V9 - Defining, adding, and editing items

Items are foundational to using SOS Inventory. Many fields are available for defining an item, but not all fields are necessarily applicable for the needs of your business. This article explains the methods for adding a new item. It also includes a breakdown to help you know which fields are most important, those which are helpful options, and others that are advanced features.

As you create new items, refer to Item field descriptions for an explanation of each data field available for items. 

Adding and editing an item

New items can be added to SOS Inventory using any of the methods listed below:

• The Quick add (add_circle) menu. On the Task Bar, go to Quick add > Inventory > Item. This method allows you to add a new item directly, bypassing the need to navigate to the Items list.
• The Items list. Go to Operations > Inventory > Items, then select +Add. This method adds a new item directly. 
• The inline method. Create a new item while entering a transaction. In the Item field, simply type the name of the item and then select Add new item. Enter the data needed for the item definition, then save. The new item will be added to the Items list, even if you do not save the transaction.

Existing item records can be opened for editing by selecting the item name (in blue) on the Items list. Be sure to save your changes.

Essential fields in defining an item 

Not all data fields listed on the item edit page may be applicable to a specific item or item type. But the core fields for most items include: Name, Type, Category, Accounts as appropriate for the item type (Income account, Asset account, COGS account, Expense account), Always shippable, Used on, Description (under For sales transactions), Sales price or Markup %, Minimum price, Taxable, Purchase cost, and Sync with QuickBooks.

Optional item fields

While SOS Inventory's optional data fields for items are useful, they may or may not be applicable to the needs of your business or for a specific item. Use the ones that work for you.

Optional data fields include: Description (under For purchasing transactions), SKU, Default class, Starting inventory, Customer part number, Exempt from commission, Commission rate, Per sale commission, Preferred vendor, Vendor part number, Reorder point, Max stock, Lead time, Weight, Volume, Website, Image, Notes, and Tags.

SOS Inventory also gives you the option to create a certain number of custom fields based upon your subscription plan. Although custom fields are ones that you design according to your own needs, they are listed at the bottom of the page simply because they are optional data fields for items.

Advanced item fields

All advanced item data fields are available on the Plus and Pro plans. Companion plan subscribers will see only those fields which pertain to the shopping cart integrations that their company has chosen to implement.

These fields work in conjunction with other system settings and features that must be enabled or defined in the system. 

The advanced field options are: Track serial numbers, Track lot numbers, Has variants, Default Bin, Update inventory in  BigCommerce, Update inventory in Shopify, Warranty, Barcode.