Your accountant may have his/her own preference but here's how I handle consignments for a retail client: It sounds worse than it is.
Create 3 Other Current Liability Accounts:
Consignments Product Due To Consignor
Create a new Item for Inventory Part. (you want it to show as inventory in the event of fire or other loss so you can prove its replacement value)
Cost of Goods Sold = Cost of Goods Sold Income = Income (I keep a subcategory called Sales:Consignments) Asset Account = Consignments:Product Enter Qty (make sure you enter the correct cost of the product due back to consignor)
We still have to enter the other side since QB places inventory parts into opening balance equity. My preference is to achieve the change via the Products register. From the COA double-click Consignements:Products. Find the item you just created in the register and double-click it. You'll be taken to the Inventory Adjustment window. At the top of the window you'll see Adjustment Account = Opening Balance Equity. Change that account to Consignments:Due to Consignor. Save & Close.
Look again at your Chart of Accounts and you'll see that both the Product and Due to Consignor accounts are equal to each other, creating a wash, until you sell or return the item. When you sell an item QB won't prompt you to pay the consignor but you'll notice that suddenly your Product account will be less the amount of the sale and the Due To account will remain the same. Until you cut a check to the consignor for the amount you owe it'll remain an indication that you removed the product but not your financial responsibility attached to it.