Items & Services
Items & Services (sidebar, or Lists → Items & Services) is the list of things you buy and sell. The same Consulting item can go on every invoice to a consulting client; the same Widget item can be ordered, received, sold, and counted, all from one record.
For stock tracking, costing, purchase orders, and adjustments, see Inventory.
The three item types
| Type | Tracks quantity? | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Service | No | Time, expertise, anything that isn't a physical thing |
| Inventory | Yes | Physical goods you stock and resell |
| Non-Inventory | No | Goods you sell but don't stock — drop-ship, special order, custom builds |
- Service items post to an income account when sold.
- Inventory items post to three accounts: the inventory asset when you receive them, and income plus cost of goods sold when you sell them. Quantity on hand is tracked and cost flows by FIFO or average cost.
- Non-Inventory items post to income and an expense account, with no asset stage in between.
What an item stores
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Name | What appears in pickers |
| Type | Service, Inventory, or Non-Inventory |
| SKU | Optional part number, handy for searching |
| Description | Default line description; override per line |
| Sale Price | Default unit price on invoices and estimates |
| Purchase Price | Default unit cost on bills and purchase orders |
| Income account | Where revenue posts |
| Expense account | Cost of goods sold for inventory items; the expense for non-inventory items |
| Asset account | Inventory items only — the inventory asset account |
| Cost method | Inventory items only — FIFO or Average Cost |
| Taxable | Whether sales tax applies by default |
| Active | Inactive items drop out of pickers; history stays |
Both prices are defaults. Override them on any line — for a customer discount, a volume price, or hours billed. There are no customer price lists; type the price you agreed.
How the accounts work together
For an inventory item, the three accounts carry it from purchase to sale:
1. Buy 100 widgets at $5
DR Inventory Asset 500
CR Bank or Accounts Payable 500
2. Sell 30 widgets at $12
DR Bank or Accounts Receivable 360
CR Sales (income account) 360
3. Cost of the sale, posted automatically with it
DR Cost of Goods Sold 150
CR Inventory Asset 150
Result: Inventory Asset $350 (70 × $5), Sales $360, COGS $150, gross profit $210
Items appear on invoices, estimates, credit memos, bills, purchase orders, and inventory adjustments. Picking an item fills in its description, price, and account; everything stays editable on the line.
Custom fields
Lists → Custom Fields lets you add your own fields — text, number, date, yes/no, drop-down, or money — such as a warranty period or a manufacturer. Give each field a label, choose its type, and mark it required if every item needs it. Custom fields appear on the Items & Services form. You can deactivate a field you no longer use; existing values are kept.
Inactive items
Choose Make inactive for discontinued products, retired services, or leftovers from a migration. They disappear from pickers, but every past transaction keeps showing the item as it was. Make active brings one back. Filter the list with All Status or Inactive Only to find them.
Common gotchas
No cost of goods sold posts when you sell an item. Check the type is Inventory, not Non-Inventory, and that it has an asset account and an expense (COGS) account.
The sale price doesn't fill in on a new line. It fills only when you pick the item from the picker. Typing a description by hand doesn't pull the price.
Changing a service item into an inventory item. Past transactions were posted as a service. Make the old item inactive and create a new inventory item instead.
The picker is crowded after a migration. Mark items you don't use inactive. Most businesses actively use a few dozen.