V8 - 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 to the needs of your business. Below is a breakdown to help you know which fields are most important, as well as those which are helpful options and others that are advanced features. The methods for adding a new item are also listed here.

As you create new items, refer to Item field descriptions for an explanation of each data field available for items. The three-part video tutorial series, Defining an item, is an additional resource as well: Defining an item, Part 1: Essential Data Fields; Defining an item, Part 2: Optional data fields; and Defining an item, Part 3: Advanced data fields.

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, Description, Type, Category, Income account, Asset account, COGS account, Expense account, Always shippable, Used on, Sales price or Markup, Minimum price, Taxable, Purchasing description, 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: SKU, Picture, Web address, Preferred vendor, Vendor part number, Customer part number, Starting inventory, Reorder point, Max stock level, Lead time, Weight, Volume, Commission exempt, Percent commission, Per unit commission, Default class, Tags, and Notes.

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 here 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: Has variants, Track serial numbers, Track lot numbers, Barcode, Warranty, Default bin, Update inventory in Shopify, and Update inventory in BigCommerce. The last three on the list will appear on an item page only if you have enabled bins or set up SOS Inventory’s Shopify or BigCommerce integrations.

Adding and editing an item

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

• The Quick add menu. On the Task bar, go to Quick add menu > Inventory > Item. This method is for adding a new item.
• The Items list. Go to Operations menu > Inventory > Items, then select Add new. This method can be used to add a new item.
• 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.

Existing item records can be opened for editing by selecting the Edit button next to the record on the Items list. Be sure to save your changes.