{"id":2678,"date":"2018-02-06T16:47:18","date_gmt":"2018-02-06T21:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.method.me\/blog\/?p=2678"},"modified":"2025-12-06T06:33:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T11:33:35","slug":"negative-inventory-quantity-in-quickbooks-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.method.me\/blog\/negative-inventory-quantity-in-quickbooks-online\/","title":{"rendered":"How to fix negative QuickBooks Online inventory: What we learned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Setting up inventory in QuickBooks<\/a> Online is more complicated than it needs to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does QuickBooks keep track of inventory? Yes, but there are limitations and pitfalls that you need to be aware of when using QuickBooks for inventory purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if you know how to set up items in QuickBooks, you must be meticulous when tracking inventory. This is because, for one, there are plenty of opportunities for human error. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another issue is that QuickBooks is designed specifically for accounting purposes, so depending on how complicated your inventory system is, you risk jumbling up valuable information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But QuickBooks Online inventory tracking has one glaring problem: negative inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Negative QuickBooks Online inventory certainly isn\u2019t a new issue, but it is a persistent one. If kept unchecked, negative inventory can have a devastating impact on your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn more about negative inventory, and more importantly, how to fix negative on hand inventory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Push QuickBooks Online further than ever with Method.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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See all the ways how<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How negative inventory quantities happen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are a few ways that your business might have negative inventory quantities \u2014 some intentional, some unintentional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, demand for your product might exceed your current supply. As a result, you may choose to sell more of your product than what\u2019s logged into your inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, you\u2019d input a negative number into your inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another more common possibility is human error. One of your employees could overlook a negative sign when inputting inventory numbers, or make an incorrect calculation in your system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also might neglect or forget about manually updating your system as new inventory comes in, which is an experience we had with a customer recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why QuickBooks negative inventory is bad<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are a lot of disadvantages when your QuickBooks account displays negative inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the biggest is that it makes your financial information inaccurate. If you have a negative inventory, you\u2019ve either sold more than you have, or you\u2019ve neglected to update your inventory database. Either way, the numbers you produce won\u2019t match up, rendering them useless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another issue is that it points towards bigger problems in your operations. If you\u2019re consistently presenting negative inventory numbers, something is going wrong at your business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s mis-inputting, overselling, or failing to meet demand, negative inventory is a red flag for your business\u2019 health. Negative inventory can also do serious damage to your relationships with both suppliers and customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your inventory levels aren\u2019t accurate, you risk overselling your product and disappointing customers when you can\u2019t deliver on time or at all. On the other hand, you also run the risk of ordering too much or too little from suppliers, which will frustrate them when you need to fix the mistake at the last minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to view negative inventory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Any negative inventory you have in QuickBooks will show up on your balance sheet. Beyond that, you can view it in the following reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inventory Valuation Detail (IVD) report<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The IVD report is your best choice for evaluating the extent of your negative inventory. The Quantity on Hand (QOH) column of the report displays both current and past negative inventory amounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To download an IVD report in QuickBooks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Go to your Reports menu.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Click the Inventory tab.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Select Inventory Valuation Detail.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Negative Inventory Listing report<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    If you are using QuickBooks Enterprise version 15.0 or later, you can get a Negative Inventory Listing report. It\u2019s a good way to isolate your current negative inventory quantities, but it does not display past negative amounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To download a Negative Inventory Listing report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Go to your Reports menu.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Click the Inventory tab.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Select Negative Inventory Listing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \"Screenshot<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Image credit: <\/em>Intuit<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Note<\/strong>: if you want to know how to enter a negative amount in QuickBooks, it\u2019s only possible for dollar amounts \u2014 not for inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Our learnings: Fixing QuickBooks negative inventory in wholesale distribution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Whether you’re a QuickBooks user or ProAdvisor, it’s worth understanding the importance of properly maintaining inventory levels in QuickBooks Online and how to fix negative inventory levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      For us, it all started with a support call from a Method CRM user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      \u201cWe have duplicate invoices in QBO, and we believe your sync is causing it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

      After spending several days working on what turned out to be a fairly simple issue with QuickBooks Online inventory, we wanted to share our learnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Use case: Distributor using QuickBooks Online + Method CRM<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Our user is a wholesale distributor of medical equipment parts. They use Method to streamline the order-taking process for their 25 field staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      In Method<\/a>, they create invoices using a customized workflow that simplifies the adding of the 15 to 30 line items that go on a typical invoice. Method then syncs those invoices into QuickBooks Online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      For them, combining QuickBooks with Method CRM offered needed functionality otherwise only available in \u201cQuickBooks Online Enterprise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      They had roughly 600 parts in QuickBooks Online. When first setting up Quickbooks, they entered these parts as inventory items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      However, they didn\u2019t actually track inventory quantities or adjust inventory levels when new stock came in. You could say there was a little \u201cinventory neglect\u201d happening here \u2013 not a unique situation, surely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      What was happening with the QuickBooks Online API? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      For the technically inclined readers, when Method synced the invoices to QuickBooks, timeout errors started to occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      After sending the invoice to QuickBooks via the QuickBooks Online API, the response would hang and return:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cGatewayTimeout; errorCode=006002; statusCode=504<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Despite the timeout response, the original invoice request must have continued running on Intuit servers as, after 10 minutes, the invoice would show up in QuickBooks Online. Yes\u202610 whole minutes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The problem, however, is that our sync took the timeout error to mean that the invoice was not created and queued up a retry, which caused a duplicate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      Wish you could get more from QuickBooks? Method makes it possible.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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      See for yourself<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

      What was happening inside QuickBooks Online<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Our goal was to keep the client\u2019s field staff operation humming along uninterrupted while we helped them sort out the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      While we dedicated developer time to diagnose the root cause, customer service did multiple things to help out the customer, namely:<\/p>\n\n\n\n