Residential Constractor - just converted from FAST Building Software to QB Contractor . Can inventory lots be tracked in an asset account with "items" to seperate a few categories we like to track for each lot, Original Cost, Taxes, Interest, Misc.?
Maybe and maybe not.
Often the confusion comes from seeing Items (not inventory items, but Service, Noninventory, Other Charge) described that they would be income or expense only. You can use Asset accounting; this would be WIP or CIP.
But the issue is, the same Cost, tax, or improvement item will not post to a different account, to keep the values separated by lot, in the accounting.
The lots themselves would not be an inventory item, because each needs to have a value that accumulates your sunken costs over time.
Here is how I would do it:
Each Lot is a Customer Name, or the Subdivision is Customer and lot = Job.
The Other Asset accounts are created by Lot, too.
Everything is Job Tracked (customer:job allocation) and using Items on the transaction details.
I would only use Items if I was posting everything to a generic "development by lot" WIP account. Then you can separate by Customer to move the value from the WIP into a completed Lot account, for final total value.
Or, you can dump everything in one WIP account and then create separate inventory items for each lot, and allocate the individual values to the inventory item by "buying from QIP" which is an internal purchase trick.
But the simplest is to track each lot by both Customer Name and as one ; this guidancce is for just holding the lots while the development gets ready to be put on the market.
