u/4x40equals1600

Hi everyone,

I recently took on a bookkeeping job for a vending machine business, and I would really appreciate some guidance on how to properly handle this in QuickBooks.

For context, the owner did not have a bookkeeper before me. I accepted the job because I am currently under financial stress, and this client can really help me get by. I want to do this as properly as possible.

Here’s what I know so far:

1. The business owns around 50 vending machines placed around the city.
2. Customers pay using debit/credit cards at the machines.
3. The payment processor/app is HaHa Vending, and the business receives weekly deposits based on sales recorded in the HaHa app.
4. The owner did not keep receipts.
5. I was only given monthly bank statements, and it seems all business transactions went through one bank account.
6. There is no beginning inventory list, and inventory was not properly monitored before.
7. For now, I am recording sales based on what the HaHa app reports.

My main question is:

Should I use manual journal entries to record everything, or should I still try to use the normal QuickBooks workflow such as sales receipts, deposits, expenses, and inventory adjustments?

Since there is no beginning inventory and no prior inventory tracking, I’m also unsure how to handle COGS and inventory. Should I treat purchases as COGS/expense for now until they start tracking inventory properly, or should I create an opening inventory estimate?

Another issue is inventory. They sell around 500 different items/SKUs, and each vending machine/location may have different selling prices depending on foot traffic, demand, and commission arrangement with the location. Because of this, I’m unsure whether it is practical to track inventory item-by-item in QuickBooks, especially since there was no prior beginning inventory count and no consistent inventory monitoring.

How should inventory be treated in this case? Should I:

1. Track all 500 items as inventory items in QuickBooks?
2. Group items by category instead, such as drinks, chips, candy, snacks, etc.?
3. Treat purchases as COGS/expense temporarily until proper inventory counts are established?
4. Use the HaHa Vending app as the main inventory/sales tracking system and only summarize activity into QuickBooks?

My concern is that item-level tracking in QuickBooks may become too complicated because prices vary by location, inventory moves per machine, and historical inventory data is incomplete.

What would be the most practical bookkeeping approach for this kind of vending machine business?

Any advice on the best practical cleanup approach for this kind of vending machine business would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.