QBES Serial Number Input
Input of serial numbers and inventory sites can be complicated in QuickBooks Enterprise without "Lot Mop".
Manual Set-up or “Lot Mop” your way, to serial or lot numbers in QuickBooks Enterprise Advanced Inventory
When you subscribe to QuickBooks Enterprise Advanced Inventory, you can track multiple inventory sites, as well as serial numbers or lot numbers. Serial and lot number management integrates into purchase and sales transactions to maintain not only your inventory levels, but serial/lot numbers at each of your multiple sites.
You don't have to assign serial or lot numbers to existing inventory to start tracking serial or lot numbers. If you have a significant number of items with serial numbers in stock, you may choose not to enter all your serial numbers in QuickBooks at the time you turn the feature on. While you can choose to continue your prior method of tracking while slowly moving to QuickBooks by entering all newly purchased or assembled items with serial numbers as you acquire them, this process can be confusing because you then have two sets of inventory, that with serial/lot identification and that without.
Of course you may also be implementing multi-site tracking as well, so you need to not only assign inventory serial numbers, but assign those numbers based on quantities on hand at different physical locations (QBES-AI Sites).
If you decide to proceed with the manual method, you can choose to assign serial numbers to existing inventory using the following ‘steps’ (the process is essentially the same for ‘lot’ numbers but this article will focus on ‘serial numbers’):
A. Gather information about the serial/lot numbers associated with your current inventory on hand.
B. Use the Adjust Quantity/Value on Hand window to assign numbers to existing inventory:
- Choose Inventory > Inventory Activities > Adjust Quantity/Value on Hand.
- Click the Adjustment Type drop-down arrow and select Serial Number.
- Click the Item field.
- Enter the item name, or click the drop-down arrow and select it from the list.
- Enter the serial numbers for the items currently on hand.
- Repeat steps 3 to 5 for each item.
- When finished, click Save & Close.
C. To check your setup, run the Serial Numbers in Stock report.
However, when going about the initial process of assigning both the site quantities and serial number information for all of your in-stock items, it can be a complicated process. This is where a handy alternative comes into play.
Lot Mop is a utility software application that takes just a few simple steps to get your inventory breakdown, including site and serial (or lot) number assignments, into your QuickBooks file. Lot Mop can access your inventory list from an Excel spreadsheet, or a comma delimited file. Lot Mop's wizard style interface guides you through a few questions about how you want your inventory adjustment performed; then Lot Mop does the rest for you! Based upon your need, Lot Mop has 2 operating modes:
For new files, Lot Mop has a “New file mode”, where all data is treated as new inventory. In new file mode, only 1 inventory adjustment is made for each item, site, and serial or lot or number combination.
In cases where you have been using Inventory in QuickBooks already, but you need to assign serial numbers as well as site locations, you will probably want to use Lot Mop’s “Rebalance mode”. In this mode site and serial (or lot) number information is added to existing inventory without changing inventory levels. In the "Rebalance mode", Lot Mop first reduces the on-hand inventory to 0, and then adjusts the inventory back using the site and serial (or lot) number information included in the import.
All of the adjustments and data validations that Lot Mop applies depend on the mode that you select. If, for example, you select the "Rebalance mode", Lot Mop will check to make sure that the inventory quantities you are adding exactly match the quantities currently on hand. If those numbers don't match, Lot Mop will display a detailed warning before any import is posted to QuickBooks; at that time you can make a decision as to how to deal with the irregularity.
Lot Mop makes adding Advanced Inventory site and serial/lot number assignments, either in a new file, or your existing QuickBooks inventory file, as easy as 'mopping up a spill.'
Lot Mop is a product of PJPM Software; you can find out more about this utility at: https://www.pjpm.biz/LotMop