Handle Demos, Donations, or Expired/Product Loss

Create a Business Supplies profile to record retail items removed from inventory, such as demos, donations, or expired products. When the invoice sale type is set as Business Supplies, you are prompted to select an expense category. Once saved, Boulevard automatically records the entry, so the removal appears as an expense in tax reports. 

By invoicing your Business Supplies profile for situations when items are removed from inventory, all invoices will be grouped and easily accessible in the Gross Receipts report or printed separately. See Filter Invoices by Name, Invoice, or Discount Type for detailed steps. 

The Product Purchases report includes the amount spent on business supplies and samples (section 2). The steps above should only be used for retail items.

Steps:

Create a Business Supplies Contact Profile: Create a single Business Supplies contact profile to cover all business situations across multiple tax years. Each invoice can be assigned to an expense category and grouped by date, and only entries within the selected date range are included in tax reports.

Invoice & Assign Expense Category: Create an invoice and add the items to be expensed under the same category. You’ll be prompted to select an expense category, and once saved, the entry is automatically added to your expenses.

---

Step 1: Create a Business Supplies Contact Profile

TOP

1. Create a customer profile called Business Supplies.
2. From the profile toolbar, select Settings (in Utilities).
3. Under the Discounts drop-down list, select Business Supplies (this will set the Invoice Followup to 0 days, Email Invoice to No, and the Discount to 50%, which can be adjusted).
4. Under Options, check to Exclude from Dashboard. 
5. Click OK to close Profile Settings, and when prompted to save, click Yes.
6. Click Save, then close the profile.

Step 2: Invoice & Select the Expense Category

TOP

We strongly discourage editing invoices to add items or using a single invoice as a running total. Part numbers, pricing, and calculations can change since the invoice was initially created, which may cause issues with the invoice and ultimately affect your data. Instead, create a new invoice for each situation.

1. Create a new invoice under the Business Supplies profile (Sale type should be set as Business Supplies), and add items to be expensed under the same category.
2.  Under the Discount section, select the appropriate category from the Expense Category drop-down list (use the suggestions below or seek advice from your tax professional).
3.  Mark the invoice as paid in full by clicking to the left of the Cash/Check field.
4. For additional information, enter a short description in the Memo field (such as Demo, Expired, or Charity).
5. When finished, click Save. Repeat the steps above to create additional invoices for items expensed under other categories.

Suggested Categories:

For more information on categories or to create a new one, see Expense Categories, Payees & Filters.

• Supplies (COG): Retail items used as demos
• Gifts: Items for an event not tied to a specific recipient
• Advertising: Items used as a giveaway to obtain leads
• Charity: Items donated to a shelter or other charitable organization
• Expired/Lost: Product that is past its prime and being thrown out (See Track Product Expiration Dates for more information). Another use for this category would be products lost or damaged during shipment to a customer.

---

Additional Information:

• Handle Gifts Given Away
• Handling Personal Use
• Year-End Guide & Checklist
• Close Year-End & Run Tax Reports