Track inventory in Wave

Inventory is a stock of physical items your business has purchased to sell. Inventory is a business asset.

Wave does not calculate or track the unit value of inventory for your business. Tracking inventory in Wave is based on the monetary value you calculate for the units.

Create inventory accounts

Record the purchase of inventory

Record the sale of inventory

Create inventory accounts

You need two accounts for each type of inventory: an inventory asset account and a cost of goods sold expense account. The inventory asset account is for items that you have purchased with the intention of selling but have not yet sold. The cost of goods sold expense account is for items that you purchased and already sold.

Learn how to add a new account to your chart of accounts.

Record the purchase of inventory

1. Log in at waveapps.com.
2. On the left-side menu, click Accounting > Transactions.
3. Locate the inventory purchase transaction or create an expense transaction.
4. If you made a bulk purchase for multiple inventory types, split the transaction.
5. For the Category, select the inventory asset account you created for that inventory type.
6. Fill in any remaining details.

Record the sale of inventory

1. Log in at waveapps.com.
2. On the left-side menu, click Accounting > Transactions.
3. Locate the sale transaction or create an income transaction.
4. For the Category, if you have an invoice associated with the sale, select Payment received for an invoice in Wave, then select the outstanding invoice. If you do not have an invoice, select the appropriate income account.

When you record an inventory sale, you must also update the cost of goods sold account. To update this account:

1. Create a journal transaction. On the first line, select your cost of goods sold account. This debits the account.
2. Enter the actual cost of the inventory item, not how much the customer paid.
3. On the second line, select your inventory asset account, which represents your stock level. This credits the account.
4. Enter the same amount as on the first line.
5. Click Save.

Use your balance sheet to check the balance of your accounts. Your profit & loss statement shows how your business performed after the sale.

If you sell a lot of the same inventory, you can update your cost of goods sold expense account in bulk at the end of a specific period. Create a journal transaction that accounts for all inventory sold during that period rather than after each sale.