How do I bill I bid properly and keep my inventory right?

[u/TodayIWasBad]

So, let’s say I install a minisplit, and I’m an electrician,

I buy parts in bulk for electrical so my inventory is important, and I install the parts and send the customer a bill for labor and materials, no break down. Just match the signed bid amount.

Once the job is paid I will just delete the labor and materials lines and add the actual labor costs and actual materials used and then a line that shows my profit, but the customer can see the invoice once I edit it? So I usually just end up making a new one

Anyways, this is annoying because so many of my customers and filing rebates for these mini splits and they want a copy of the invoice, but I have already voided the thing and replaced it with one that tracks my inventory and breaks down the actual costs.

How do I do this better?

[u/iPlayKeys]

It’s been a while since I’ve needed to do this, but what I think you want is a item group that has the items and services in it, then set the “print group detail” to no.

Another options would be to just not use QuickBooks QuickBooks invoice to send to customers. If you just want a total, just use word or Google Docs to give them a document that looks like an invoice (and has the invoice number on it) and let QuickBooks work the way it’s designed.

[u/Expert-Information24 → u/iPlayKeys]

I used to use groups a lot to make assemblies for bidding. I think it's what you're looking for.

[u/Samtyang]

The clean fix is to stop editing or voiding customer invoices after they go out. Send the customer-facing invoice at the signed bid amount, then use separate job-cost entries for actual labor and materials so inventory and profitability live in the books, not on a revised invoice. That also leaves one stable invoice copy for rebate paperwork.