How to handle non-inventoriable items and/or service items that behave like inventory (paid but unsold costs should stay in balance sheet)?

Hi everyone,

I’d like to ask for advice on how to properly set up non-inventoriable items or service items in NetSuite.

Here’s what I’m trying to achieve:

• We don’t want to track quantity since these are labor or service-related purchases.
• However, we want them to behave like inventory in the sense that costs should only hit the P&L once the item is sold or billed to a customer.
• In other words, when we pay a vendor for these costs but haven’t billed the customer yet, they should still sit in the balance sheet (similar to WIP or deferred cost). Once the corresponding sales order is fulfilled or billed, that’s when the cost moves to expense or COGS.

So far, using non-inventory or service items always posts directly to the expense account upon vendor bill, which doesn’t match our intent.

Has anyone set up something similar — perhaps using work-in-process accounts, custom item types, or advanced revenue/expense matching? Any tips on the best practice or recommended configuration would be greatly appreciated.