invoices. But you should study the big picture on occasion. These reports are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n