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Deactivating and reactivating items

Instead of deleting an item (which removes it from MYOB), it's a good idea to make an unused item inactive. This removes the item from reports and some selection lists.

Inactive items retain details you may need some day, and you can always reactivate the item later if you need to.

Deactivating and reactivating items affects your inventory limit

If you use the inventory tracking features in MYOB Business (you have items with the I track stock for this item option selected), deactivating an item reduces the number of items counted towards the 10 inventoried items included in your MYOB Business subscription. Also, if you reactivate an item that has the I track stock for this item option selected, this increases the number of inventoried items you're using.

If you want to create an inventoried item and you're at your 10-item limit you can either add Premium Inventory (which allows you to track more than 10 inventoried items), or deactivate an item you're no longer using. See Add Premium Inventory.

To deactivate an item

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  1. From the Inventory menu, choose Items. Your list of items appears.

  2. (Optional) Find an item by selecting the Type or entering all or part of the item's name in the Search field. As you type, matching items are shown.

  3. Click the item you want to make inactive. The item's details are shown.

  4. Select the option Inactive item.

  5. Click Save to deactivate the item. To see deactivated items in your item list, select the option Show inactive items.

To reactivate an item

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  1. From the Inventory menu, choose Items. Your list of items appears.

  2. Select the option Show inactive items. Your deactivated items are now included in the item list.

  3. (Optional) Find an item by selecting the Type or entering all or part of the item's name in the Search field. As you type, matching items are shown.

  4. Click the item you want to reactivate. The item's details are shown.

  5. Deselect the option Inactive item.

  6. Click Save. The item is reactivated and appears with your other active items on the Items page.

Deactivating or reactivating items in bulk

You can use the import/export features to deactivate or reactivate multiple items.

1. Export your items

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  1. Click your business name and choose Import and export data.

  2. Click the Export tab.

  3. For the Data type choose Items.

  4. Click Export to export your items as a a tab-separated TXT file.

2. Update your items in Excel

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  1. Open a blank workbook in Excel.

  2. Click and drag the item export file you created earlier onto the the workbook. The file will open in Excel and the contents of the file will be displayed.

  3. In the Inactive Item column, change the letter to Y (to deactivate an item) or N (to activate an item).

  4. Repeat for all items you want to update.

  5. When you're done, save the file as a text (.TXT) file with a new name, for example, "Updated Item Import" or similar.



3. Import your updated items

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  1. Click your business name and choose Import and export data.

  2. On the Import tab, for the Data type choose Items.

  3. Click Browse and locate the "Updated Item Import" file you saved previously.

  4. Click the import file then click Open.

  5. Choose Update existing data as the method for handling duplicate data.

  6. Click Import.

After importing your item file, you'll receive an email detailing what item records have been imported. This email will also detail if any item records were skipped – for information on how to resolve import errors, see Importing items.

You can view your updated items on the Items page (Inventory menu > Items) – click Show inactive to view inactive items.