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How to Use Multiple Units of Measure in QuickBooks for Manufacturers
Published 02/18/2010 | 
I have about 250 products. Each product has potential for 6-7 quantities. For example, I sell Shell Rotella 15w40 CJ-4 by the case of quarts, the 5 gal pail, the 16 gal, the 30 gal, the 55 gal drum, in bulk, or the tote tank. The cost per each is measured differently. Cases are sold at a price per case with quart sized quantities. Pails – drums are priced by the pail or drum. The bulk and totes are sold price/gallon, and tote tanks vary in size (250-275-300-330 gal sizes.) Right now, I have to have 6-7 items for every product. When I sell a drum, it is a flat rate for the drum, say $465/drum. I sell one drum for that price. When I sell bulk, I sell it at 7.44/gal, and depending on how many gallons the truck fills into the customer’s (owned) tank, I would invoice the customer by inserting the quantity of say 189 gallons at a rate of $7.44/gal. What I would like to know is if QuickBooks offers me the ability to have a product with multiple, customizable versions of the price. This way I can track and find product a bit more easily without having to code things and scroll so long through my item list. Let me know if you have any insight on this. Thanks!
Only QuickBooks Premier and Enterprise for Accountants, Contractors and Manufacturers offer units of measure. You can use multiple units of measure, but it uses the base unit of measure for the default pricing. For instance, if quart is your base unit and you sell it for $5, the default price for the 5-gallon would be $100, the 16-gallon would be $320, etc. You can always change the default pricing on your transactions, but if you want it to default to a different price then you’d need to create a separate item for it. This is actually a good use for group items, especially if you’d like your customers to see that they got a discount for purchasing a higher quantity on the invoice. Let’s say you give a 10% discount for the 16-gallon. You could create a group that includes a discount item so it’ll automatically calculate and show up on the invoice. But this does mean you’ll have a separate item, which could lead to a very long item list.
Here are the steps for setting up Multiple Units of Measure:
- Turn on the preference (Edit > Preferences > Company Preferences > Items & Inventory) and select Multiple U/M Per Item.
- Define your units of measure by going to Lists > U/M Set List, click the U/M Set button and select New. Select the type of unit of measure (count, length, weight, etc.) and select the smallest unit of measure you either purchase or sell as the base unit. Add the related units making sure to enter the # of base units and select the defaults for purchases and sales If you have more than one type of unit of measure, add a new one.
- To add units of measure to your items, go to Lists > Item List, right-click on the item, and select the U/M Set.
Written by +Ruth Perryman, CMA, CFE, CFM, MBA
Ruth has provided QuickBooks help to thousands of businesses around the world since 1996. She is an Intuit Solutions Provider, an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and a member of the Intuit Trainer/Writer Network. She is also certified in QuickBooks Point of Sale and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions.
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I have asked intuit and many other people and no one seem to be able to help me.
Can we setup a carpet that we pick by the lf and buy and sell by the sy but still be able to see how many lf we have in inventory?
Can we setup a tile that we pick by the carton and buy and sell by the sf but still be able to see how many cartons we have in inventory?
Example: Ceramic tile 15sf/carton
Our existing system allows us to input a factor which defines: 15sf per carton. This allows us to sell 2 cartons to a customer @ 1.00/sf.
My sales ticket and PO ‘s would show: 30sf or 2ct Unit Cost 1.00 Extension 30.00
This allows the warehouse to track this material by carton and allows our customer to see what his $/sf is.
I’m attaching a sample cutout from one of our PO ‘s and one of our sales tickets.
With QBES 12.0, if I setup a Unit of Measure with a base unit of sf then setup a related unit of 15sf/carton, my sales ticket and PO’s will show the cartons but not the 1.00/sf price or cost. They will show 2 cartons with a unit price of $15.00. If I print an inventory worksheet, it will show that I have 30sf in inventory, not 2 cartons.
Hi Candy,
You can use any unit of measure on PO’s and sales tickets, but not more than one per line. There is an add-on called FormCalc that will perform calculations on QuickBooks forms. It might allow to show both units of measure on your POs and sales transactions.
Unfortunately, the reports in QuickBooks are based on the base unit of measure. If you want to see cartons instead, you’ll have to set cartons as your base unit of measure which gets complicated if you ever sell less than a full carton. If you always sell in cartons, there’s actually no reason to use units of measure at all. It’s really only used for keeping track of how many base units you have, regardless of how you purchased or sold it.
Ruth