Introduction
NetSuite has a wide variety of item types available to choose from. Various item types may or may not be available depending on what features you have enabled in your NetSuite account.
Inventory Items
This item represents an item that is tracked in inventory. It can be bought, sold, used in assemblies and more. This item type has an inventory asset account associated with it, that will be used to track the value of the inventory.
When setting up the inventory item, if you want to track groups of the item, you create a Lot Numbered inventory item. If you want to track individual items, you create a Serialized inventory item.
Lot Numbered Inventory Items
Lot numbered inventory items are items that have another level of detail, the lot number. Any inventory transaction that adds inventory will require a lot number to be assigned. These lot numbers can be assigned manually or automatically generated by NetSuite. If the same lot number is used for multiple transactions, the inventory will be added to the same lot.
When I create a transaction that removes inventory will require you to enter the lot number of the inventory being removed.
Serialized Inventory Items
Serialized inventory items are items that have a unique serial number for each item. Similar to the lot numbered inventory item, a serial number must be recorded for each transaction that adds or removes inventory. You cannot use the same serial number for multiple items.
Assembly Items
These are items that you build from other items. While you can make a purchase order or an inventory adjustment for an assembly item, if that is the only way you are using the item, you should probably mark the item as Inventory Item instead. Some of the transactions that are used to build assemblies are:
- Work Order
- Assembly Build
- Work Order Close
- and more
When creating a work order for an assembly, you can select a bill of materials to use for the work order. For more information on bills of materials, see the Implementation: Advanced Bill of Materials post. (Note: This post requires the Advanced Bill of Materials feature to be enabled in your NetSuite account).
Like inventory items, assembly items can be lot numbered or serialized. See the previous section for more information on lot numbered and serialized items.
Kits/Package Items
These are items that are sold as a group. Each individual item in the kit/package is tracked separately. A single price is assigned to the kit/package item, and the price of the individual items is not tracked. When you create a sales order for a kit/package item, the individual items are added to the order. When you fullfill the order, you will select the individual items that are being shipped.
Item Groups
This is the most basic way to group items together. The purpose item group is to allow you to enter multiple items at once in a transaction. When you select an item group in a transaction, the individual items in the group will be added to the transaction. No price is assigned to the item group, no accounting is done for the item group, and no inventory is tracked for the item group.
For example suppose I have a shipping item that I use to charge for shipping for “Item 1”. I can make an item group that contains the shipping item and the “Item 1” item. When I create a sales order for “Item 1”, I can select the item group instead of the individual items. This will add the shipping item and the “Item 1” item to the sales order.
Assembly vs Kit/Package vs Item Group
| Assembly | Kit/Package | Item Group | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Yes | Yes | No |
| Inventory Tracked? | Yes | No | No |
| Will see individual items in transaction | No | Maybe1 | Yes |
| Can make a purchase order for | Yes | No | Yes2 |
| Can be produced with a work order | Yes | No | No |
| Will see in Sales Reports | Yes | Yes | No |
Discount Items and Markup Items
This is an “item” that is added to a transaction to apply a discount or markup to the transaction. When you create a discount/markup item, you enter either a dollar account or a percentage. When you add a discount/markup to a transaction, the dollar account or percentage will be deducted/added to the transaction.
Non-Inventory Items
Non-inventory items are items that are not tracked in inventory. Three subtypes of non-inventory items are available:
- Non-Inventory Item for Purchase
- Non-Inventory Item for Sale
- Non-Inventory Item for Resale
Depending on the subtype, the item will be available for purchase, sale, or both. These items are not tracked in inventory.
Service Items
These are items that represent a service that was bought or paid for. The units should be in time or each. When workers enter time records, they can select this service item to associate the time with the service. They can be listed for sale, purchased, or both.