Welcome back to the Community, @GrandpaG.

I appreciate you providing a screenshot. I'm here to share some information about the automatic update of the cost of goods from the bill of materials in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

Yes, there is a way! All you need to do is select Use Total BOM cost on the drop-down. However, this option is only available in QBDT Enterprise versions, and you might have been using a different version that's why it's greyed out on your end (base on your screenshot). If that's the case, you need to manually update it as a workaround.

I also added some sample screenshots below for your guide.

On the Enterprise version:

On the other QuickBooks Desktop versions:

This should answer your concern for today.  For future reference, you can check out this article or click the What is this cost? link for more information.

Please let me know how it goes or if I can be of additional assistance. I'll be here should you have any follow-up questions. Have a great rest of the day!

Sorry I didn't mention that I am using Premier. I wondered how to get that dropdown enabled. Thanks.

Ok, if I have some sales orders and also some invoices with this item and now manually update the cost, how do I see this cost in relation to the sales price. The reports I have tried all still show 0 for cost.

Hello there, @GrandpaG, 

Thanks for letting me know that you're using Premier. Yes, @FritzF is correct that the Cost drop-down is only available in the Enterprise versions. 

Since you have sales orders and invoices associated with the item, only the sales price amount would show on the reports. This maybe the reason you're unable to see amounts under the Cost column. 

The cost of the item will appear on any inventory reports if you're buying an item through entering a bill. Please see the screenshot to serve as your visual guide. 

After recording a bill for the item, the cost will now reflect on the reports. You can check out the screenshot below for your visual reference. 

The information above will help achieve your goal, @GrandpaG. 

I'm here anytime you need anything else. Have a wonderful day ahead!

let's get back to square one

In enterprise, the option for user defined cost, and use BOM cost, should not even be an option, cost is what you pay, not a number you decided on.

You have stocked inventory items, you should have purchased those items to get a qty on hand and an average cost per item

then you list the items needed in the BOM of the assembly item.  When you issue the build command, those items in the BOM are removed from stock and the item average costs are added together to get the cost of the assembly item.

When you sell the assembly item, that cost is what is posted to COGS, the sum of the item average costs to make the assembly.

the BOM cost you see on the assembly item screen comes from the cost block on the item screen, it is not average cost, it is usually the most recent purchase cost.  and is just a reference value.

Hello,

I am using Quickbooks Premier 2 years after the original post and I am wondering if there is any new way to update this cost. Why would the cost be locked at zero and force me to manually update it each time one item of the the product is updated? The Bill of Assembly is accurate and will update when the assembly items are updated. Is there truly no way to automatically update the cost? Our Profit/Loss calculations are completely off when the cost is locked as zero unless I manually update it. The reason I purchased Quickbooks was to integrate all of our assembled items, so when we change one, we don't have to change all of them. Is there seriously no way to do that? I find it somewhat ridiculous to require the Enterprise edition when calculating the cost is the whole point of our assembly Items.

I understand how you want to update the cost automatically while using the assembly items, ChrisK23.

In QuickBooks Desktop, you need to manually update the cost of each item. You can use the Add/Edit Multiple List Entries option to edit the cost and price of your items.

If you have an Excel file, you can copy the data from there, then paste it into the Add/Edit Multiple List Entries window to expedite the process. I'll show you how:

1. Select List from the top menu bar, then choose Add/Edit Multiple List Entries.
2. Click the List drop-down arrow, then select the list that you want to update.
3. Choose in any field and begin making changes.
4. You can copy (Ctrl+C) the data from Excel then paste (Ctrl+V) it into the Add/Edit Multiple List Entries window.
5. To copy the data in a specific field to the remaining records, simply highlight the desired field and right click then choose Copy Down. If data is in any of those remaining fields, it will be overwritten.
6. To duplicate a row simply place your cursor in any row, right-click and choose Duplicate Row. The record is duplicated into the next row and is preceded with the word "DUP."
7. Click Save Changes when you're done.

Learn more about tracking products you manufacture through this link: Combine your inventory items to build finished goods.

Please get back to me if you require more information about this. I'd be more than willing to provide additional assistance. Have a good one and stay safe!

I have been fighting with Intuit over this for 2 years now as well. As far as I am concerned this is criminal as it directly impacts taxes. We are a small company that has no use for enterprise yet we have thousands of build assemblies that we have to manually go through and update this field to insure that our bottom line is accurate. This feature should be enabled on all versions of the software and not reserved for the most expensive lumped into "advanced inventory settings". This is a common sense setting. TURN IT ON!!!!!

Dear Rustler,

I'm sure that I'm doing it all wrong.

I read your reply and I tend to agree, but what if you have labor involved with making that assembly?

I have been using the "User Defined" setting, and adding my time to the total cost of the BOM materials, then entering that number instead.

I'm guessing that I probably should have an inventory item (Ex. "Labor") to account for an hour of labor and then entering a line into the BOM for "labor" and then a qty for how many hours (or ".5" if it only takes a half hour). Is this correct?

I have 3 companies that I have to enter bills on. Imagine going and changing  cost manually every time I receive a bill. Quickbooks desktop changed it automatically.  If I knew I would not have come over to quickbooks online. 

This automatic change should be part of any package that tracks stock. 

Seriously not happy. Time consuming and not user friendly from day one of change over. . Solo Scheepers