How to Transfer Inventory Between Sites in QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

Before you start

• You need QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise with Advanced Inventory, and multiple inventory sites turned on.
• Set up both sites first in Lists > Inventory Site List. Intuit counts warehouses, trucks, piles and staging areas as sites.
• Know how many units of each item are moving. If you're not sure, count them before you enter the transfer.
• If serial or lot numbers are mandatory on inventory transfers in your file, have the numbers ready.
• A USB barcode scanner set up in Advanced Inventory can add items to the transfer form.

If your sites aren't set up yet, start with How to track inventory by site. It covers turning on sites and moving opening stock off the starting site. Scanner setup is in How to set up and use barcode scanning.

Step 1: Fill in the top of the Transfer Inventory form

1. 1Go to Inventory > Transfer Inventory.
2. 2Enter the Date the stock moved.
3. 3Enter a Reference No. your team can search for later.
4. 4Choose a Class if you use class tracking.
5. 5In Transfer from, choose the site the stock is leaving. In to, choose the site that receives it.

Step 2: Add the items and quantities

1. 1Pick an item from the Item drop-down, or select Find & Select Items to add several at once.
2. 2In Find & Select Items, check each item that's moving, then select Add Selected Items.
3. 3Enter the number of units for each line in QTY TO TRANSFER.
4. 4If you track bins, set the bin locations in the fields below the top of the form.
5. 5Enter serial or lot numbers if your file requires them on transfers.

Step 3: Add a memo and save

1. 1In Memo, note why the stock moved, such as a rebalance between warehouses.
2. 2Select Print if you want a paper copy of the transfer.
3. 3Select Save & Close, or Save & New to enter the next one.

Step 4: Repeat a transfer without retyping it

If the same items move often, copy an earlier transfer instead of building a new one.

1. 1Go to Inventory > Transfer Inventory.
2. 2Select Previous until the transfer you want appears.
3. 3Choose Edit > Duplicate Inventory Transfer, then select OK.
4. 4Check the date, sites and quantities, then select Save & Close.

Step 5: Review stock by site

• Reports > Inventory > Quantity on Hand by Site: units at each site.
• Reports > Inventory > Inventory Valuation Summary by Site: units and value at each site.
• Reports > Inventory > Inventory Stock Status by Site: stock status for each site.
• Reports > Inventory > Items by Bin Location: stock in each bin. It only shows if you track bin locations.
• Reports > Inventory > Pending Builds by Site.
• Reports > Sales > Inventory Sales by Site, and Reports > List > Inventory Site Listing.

Each site can have its own reorder point, set in Lists > Inventory Site List with Activities > Set Reorder Points. Intuit notes that site reorder points don't add up to the item's overall reorder point. See How to set reorder points.

Goods that take days to arrive

The Intuit articles cited here don't describe an in-transit status for transfers. The form moves stock from the Transfer from site to the to site. If goods spend days on the road, here is a workaround we suggest. It isn't a QuickBooks feature. Set up a separate site for stock in transit, since Intuit lists trucks and staging areas as sites. Transfer the goods to that site when they leave, then on to the destination when they arrive.

Moving stock between bins inside one warehouse uses the same form. See How to use bin locations.

Common problems

• Advanced Inventory Settings is grayed out after you bought it: go to Help > Manage my License > Sync License Data Online, then close and reopen QuickBooks.
• Moving between bins in one site: choose that site in both Transfer from and to, then set the bins in the fields below.
• Site columns and reports have disappeared: check whether multiple inventory sites were turned off. QuickBooks keeps the site data but hides it.
• Sites turned back on after a break: assign a temporary site to everything entered while they were off, then transfer that stock to the real sites.
• QuickBooks asks for serial or lot numbers: the mandatory setting can cover inventory transfers. Enter the numbers before you save.
• A site's count is wrong, not moved: use Inventory > Adjust Quantity/Value on Hand, which has its own Inventory Site field.

Count corrections are covered in How to adjust inventory quantity and value.

Where QuickBooks Desktop leaves the work to you

• QuickBooks only knows stock moved once someone enters the transfer. Until then, site reports show it at the old site.
• The cited articles describe no in-transit step. Stock on the road waits to be entered, unless you use the separate in-transit site suggested above.
• Each line needs the right quantity, and the right bin if you track bins.
• The cited articles describe no step for confirming that a transfer arrived. Comparing what arrived with what was sent is up to your team.
• Site reorder points are kept per site and don't roll up, so both levels need upkeep.