How to See Bill of Materials Cost and Where a Component Is Used in QuickBooks Desktop

Before you start

• Assemblies are in QuickBooks Desktop Premier, Enterprise and Accountant. Pro doesn't support them, but Intuit says every edition can still open and edit existing assemblies and their transactions.
• One bill of materials can hold up to 100 items in Premier and 500 in Enterprise.
• Intuit's Enterprise 24.0 guide lists a where-used report and automatic bill of materials cost updates for Enterprise.
• Inventory has to be on: Edit > Preferences > Items & Inventory > Company Preferences, then Inventory and purchase orders are active.

If your assemblies aren't set up yet, start with how to set up a bill of materials and build assemblies.

Step 1: See what one bill of materials costs

1. 1Go to Lists > Item List and double-click the assembly.
2. 2Read the Bill of Materials section. Each line shows a component, its quantity and its cost.
3. 3Check the total bill of materials cost under the component list.
4. 4Compare it with the Cost field at the top. That is the cost you entered for the assembly, and it can include more than the parts.
5. 5Compare both with the Sales Price to check your margin.

Labor and fees only count toward the bill of materials cost if they are lines on it. Add them as Other Charge items, and parts you don't stock as Non-inventory Part items.

Enterprise: use the bill of materials total as the assembly cost

Intuit's Enterprise 24.0 guide says Enterprise can use the bill of materials total as the assembly's cost and update costs automatically. Intuit's help articles don't document the setup steps, so confirm the setting in your own company file. Otherwise, someone edits each assembly cost by hand.

Multi-level assemblies

• A subassembly is an assembly used as a line on another bill of materials. Add it like any other component.
• Intuit's Enterprise guide describes an expanded view for large bills of materials that lists every part and flags subassemblies.
• When you build, select Automatically build required subassemblies so QuickBooks builds the lower levels too.
• Intuit doesn't spell out how cost updates pass through several levels. After a component cost changes, open the top-level assembly and check its total before you quote from it.

Enterprise: find every assembly that uses a component

Intuit's Enterprise 24.0 guide describes a where-used report that lists every assembly a component is on. It says you can swap in a new item on some or all of those assemblies at once. Intuit's help articles don't document where to open it.

Step 2: See components tied up in pending builds

A pending build is saved but changes no stock until you clear it. Two reports show what is waiting.

1. 1Go to Reports > Inventory > Inventory Stock Status by Item.
2. 2Read the For Assemblies column. It shows how much of each component sits on pending builds.
3. 3Create purchase orders for the components that are short.
4. 4When the parts arrive, go to Reports > Inventory > Pending Builds.
5. 5Double-click a build that is ready, select Remove Pending Status, then select Build & Close.
6. 6Invoice the customer's sales order for the finished assembly.

With multiple inventory sites in Enterprise, run Pending Builds by Site and Inventory Stock Status by Site to see builds and stock warehouse by warehouse. Intuit says Inventory Valuation Summary by Site also includes component quantities used on assemblies and pending builds.

To reorder the short parts in one pass, see how to create purchase orders from the reorder report.

Step 3: See which components your builds used

1. 1Go to Reports > Custom Reports > Summary.
2. 2Select Customize Report and set the date range on the Display tab.
3. 3Set Display rows by to Item detail. Under Display columns for, choose Quantity, or Amount for dollars.
4. 4On the Filters tab, remove the Account filter. Add Transaction Type set to Build Assembly, and Detail Level set to All except summary.
5. 5To include pending builds, set Posting Status to Either.
6. 6Select Memorize to save the report.

Where QuickBooks Desktop leaves the work to you

• Cost roll-up through several subassembly levels needs checking by hand.
• Pending builds sit until someone clears them, and short components become purchase orders someone has to chase.
• Stock status and pending builds only reflect the sales orders already in the file.

How Logistify helps around the bill of materials

Logistify doesn't maintain your bills of materials or run builds. The Procurement Service follows up with suppliers on the purchase orders for short components and captures confirmed dates and quantities. The Sales Order Service enters customer orders into QuickBooks Desktop as sales orders, so the demand behind your builds is in the file. If your component part numbers come from supplier spreadsheets, Product Catalog Cleanup turns those spreadsheets into clean SKUs.