Bookkeeping & Job Costing in Quickbooks - how to tally up profit

[CitizenKate]

Now that being said, I do not track as inventory things like dyes, adhesives, or finishes, even though they do technically become part of the product. I expense the entire amount of those at the time I buy them. Why? Because there are some things that are simply not practical to track as inventory. For example, I might just use 3 drops of dye out of a 32oz bottle on one piece, and sometimes I just can't predict exactly how much I will need from one piece to the next. And after taking out those 3 drops, how much would you say is left over?

But things like square feet of leather, rivets, beads, buckles, etc., which can easily be counted or otherwise quantifiable, both in terms of knowing exactly how much goes out of inventory to "build an assembly", and knowing how much is left afterwards, those should be tracked as inventory assets.

Kate

[Shorts]

Good info on this thread. I'm going through my books now and trying to figure out what exactly I want to do and how do I do it. I'm currently using downloaded templates as my foundation and I would like to upgrade a bit to become more efficient and more accurate in my reporting.

I'm especially interested in the "inventory assembly" aspect.

Between QuickBooks and MS Accounting, are there appreciable differences in the two?

[CitizenKate]

Based on their product literature (I've never use the Microsoft product), there is little or no support for "manufacturing", which requires advanced inventory tracking features (raw materials, assemblies, etc.). Maybe someone who has used MS Office Accounting can provide more first-hand feedback.

Kate