Dynamics GP: What is an Item Type?

Cards are an important part of the Microsoft Dynamics GP system.  They act as the master records by holding information upon which daily transactions are based.  Mistakes made when setting up cards can leak into the system and cause problems down the road because some information cannot be changed once saved.  Therefore, it is important to understand the meaning of the fields within the cards and set them up properly from the beginning. 

The Item Type field on the “Item Maintenance” window, found by clicking Cards>>Inventory>>Item, is one field that can cause a headache if not correct in initial setup.  Item types determine which posting accounts are touched during transactions and, if, or how quantities are tracked within the system.  This drop down field contains six item types from which to choose. 

The item type of Sales Inventory tracks item quantities and enables both increase and decrease adjustments to be entered.  The Distributions Breakdown Register contains amounts posted to the Inventory and Inventory Offset accounts.  Posting from Purchase Order Processing (POP) affects the Cash or Accounts Payables accounts, while posting from Sales Order Processing (SOP) affects the Sales, Cash, Cost of Goods Sold, or Accounts Receivables accounts.

Second, the Discontinued item type is the same as Sales Inventory, but these items have ceased being produced.  You can unmark the “Allow Sale of Discontinued Items” option in the Sales Order Processing Setup Options window if you do not want to sell discontinued items.

For setting up items to track costs such as freight expense, you will want to select the next item type, Miscellaneous Charges.  For this item type, quantities and current costs are not tracked in Inventory and posting updates both the Sales and Cash accounts. 

Kits are a unique item type because they consist of one or more components, which can be services, sales inventory, miscellaneous charges, discontinued, or flat fee items.  Posting updates the Inventory and Cost of Goods sold based upon the item type of the individual component.  If posting from SOP, the Sales, Cash, Cost of Goods Sold, or Accounts Receivables accounts are affected.  Quantities are not tracked, and it is important to keep in mind that components to be put in a phantom bill on a bill of material should not be assigned to this item type.

With the Item Types Services or Flat Fee, current costs are tracked while quantities are not.  Such items can be sold either individually or as part of a kit.  Much like Miscellaneous Charges, posting touches the Sales and Cash accounts.

 As I previously mentioned, some item types cannot be changed once the item card has been saved.  Items with the type Sales Inventory can be changed only to Discontinued and vice versa.  Miscellaneous items cannot be changed at all once assigned.  Also, items with the type Kit can’t be a component of another Kit item.