Which Inventory Reports to Run in QuickBooks Desktop

Before you start

• Inventory reports appear only when inventory is on: Edit > Preferences > Items & Inventory > Company Preferences, then Inventory and purchase orders are active.
• Decide what you're asking: what stock is worth, how many you have, what to count or what's waiting to be built. Each report answers one of those.
• Set the dates on purpose. Comparing with the Balance Sheet, or looking for negative stock, needs Dates set to All.
• Pending Builds only matters if you use inventory assemblies, which need Premier, Enterprise or Accountant.

The core inventory reports

Step 1: See what your stock is worth

1. 1Go to Reports > Inventory > Inventory Valuation Summary.
2. 2Set the date you want the value as of.
3. 3Double-click any item to open its Inventory Valuation Detail, with that item's transactions in date order.
4. 4To compare with the Balance Sheet, set Dates to All on both and run the Balance Sheet on an accrual basis.

If the totals differ, see How to fix an inventory valuation mismatch. For how purchases and sales post, see What is the Inventory Asset account in QuickBooks Desktop.

Step 2: See how many you have

1. 1Go to Reports > Inventory > Inventory Stock Status by Item.
2. 2Review the quantity for each item.
3. 3If you build assemblies, read the For Assemblies column. It lists components already needed by pending builds.
4. 4Enter purchase orders for those components before you build.

To turn quantities into buying decisions, see How to set reorder points.

Step 3: Count stock and record the differences

1. 1Go to Reports > Inventory > Physical Inventory Worksheet.
2. 2Print it, or use the Excel button and Create New Worksheet to work from a spreadsheet.
3. 3Count each item and write the number on the sheet.
4. 4Enter the differences in Vendors > Inventory Activities > Adjust Quantity/Value on Hand.
5. 5Run Inventory Valuation Summary and Inventory Stock Status by Item to confirm the new numbers.

The adjustment steps are in How to adjust inventory quantity and value. In Enterprise with Advanced Inventory, you can count part of the warehouse at a time. See How to run cycle counts in Advanced Inventory.

Step 4: Finish builds that were waiting on parts

1. 1Go to Reports > Inventory > Pending Builds.
2. 2Double-click a build that now has its components.
3. 3Select Remove Pending Status, then Build & Close.
4. 4Create the invoice from the customer's sales order once the assembly is built.

A build becomes pending when you choose Mark Pending in Build Assemblies because components are short. Show Shortage in that window lists what to reorder. For the build steps, see How to set up a bill of materials and build assemblies.

Reports only Enterprise has

The turnover ratio is cost of goods sold for the period divided by average inventory value. Average inventory is the beginning and ending values added together, then halved. In Intuit's example, a year's cost of goods sold is $5,000 and average inventory is $2,000. That gives a ratio of 2.5, or 146 days to sell through stock.

For sites and bins, see How to track inventory by site and How to use bin locations in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise. For margin by item, see How to use the Item Profitability report.

Making the reports more useful

• Select Customize Report to change dates, columns and filters. Intuit notes the available columns and filters differ by report.
• In Enterprise with item categories, Inventory Valuation Summary and Inventory Stock Status by Item can group items by category. Select Hide Category to switch back to items only.
• In Enterprise, the Physical Inventory Worksheet can show a category column, turned on in Customize Report.
• Use the Excel button on a report to send it to a new worksheet.
• In QuickBooks Accountant and Enterprise, Client Data Review's Troubleshoot Inventory tool lists items that went negative in a date range.

To save a customized version, see How to create and memorize custom reports. For categories, see How to use item categories in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise.

Where QuickBooks Desktop leaves the work to you

• Reports show only what's been entered. Unrecorded receipts, sales or breakage make every one of them wrong.
• Someone has to run them, compare them and act on what they show.
• The worksheet doesn't count anything. People still walk the shelves and key in each difference.
• Many of the most useful views, such as turnover, lot status and site reports, need Enterprise, and some need Advanced Inventory.