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noj_
March 17, 2023
Question

Inventory Start Over

  • March 17, 2023
  • 1 reply
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Our inventory right now is a mess, duplicate items with different part numbers, negative quantities, a naming convention that has no rules, etc. and I've been tasked with rebuilding the system. This mainly means creating a new universal naming convention, taking a fresh inventory, and plugging in the values (basically creating a whole new inventory)

 

Our plan is to implement this at the beginning of the fiscal year, so this gives us 7 months to set it up. I understand that all the parts are linked to invoices and estimates, so deleting everything is not the answer (and also impossible). Our plan is to eventually make everything inactive once all the old invoices are paid, and any new invoices or estimates will use the new naming convention. 

 

I am going to create new item names, take the inventory, and use those items on all new estimates beginning Jan 1 as if it's a whole new business, completely ignoring the old names. Once we are using the new items, I will manually change the old items quantity to 0 and once all the invoices are paid and settled make everything inactive. In theory this will give us a fresh inventory moving forward.

 

Can anyone advise me on what can go wrong doing this process, or if there's a better way to do it (other than starting a whole new QB account from scratch). I know this is going to be a lot of work on my end, I'm considering using a barcode scanner to help, so any thoughts on that would be beneficial as well.

 

Thanks for any advice and help,

 

Jon

1 reply

JaeAnnC
JaeAnnC
March 17, 2023

You've come to the right place for advice, @noj_.

 

Let me share information about the Advanced Inventory feature in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), so you can start tracking your items with a fresh start.

 

When you enable Advanced Inventory in QBDT, you can track inventory stored at various sites or locations. This way, you can store items in multiple warehouses, trucks, different areas within a warehouse, consignment locations, or at outside manufacturers. You'll have to correctly configure the Advanced Inventory feature to ensure that your quantity on hand by the site is accurate.

 

Furthermore, negative inventory occurs when you enter sales transactions before the corresponding purchase. For example, when you sell an item unavailable from your stock. You can fix them by following the instructions in this article: Fix negative inventory issues in QuickBooks Desktop.

 

I also appreciate you considering the use of a barcode scanner. With Advanced Inventory, you can use barcodes to make data entry in QBDT faster and easier. Once you've assigned barcodes to items, you can scan them whenever you buy or sell them. You can also use barcode scanners to change the number of items on hand.

 

In addition, you can utilize reports to get valuable insights on the goods you buy and sell, as well as your inventory status. This way, you can identify the best sellers, what's on hand, the cost of goods, and more.

 

Feel free to get back to us if you need additional assistance managing your inventory in QBDT. The Community is open 24/7 to address your concerns. Stay safe, and have a great rest of the day!

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