bulk barn type of business

If lot tracking (batch numbers) is a requirement for your business then you are using the wrong software.

Allan is right. QB's inventory is setup so that you buy (x qty) and sell (x qty). If you buy by the ton and sell by the pound, QB's will not be able to help you. If you buy by the bale and sell by the bale, you're good to go. You might still be able to use QB's to keep A/R, A/P and other accounts successfully...

Cowboy,

My concerns were more with the fact that the OP needed to track specific lots sold to customers.

Then what do you recommend ?

Microsoft great plains software for $7000.00 usd ?

There must be a better way using QB.

Cheaper does not equate to better. Try googling "Lot Tracking and Quickbooks", for starters.

Also Sage Accpac ERP with Lot Tracking would make you the envy of all your business buddies.

According to 3 representatives from Intuit technical support they recommend either of two options to solve this problem until the new version of quickbooks incorporates these features into the inventory module.

2) Subitems for inventory can be named as lot numbers whereby the lot number then can appear in the invoice as "ITEM:Subitem". However with this method the number of subitems over years may accumulate to several hundred.

In any case any regulated industry such as the food industry, and related require lot numbers and expiry dates on packaged inventory, this is very good to have and can be temporarily solved utilizing these methods.

According to 3 representatives from Intuit technical support they recommend either of two options to solve this problem until the new version of quickbooks incorporates these features into the inventory module.

2) Subitems for inventory can be named as lot numbers whereby the lot number then can appear in the invoice as "ITEM:Subitem". However with this method the number of subitems over years may accumulate to several hundred.

In any case any regulated industry such as the food industry, and related require lot numbers and expiry dates on packaged inventory, this is very good to have and can be temporarily solved utilizing these methods.

This is not a solution but a kluge. Anyone could have told you to set up a separate inventory item for each lot. It should not take 3 technical representatives from Intuit to come up with that one. In real life situations the number of items start to grow real quick using this method.

Were you told that the next version 2006 would have lot tracking?

Another alternative to lot tracking would be to create a custom field on the invoice for the lot number. Many reports in Quickbooks allow for the addition of custom field columns and filters.

Indeed a very poor alternative. QB does not have lot tracking functionality. If the user belongs to an industry that must keep lot information then they, at the present time, must look elsewhere for a solution.