Services List

Manage your Products and Services list

In QuickBooks Online, the Products and Services list is central to how you record sales, expenses, and purchases. It acts as the master list for everything you buy and sell. When you create transactions like invoices, sales receipts, or expenses, you select items from this list rather than selecting specific accounts from the Chart of Accounts.

This guide explains how to manage your list, handle deposits, and troubleshoot common issues.

How items and accounts work together

QuickBooks Online uses items to automate your accounting. When you set up a product or service, you link it to specific accounts (such as an income account for sales or an expense account for purchases).

• On transactions: You select the item (e.g., “Service A” or “Product B”).
• Behind the scenes: QuickBooks posts the financial amount to the account linked to that item.

This is why you cannot select a specific account directly when filling out a sales receipt or invoice. You must use an item from your Products and Services list, which determines the correct posting account.

Access the Products and Services list

To view, add, or edit your items:

1. Select the Settings gear icon.
2. Select Products and Services under the Lists column.

Edit items and change accounts

If you need to update how an item is recorded—for example, changing the expense account associated with a product—you edit the item itself. This updates the behavior for all future transactions (and historical ones, depending on your settings).

1. Go to Settings > Products and Services.
2. Find the item you want to change.
3. Select Edit from the Action column.
4. Update the description, rate, or the linked accounts (e.g., Income account, Expense account).
5. Select Save and close.

Note: To change a description on a single transaction (like an estimate) without affecting the master list, simply click the description field on the transaction form and type the change manually.

Make items inactive (delete)

QuickBooks Online does not allow you to permanently delete items to protect your historical data. Instead, you make them inactive. This hides the item from menus and lists while keeping it in your records for old reports.

1. Go to Settings > Products and Services.
2. Find the item you want to remove.
3. Select the checkbox in the far-left column next to the item name.
4. Select the Batch actions dropdown menu at the top of the list.
5. Choose Make inactive.

To see inactive items later, click the small gear icon (Filters) above the list and check the box for “Inactive.”

Use bulk actions

The checkbox on the left side of the list allows you to select multiple items at once. This is useful for making bulk changes, such as making several items inactive simultaneously.

1. Check the box next to each item you want to change.
2. Look for the Batch actions button that appears at the top right of the list.
3. Select the desired action from the dropdown menu.

Handle customer deposits

If you require deposits to lock in job dates, the correct method involves using a liability account and a specific service item. This ensures the deposit is not recorded as income until you apply it to a final invoice.

Step 1: Create a liability account

1. Go to Settings > Chart of Accounts.
2. Select New.
3. Choose Current Liabilities from the Account Type dropdown.
4. Choose Other Current Liabilities from the Detail Type dropdown.
5. Name the account “Customer Deposits” (or similar).
6. Select Save and close.

Step 2: Create a deposit item

1. Go to Settings > Products and Services.
2. Select New.
3. Choose Service.
4. Name the item “Cust-Dep” (or similar).
5. In the Income account dropdown, select the “Customer Deposits” liability account you created in Step 1.
6. Select Save and close.

Step 3: Record the deposit

1. Select + New.
2. Select Sales Receipt.
3. Select the customer.
4. Select the “Cust-Dep” item and enter the deposit amount.
5. Select Save and close.

Step 4: Apply the deposit to a sale

When you are ready to bill the customer for the final work:

1. Create an Invoice or Sales Receipt for the full amount of the goods or services provided.
2. Add the line items for the work performed.
3. Add a new line for the “Cust-Dep” item.
4. In the Qty field, enter -1.
5. Enter the deposit amount in the Rate or Amount field.
6. The total will update to reflect the remaining balance owed by the customer.
7. Save the transaction.

About product bundles

You may see references to “Bundles” in documentation or older help articles. This feature allows you to group multiple items together and sell them as a single unit.

Because Intuit releases features to accounts at different times, you may not see the “Bundle” option immediately. If you do not see it as a type when creating a new product, check the Products and Services list periodically by selecting New. It will appear automatically once it is available for your specific account.