Handle Demos, Donations, or Expired/Product Loss
To handle retail items like demonstrators, donations, lost or expired goods, and other related business situations, it is recommended that you create a unique profile called Business Supplies. Use this profile for invoicing and deducting items from stock. When you mark an invoice as Business Supplies, you'll be prompted to pick an expense category. After selecting and saving, the system will automatically record the entry, ensuring your tax reports correctly reflect the item's removal from inventory as an expense.
Note: The steps below should only be used for retail items. The Inventory Purchases report tracks the amount spent on business supplies and samples (section 2).
Only one profile needs to be created for all business-related situations mentioned above for multiple tax years. Each invoice can be assigned to a specific expense category and grouped separately and by date. Only invoices and expense entries within the date range set will be included when running tax reports. If you do not have a contact profile created for Business Supplies, follow the steps below.
- Create a New Contact Profile named Business Supplies.
- From the toolbar, click to open the Profile Settings screen.
- In the Sales Settings slideout, under the Discount section, select Business Supplies from the options listed in the Default drop-down (this will set the Invoice Followup to 0 days, Email Invoice to No, and the Discount to 50%, which can be adjusted).
- Under the Options section, select Exclude from Dashboard (this will exclude your business supplies from being included in your Dashboard statistics).
- Click to save and close Profile Settings.
- From the profile toolbar, click to save and close the profile.
When creating a Business Supplies invoice, you will be prompted to select an Expense Category for invoiced items. Once saved, an entry is then added to your expenses.
- Create a New Invoice under the Business Supplies profile (Sale type should be set as Business Supplies).
- Clickto add items that will be expensed under the same category.
- Under the Details tab on the bottom of the invoice, mark the invoice paid-in-full by clickingto the right of the Cash/Check field.
- For additional information, enter a short description in the Memo field (such as Demo, Expired, or Charity).
- Click the Discount tab. Under the Discount Type section, select the appropriate category from the Expense Category drop-down options (use the suggestions below or seek advice from your tax professional).
- You can choose to Email or Print the invoice. Invoices can also be printed or emailed from the Invoice Log.
- Click to save and close the invoice. Repeat the steps above to create additional invoices for items expensed under other categories.
Suggested Categories:
For more information on categories or to create a new one, see Expense Categories.
- Supplies (COG): Retail items used as demos
- Gifts: Items where the recipient is not known
- Advertising: Items used as a giveaway to gather leads
- Charity: Items donated to a shelter or other organization
- Expired/Lost: Product that is past its prime and being thrown out (See Track Product Expiration Dates for more information). Another use for this category would be products lost or damaged in shipment to a customer.
By invoicing your business supplies situations using the steps above, all transactions will be grouped together and included on the Gross Receipts report for tax purposes. Individual invoices can also be easily accessible under the Invoice Log.
- From the sidebar navigation, clickBusiness Tools, then Invoice Log.
- From the toolbar, click then select Filter from the options listed to open the Filter slideout.
- Under the Date Range drop-down, select a pre-defined date range from the options listed or choose Custom to enter a custom range.
- Under the Invoice Type drop-down, select Business Supplies from the options listed.
- To print the invoices show in a tabular format, from the toolbar, click then select Print. From the print preview toolbar, click .
- When finished, click then select Clear Filter to remove any filters set.
Tips:
- To add or remove columns, clickand select Column Chooser. Select Reset to return the view to the default layout.
- Only one invoice can be printed at a time. To print an invoice, select the checkbox next to the invoice. Click , then select Print. From the print preview form, click to print, or click to export and save as another file type, such as PDF.