Overview of importing inventory items
In QuickBooks Desktop and inventory item list is used to track the products that are held in inventory and are purchased and sold by the business. Using the Zed Axis you can import inventory items from text files or from Excel spreadsheets directly into QuickBooks Desktop.
Steps to import inventory items
First download and install the Zed Axis software on your computer. Then follow these steps:
- Open your QuickBooks company file as Administrator and open Zed Axis
- Select your text file or spreadsheet which contains the inventory items that you want to import.
- Set up the a Mapping of the columns in your inventory items import file to the corresponding fields in QuickBooks
- Click Import and your inventory items will be directly added to your QuickBooks company file:
More help?
For more information about importing inventory items into QuickBooks, search the Knowledge Base, watch the movies in the Learning Centre, or raise a ticket with Zed Support.
Downloada sample inventory item template
Where the fields appear in QuickBooks
Detailed description of the fields you can map
| QuickBooks field | Type | Description |
| Name | str 31 | MANDATORY: The name of the inventory item as it appears in QuickBooks, name must be unique unless it has a Parent Ref. For example if the Item Full Name is Widgit:Green:Small then the Name = Small and the ParentFullName = Widgit:Green |
| Barcode | Str 50 | The barcode number for the item |
| IsActive | true or false | Whether the item is currently enabled for use by QuickBooks. The default is true |
| ParentFullName | str | The parent name of the inventory item name, referred to as Sub-item in QuickBooks item list, For example if the Item Full Name is Widgit:Green:Small then the parent name is Widgit:Green |
| Manufacturer Part Number | str 31 | The part number used by the manufacturer of the item |
| Unit of Measure Set Name | str 31 | The unit of measure set consists of a base unit and a number of related units |
| Is Tax Included | true or false | Whether Prices includes tax or not. Only supported in CA, UK and AU versions of QuickBooks |
| Sales Tax Code | str 3 | Tax code for the item used when selling |
| Sales Desc | str 4095 | Description used when the item is sold |
| Sales Price | price | Price charged for the item |
| Income Account | str 159 | MANDATORY: Refers to the Income account used when the item is sold |
| Purchase Desc | str 4095 | Description used for the item when bought |
| Purchase Price | price | Price of the item when bought |
| Purchase Tax Code | str 3 | Tax code used when the item is bought |
| COGS Account | str 159 | MANDATORY: Refers to the account that QuickBooks uses to track the original cost of the goods when bought |
| Pref Vendor | str 41 | Name of the vendor as appear in QuickBooks where the item is usually purchased from |
| Asset Account | str 159 | MANDATORY: Asset account for the inventory item |
| Reorder Point | quan | Minimum quantity that stock falls to before item needs to be reordered |
| Quantity On Hand | quan | Quantity held in available stock |
| Max | quan | Maximum quantity to be held in stock |
| Total Value | amt | Total value of stock held |
| Inventory Date | date | Date of valuation |
Need to import Custom fields on Inventory Items? More
here
Troubleshooting Common Errors
The COGS account cannot be changed - This error occurs when trying to modify an Inventory Item that has been used on a historical transaction in QuickBooks, due to the Inventory valuation calculations and the impact on balance sheet and on Closed Periods, restrictions are imposed by QuickBooks on modifying the COGS Account. As a workaround you could modify the name of the item make inactive and then create a new Item with the required COGS Account.
Invalid Parent Specified - This error occurs when trying to modify a inventory item and the Parent Ref Full Name that has been specified does not exist or is not the correct parent for the item that you are importing. Please check that the parent name appears correctly. Further explanation of how parent names should appear is provided in the table above.
The name in the U/M Set field does not exist in QuickBooks - This error occurs becuase the value you have set for the Unit of Measure Set name does not exist in the Unit of Measure Set list in QuickBooks, please check that the name exists and matches exactly, note that the individual Unit of Measure are not the same as the Sets