The Product and Service List in QuickBooks Online

The Product and Service List is the catalog of everything you sell: each product and service you have set up in QuickBooks, with its type, sales price, and the income account it maps to. It is a list rather than a financial report, so it describes how your items are configured rather than what they earned. When you want the record of your item setup, including the default price or rate and the income account each item maps to, this is the report to run.

What the Product and Service List shows

Each row is an item, showing its name, its type (inventory, non-inventory, service, or bundle), the sales description and price or rate, the income account the item posts to, and, where they apply, the cost, the tax status, and the SKU. For inventory items it also shows the quantity on hand and the reorder point. Read as a whole, it is a map of how your revenue is organized: which account each kind of sale lands in and what each item's default price or rate is, which is exactly the detail you need to explain why a sale showed up where it did on the Profit and Loss.

A list, not a basis report

Because it describes how your items are set up rather than tallying transactions, the Product and Service List does not change with the accounting method, and there is no cash-versus-accrual version. It reflects your item setup as it stands on the day you run it. QuickBooks' own Export Data tool bundles core lists like this one, along with the customer and vendor lists and the chart of accounts, into a single export. Our standard archive still lists the Product and Service List as an on-request item, and you can export it yourself from that tool before you cancel.

Why a CPA or auditor asks for it

It shows the account mapping behind your sales, which is what makes the income side of your books make sense. A CPA can use it to confirm that each item posts to the right income account and that pricing and tax settings are set up correctly. If you ever move to different accounting software, the item setup is one of the first things you rebuild, and this list is the reference for doing it. In a review or a handoff, having the catalog documented saves reconstructing it from individual invoices.

How to run and export the Product and Service List in QuickBooks Online

1. Go to the Reports menu and type "Product/Service List" into the report search box, then open it. You can also reach the list from Sales, then Products and services.
2. There is no report period or accounting method to set, because it reflects your current item setup rather than a range of transactions.
3. Use the export control at the top of the report to export it to Excel or PDF. The file downloads to your computer.
4. If you are pulling several lists at once, the account Export Data tool can export the item list together with your other lists in one step.

The spreadsheet export is the more useful one to keep, because it preserves the account mapping and prices in columns you can reference or use when rebuilding or importing the list later. Our guide to exporting all your data from QuickBooks covers how this list fits with the reports and attachments worth keeping.

Keeping the Product and Service List after you cancel

We include this list in your Books Backup archive on request, and you can also export it yourself before you cancel. It is worth keeping because a cancelled paid QuickBooks Online company stays read-only for 12 months and is then permanently deleted, a trial only 90 days, and the IRS generally expects business records to be kept for at least three years, and longer in some situations. The setup captured here, how each item is priced and where it posts, is the reference you reach for when you rebuild the catalog elsewhere or answer a question about how a sale was categorized.

Frequently asked questions

Is this the same as an inventory report?

No. The Product and Service List shows how your items are set up, including their prices and account mapping. To see what your inventory is worth on a given day, you would run the Inventory Valuation Summary, which is a separate as-of report available on the inventory-tracking plans.

Does the list include my sales figures?

No. It is a catalog of item setup, not a tally of transactions, so it does not show what each item sold. For units and sales totals by item, run the Sales by Product/Service Summary instead.

Can I export the list myself before I cancel?

Yes. You can export it from the report or from the account Export Data tool, which bundles it with your other lists. The Excel version is the easier one to keep, since it holds the prices and account mapping in columns you can reuse.