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April 5, 2024
Question

How to record buying and selling of vehicle

  • April 5, 2024
  • 1 reply
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My husband is a vehicle wholesaler but as soon as he purchases a vehicle he immediately has it sold so there is no depreciation attached to it. For example, on 3/15 he purchases vehicle for $150k and on 3/17 he sells it for $175k. How would I record the purchase and sell of the vehicle?

1 reply

April 5, 2024

It's not that complex but it's very important to know if your husband uses cash or accrual based accounting. This will slightly change how you record the transactions... 

Jlink2Author
April 5, 2024

He uses cash accounting

April 5, 2024

We're pleased to have you here in the Community, Jlink2.

 

Let me share some steps to record a transaction for an item you've bought and sold.

 

In QuickBooks Online, you can create a non-inventory item for the vehicle. You can enter an expense for the purchase and a sales receipt for the income. Please also ensure to select the exact date when the transaction happens.

 

To begin with, here's how to add products or services:

 

  1. Head to Sales, then Product & Services.
  2. Click on +New and choose Non-inventory.
  3. Key in the Name of the product. You can also add SKU if you want to track them.
  4. Choose the best category for the product from the Category dropdown.
  5. Check the box for I sell this product/service to my customers, then provide short product details in the Description on sales forms field.
  6. Enter a figure in the Sales price/rate field and choose the account you want to use to track the sale in the Income account dropdown.
  7. Either track sales tax based on location or click Edit sales tax from the Sales tax section.
  8. Select Save and Close.

 

You can also scroll down to Step 2 in this article if you prefer to add a service or purchasing information: Add product and service items to QuickBooks Online.

 

Once you've set up your vehicle, you can create an expense transaction to record the purchase. Here's how:

 

  1. Click on the + New button, then Expense.
  2. Select the Vendor in the Payee field.
  3. Choose the account used for paying the item from the Payment account field, then enter the date from the Payment date field.
  4. Determine how the transaction was paid in the Payment method field.
  5. You can provide further information from the remaining fields for detailed tracking.
  6. Either select the expense account used to track the transaction in the Category details section or the specific item from the Item details section.
  7. Review or update the Amount if necessary, then select the Tax checkbox if it's taxable.
  8. Click on Save and close.

 

After that, you can visit this material for guidance in recording the sales transaction: Create sales receipts in QuickBooks Online.

 

On the other hand, if you want to collect valuable insights from your business finances, consider running and customizing a report that best suits your business needs.

 

Notify us in the Community if you have additional questions when recording business income and expenses or other related concerns in QuickBooks Online. We're always around to lend a hand.