Setting up Stock Items

Before you can track your stock, you need to do two things. First, you need to tell QuickBooks that you want to track stock. To do this, choose Edit⇒Preferences. When QuickBooks displays the Preferences dialog box, click the Items & Stock icon in the list on the left. Your screen should look remarkably similar to the one in Figure 7-1. (You might have to click the Company Preferences tab first.) Make sure that the Stock and Purchase Orders Are Active check box is marked and that one of the Warn If Not Enough Stock to Sell radio buttons is marked.

Here’s the second thing that you need to do: Create an Item list. This list is a description of all items that you might conceivably put on an invoice. In other words, all items that you order and sell belong on the Item list.