How to Use Bin Locations in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

Before you start

• You need QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise with Advanced Inventory. Intuit lists bin or lot tracking among its features and says Enterprise users can buy or subscribe to it.
• Intuit covers bin locations (rows, shelves or bins) as part of multiple inventory sites, so turn sites on first.
• Inventory and purchase orders are active has to be checked in Items & Inventory preferences.
• Intuit's steps for turning on multiple sites start in single-user mode, so pick a time when nobody else is in the file.
• Agree on bin names before you start, so receivers, pickers and counters use the same ones.

Step 1: Turn on sites and bin tracking

1. 1Go to File > Switch to Single-user Mode.
2. 2Go to Edit > Preferences, select Items & Inventory, then the Company Preferences tab.
3. 3Make sure Inventory and purchase orders are active is checked.
4. 4Select Advanced Inventory Settings. If sites aren't on yet, select Multiple Inventory Sites is enabled and choose a starting site.
5. 5Turn on bin tracking in the same window. Intuit lists bin tracking as an Advanced Inventory feature, but the cited articles don't give the setting's exact name.
6. 6Select OK in both windows.

If Advanced Inventory Settings is grayed out after you bought it, go to Help > Manage my License > Sync License Data Online, then reopen QuickBooks. The Intuit help articles cited here don't describe how to create the bins themselves. Setting up the sites is covered in How to track inventory by site.

Step 2: Record the bin when stock comes in

• Purchase orders: a Location column appears. Each purchase order covers one site.
• Bills, checks and credit card charges: a Location column appears, and one form can put stock into several bins.
• Purchase Order Management Worksheet: with multiple sites on, you assign a receiving bin location before sending a purchase order for receiving.

The Purchase Order Management Worksheet isn't available once Enhanced Inventory Receiving is on. See How to receive inventory against a purchase order and How to use Enhanced Inventory Receiving.

Step 3: Record the bin when stock goes out

• Sales orders, invoices and sales receipts: a Location column appears, and one sales form can sell from several bins.
• Statement charges: enter the bin location in the Site field.
• Assemblies: Build Assembly gets an Assembly Location field for the finished item, and components get a Location column.
• Picklists from the Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet: a BIN column shows where to pick. When an item has a default bin location for purchasing and sales, choosing a site fills in the BIN.
• On the QuickBooks Desktop mobile app, pickers can sort a picklist by bin and add a note when they pick from another bin.

The picking steps are in How to use the Sales Order Fulfillment Worksheet.

Step 4: Move stock from one bin to another

1. 1Go to Inventory > Transfer Inventory.
2. 2Enter the Date and a Reference No.
3. 3Choose the site in Transfer from and again in to. For a move within one warehouse, it's the same site.
4. 4Add the items, then set the bin locations and the quantity on each line.
5. 5Enter the reason in Memo, then select Save & Close.

Moves between warehouses use the same form. See How to transfer inventory between sites.

Step 5: Report and count by bin

1. 1Go to Reports > Inventory > Items by Bin Location. The report only appears if you track bin locations.
2. 2For a count, go to Inventory > Cycle Count and select Create new cycle count.
3. 3An item kept in three bins becomes three lines on the count, so the counter works bin by bin.

Counting and posting the differences is covered in How to run cycle counts in Advanced Inventory.

Details that trip people up

• Bins belong to a site. Even a move between two bins in one warehouse needs that site in both Transfer from and to.
• A purchase order covers one site, but a bill or a sales form can cover several sites and bins.
• The cited Intuit articles don't say which bin existing stock sits in when you turn bin tracking on. Run Items by Bin Location to see.
• The BIN column on a picklist is optional. With no bin on a line, the picker has to know where the item is kept.
• Turning off multiple sites keeps the site data, but hides site columns, fields and reports.

Where QuickBooks Desktop leaves the work to you

• Every receipt, sale and transfer needs the right bin, or Items by Bin Location shows stock where it isn't.
• Moves inside the warehouse only show once someone enters a transfer.
• A picklist's BIN fills in only from a default bin location. The cited articles don't describe setting those defaults, so keeping them current is on your team.
• Each item in each bin is its own cycle count line, so more bins means more lines to count.
• Bin names, shelf labels and the layout itself are yours to plan.