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Creating items

Before you begin to track your inventory, you need to create a record for each item of inventory. An item can be:

  • a physical unit that your company may buy, sell or inventory

  • a service that your company wants to include on item invoices, for example, ‘On-site service fee’, ’Handling’, ‘1-hour consultation’ and so on.

If you have inventory details stored in a spreadsheet, you can import these into AccountRight. To speed up the process, use an import template.

If an item's details change, like the buying or selling price, you can update it.

If an item hasn't been used you can delete or deactivate it.

Add pictures to your items to make them easy to identify.

To create an item
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Using AccountRight Basics? 
See To create an item (AccountRight Basics) below.

  1. Go to the Inventory command centre and click Items List. The Items List window appears.

  2. Click New. The Item Information window appears.

  3. In the Item Number field, type a unique identifier and press Tab.

  4. In the Name field, type the name of the new item.

To copy another item’s information to this item record, click Copy From and choose the item whose information you want to copy. All information for that item will be copied to the current item except the item number, name, supplier number, auto-build information, location and history information.

To search the Item to Copy From window, press the keyboard combination CTRL+SHIFT+F to display a search box.

5. Specify whether you buy, sell or inventory this item by selecting the relevant options. As you select the options, account fields appear next to them. These fields change according to the combination of selections you make.

Select...

For...

I Buy This Item

Items or services you want to include on an item purchase order.

This includes items that are not for resale, such as items for office use only. It can also include raw materials you use as components to build other inventory items.

I Sell This Item

Items or services you want to include on an item invoice.

I Inventory This Item

Items you buy or sell and whose quantity and values you want to track. It can also include intermediate goods used in the productions process, such as parts used to manufacture finished goods.

Maintaining an accurate record of on-hand levels of these items requires you to do regular maintenance tasks. For example, you need to record inventory adjustments to write-off damaged items or to record a stocktake.

Use only if you're running a perpetual inventory management system

6. Enter the appropriate accounts in the fields that appeared during the previous step.

Account

Description

Cost of Sales Account

Enter the account to use for tracking the costs of producing or purchasing this item.

Income Account for Tracking Sales

Enter the account to use for recording income from the sale of this item.

Asset Account for Item Inventory

Enter the account to use for recording the on-hand value of this item.

Expense Account for Tracking Costs

Enter the account to use for tracking the costs of purchasing this item.

7. Click the Item Details tab and enter additional information about the item. To learn more, see Item picturesCustom item lists and Custom item fields.

8. If you buy this item, click the Buying Details tab and enter your buying details.

A

[Optional] Type the Standard Cost of the item. This needs to be the tax inclusive value. You can set this cost as the default price for purchases, instead of the last purchase price. You can change this cost on each purchase.

To use the standard cost, go to the Preferences window, click the Inventory tab, and select the Use Standard Cost as the Default Price on Purchase Orders and Bills option.

Learn more about standard cost.

B

Type the unit of measure (such as ‘each’ or ‘unit’) in which you purchase the item. The buying unit is printed on the purchase order. For example, if you buy eggs by the carton unit, when you order five units in a purchase, you are ordering five cartons.

C

If you track on-hand quantities and values for this item, type the number of items that comprise a single buying unit. This is the number that is added to your on-hand inventory for every buying unit. For example, if you buy eggs by the carton and track their purchase individually, enter 12 as the number of items per buying unit. When you buy one carton, your item inventory is updated by twelve items. If you leave this field blank, the value defaults to one.

D

[Optional] Enter the restocking information:

Type the minimum level of this item you want to keep in your inventory. When the quantity drops below this level, a re-order reminder appears in the To Do List.

Enter the supplier from whom you usually re-order this item.

Type the supplier’s number for the item.

Enter a re-order quantity for the item.

E

Choose the tax or GST code you want to use when you purchase this item. You can override the code when you record the purchase.

9. If you sell this item, click the Selling Details tab and enter your selling details.

A

Type the retail price of one selling unit.

B

Type the selling unit of the item (such as ‘each’ or ‘unit’) . You can type up to five characters. The selling unit can be printed on the item invoice. If, for example, you sell by the six-pack, when you sell five units, you will be selling five six-packs.

C

If you track on-hand quantities and values for this item, type the number of items that comprise a single unit in this field. This is the number that is subtracted from your on-hand inventory for every selling unit. For example, if you sell by the six-pack, enter 6 as the number of items per selling unit. When you sell one six-pack, your item inventory is reduced by six items.

D

You can set pricing levels for different kinds of customers. See Custom price levels.

E

Select the tax or GST code you want to use when you sell this item. You can override the code on invoices.

F

If the prices on the Selling Details tab are tax or GST inclusive, select the Prices are Tax Inclusive(Australia) or Prices are GST Inclusive(New Zealand) option. If the prices are exclusive of tax or GST, deselect this option.

10. If this is an item that you build using other components in your inventory, click the Auto-Build tab and enter the required details. For more information, see Auto-building items.

11. (AccountRight Premier 2019.2 and later) If you store inventory at multiple locations, click the Locations tab and select the locations you ship or sell from or build the item at. For more information, see Multiple inventory locations.

12. Click OK.

If you have existing on-hand quantities of inventory items, you need to record the opening inventory level for each item. For more information, see Enter your item opening balances



To create an item (AccountRight Basics)
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  1. Go to the Lists menu and select Items. The Items List window appears.

  2. Click New. The Item Information window appears.

  3. In the Item Number field, type a unique identifier and press Tab

  4. Enter details about the item in the relevant fields:

    Item info - basics

A

Type a name for the item.

B

Select the account you want to use to record the income you receive from the sale of this item.

C

Enter the retail price of one selling unit. If this price includes tax or GST, select the Prices are Tax Inclusive (Australia) or Prices are GST Inclusive (New Zealand) option. If the price is tax or GST exclusive, deselect this option.

D

Type the selling unit of the item (such as ‘each’ or ‘unit’). You can type up to five characters. The selling unit is printed on the item invoice. If, for example, you sell by the six-pack, when you sell five units, you will be selling five six-packs.

E

Select the tax or GST code you want to use when you sell this item. Note that you can override the code on invoices.

5. Click the Item Details tab and enter additional information about the item or add a picture of the item.

6. [Optional] If you want to enter sales history for the item, click the History tab and enter the sales figures for the previous 12 months.

7. Click OK.



To delete an item
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You can only delete an inventory item if you have zero units in stock and the item has never been used in a transaction. If it has been used, you won't be able to delete it, even after deleting any associated transactions. This makes sure you keep a history of items used in transactions for auditing reports.

To delete an item:

  1. Go to the Lists menu and choose Items. The Items List window appears.

  2. Click the zoom arrow to open the item to be deleted.

  3. Go to the Edit menu and choose Delete Inventory Item.

    1. Tick

      Delete Inventory Item greyed-out? Your user role needs to be set up with permission to delete. If you need to regularly change transactions, ask your administrator to add this permission to your user role.



To make an item inactive
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An alternative to deleting an item is to make it inactive so it no longer appears in selection lists.

To make an item inactive

  1. Go to the Lists menu and choose Items.

  2. Right-click the item to be made inactive and choose Mark Inactive.

  3. Read the displayed information.

  4. Click OK.

  5. If you later need to activate the item:

    1. Go to the Lists menu and choose Items.

    2. Select the option Show Inactive.

    3. Right-click the item to be activated and choose Mark Active.