--- title: What are Non-Standard and Non-Inventoried Products? description: Acctivate offers a couple of different ways to handle special items that are not tracked within the system. Both methods have their differences. Check out this article for more information. --- [Skip to content](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/non-standard-vs-non-inventoried-products#main-content) [Go to Customer Portal](https://hub.acctivate.com/tickets?hsLang=en) ![Acctivate - A CAI Solution](https://hub.acctivate.com/hubfs/Images/Logos/acctivate-cai-logo-svg.svg) - [Knowledge Base](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Knowledge Base](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles) - [Go to Customer Portal](https://hub.acctivate.com/tickets) - [Support Resources / Create Ticket](https://acctivate.com/support) [Support Resources / Create Ticket](https://acctivate.com/support) Hello. How can we help you? - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [Knowledge Base](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles?hsLang=en) 2. [Inventory](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/inventory?hsLang=en) 3. [Products](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/inventory?hsLang=en#products) March 26, 2026 # What are Non-Standard and Non-Inventoried Products? ## Acctivate offers a couple of different ways to handle special items that are not tracked within the system. Both methods have their differences. Check out this article for more information. Acctivate has two different ways to handle special items that are not normally tracked within the system. One is called "[Non-Standard](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/non-standard-vs-non-inventoried-products#NS)" lines (also known as an 'N' line) and the other is "[Non-inventoried](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/non-standard-vs-non-inventoried-products#NI)" lines. See the individual sections below for more information. #### Non-Standard Acctivate allows you to put **“N” Non-standard Items** on orders, quotes, service orders and purchase orders. These would be items that you **do not stock** in inventory and **have no need to track** in the system. There will be no record of **Cost of Goods Sold** or record of having the item in inventory – the **Product ID will not be saved** in **Acctivate.** The lines will still appear on sales reports however. Non-standard lines are perfect when you need to record a special fee or sell a special item that is not common enough to save in Acctivate and does not need COGS associated. [![nonstandard](https://help.acctivate.com/wp-content/uploads/nonstandard1.png)](https://help.acctivate.com/wp-content/uploads/nonstandard1.png) #### **Non-Inventoried** If you often sell an item that you do not keep in inventory, the recommendation would be to use a **Non-Inventoried** product. Although with this method you will not create a receipt, it will track the cost associated with the purchase of the product. You can use [**Standard costing**](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/learn/inventory/what-are-standard-costs-for-labor-and-non-inventoried-items?hsLang=en) on this **non-inventoried** product in order to track the cost to the sale, and update it each time you sell the product. Non Inventory lines are perfect for tracking the purchase and usage of Office/Manufacturing equipment.  [![noninventory](https://help.acctivate.com/wp-content/uploads/noninventory1.png)](https://help.acctivate.com/wp-content/uploads/noninventory1.png) #### The difference in the accounting for Non-Inventory and Non-Standard products **Sale of product** Non-Inventoried: Taken care of by entry of the vendor invoice unless using the non-inventoried offset account in Warehouse Setup Non-Standard: Taken care of by entry of vendor invoice **Purchase of Product** Purchase Invoice for **Non-Inventoried** Products:  **Debit: Cost of Goods Sold, Credit: Accounts Payable** Purchase Invoice for **Non-Standard**  Products:  **Debit: Expense Account entered, Credit: Accounts Payable** - [Getting Started](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/getting-started?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Basics](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/getting-started?hsLang=en#basics) - [User Interface](https://hub.acctivate.com/articles/getting-started?hsLang=en#user-interface) - 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