QuickBooks™ Point of Sale: Should I use an Assembly or Group Item?
Item assemblies and groups both offer a way to sell a predefined set of items by listing a single item on a sales document. However, the two item types vary in several ways, as outlined below.
Key questions to ask when deciding between an assembly and a group?
- Do you want to physically pre-build the set, thus removing the component item quantities from inventory?
- Do you want the component item quantities in the set to remain available for individual sale?
- Do you want the individual items printed on customer receipts or just the set as a single item?
- Do you sell more of the items individually or as a set?
- Will there be both taxable and non-taxable component items?
Key Differences Between Assembly and Group Items
| Option |
Assembly
|
Group
|
| Pre-built? |
Yes |
No |
| Sell component items individually? |
No* |
Yes |
| Can include service and non-inventory items? |
Yes |
Yes |
| Can include assembly item as component? |
Yes |
Yes |
| Can include group item as component? |
No |
No |
| Assembly/group item printed on receipt? |
Yes |
Yes |
| Assembly/group item price printed on receipt? |
Yes |
Optional** |
| Component items printed on receipt? |
No |
Yes |
| Component item prices printed on receipt?
|
No |
Optional* |
| Can contain both taxable and non-taxable items? |
No** |
Yes |
| Can assign discounted price? |
Yes |
Yes |
| Track costs and quantities? |
Yes |
No** |
* Quantities of component items not pre-built into assemblies can be sold individually and built assemblies can be
broken, freeing the component items for individual sale.
** Controlled with a preference setting.
*** After assembly, the single tax code assigned to the assembly item determines if it is taxed or not. The entire assembly is subject to the same tax code, so taxable and non-taxable items should not be mixed.
**** Quantities and costs of group component items are tracked individually, not as a group
Related