The basic problem is that when buying wood (from a lumber yard, not a big box store), is that it is sliced from trees, and that they are not uniformly sized. I might, for example, buy a set of walnut boards which are 5/4 (1.25"), whose usable widths, lengths, and thicknesses all vary. They are all sold by the same measure, board feet. A board-foot is a measure of volume = 144 cubic inches. The invoice from the lumberyard shows that I bought 8 board-feet of walnut that is 7/4 (about 1.75") thick. That doesn't help me keep track of what I purchased. I need to go and measure the boards and round to the nearest inch. Then I need to decide whether I keep inventory of 4/4 x 6" wide that holds all the lengths, or one QB item for every size that I encounter, e.g., 4/4 x 6 x 72 and 4/4 x 6 x 84, and 4/4 x 6 x 94.5...

Depending on the product/project I'm working on, I need to know what stock I have. I usually categorize (sort, inventory) them by thickness, then width, and then length.

QuickBooks doesn't help at all with this.

To answer an earlier question, if I take a 12' board, and use half of it. The record keeping/inventory involves removing one 12', and adding a 6' board.