Am adding inventory items but in the selection button i only see non inventory and services what do i do?

Hi there, Johari.

It appears that either your QuickBooks Online (QBO) subscription plan doesn’t support inventory tracking, or the inventory tracking feature hasn’t been enabled in your company settings. Let me explain further.

The inventory tracking feature is only available in certain QuickBooks Online plans, typically QBO Plus and Advanced. To check which plan you're on, click the Gear icon, then select Subscription and billing under the Profile section.

If your subscription isn't with the Plus or Advanced plan, you'll need to upgrade to access inventory tracking. For more details, check out this link: QuickBooks Online Pricing.

If you already have a Plus or Advanced plan, you’ll want to confirm that the inventory feature is turned on. QBO gives you the flexibility to enable or disable inventory tracking. If it’s not turned on, the "Inventory" option won’t appear when you try to create a new product or service.

Here’s how to turn on inventory tracking:

1. Click the Gear icon and select Account and settings.
2. Navigate to the Sales tab.
3. In the Products and services section, click the Pencil icon to edit.
4. Enable the options for Track quantity and price/rate and Track inventory quantity on hand.
   
   
   
   
5. Click Save, then select Done.

Regarding your second question, while you can add an inventory item as a "non-inventory" item in QBO, it's not recommended. Let me explain why. A non-inventory item refers to a product you buy and sell but don’t track for quantities on hand. When you classify an inventory product as non-inventory, QuickBooks won't monitor its stock levels or automatically calculate its Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).

It also impacts the following:

Financial Impact: Using non-inventory for items you intend to track as inventory will result in an inaccurate valuation of your inventory assets on your balance sheet. This error will carry over into your financial reports, as QBO won’t automatically calculate your COGS. Instead, you’ll have to manually record purchases and expenses, which increases the chances of errors and inconsistencies.

Inventory Management: By classifying inventory items as non-inventory, you won’t be able to take advantage of QuickBooks' inventory management features. For example, you’ll lose access to tools like low-stock alerts and inventory reports. This means you’d need to track stock levels manually outside of QuickBooks, which could be time-consuming and less efficient.

If you have any additional questions or need further clarification regarding QBO, feel free to reach out for help. We're here to assist!