---
title: "Item Groups"
space: "ERPNext"
url: "https://www.prilk.com/docs/erpnext/item-groups"
updated: "2026-05-15"
---

## Item Groups

An Item Group is the category your items belong to — Raw Material, Finished Goods, Services, Components, Spare Parts. Use Item Groups to:

- Apply default tax, accounts and pricing across many items at once
- Filter inventory reports by category
- Restrict users to specific groups
- Build a tree-structured catalogue your customers and team can browse

### Where to manage

**Item Group** in the Awesome Bar → list view. ERPNext seeds a few defaults (All Item Groups, Products, Services, Raw Material).

### Create a new Item Group

**Item Group → New**:

| Field | What |
|---|---|
| **Item Group Name** | "Office Supplies", "Spare Parts", "Software Licenses" |
| **Parent Item Group** | For tree structure |
| **Is Group** | Yes if it will have children; No if it's a leaf for actual items |
| **Default Income Account** | Optional — items in this group default to this account on Sales Invoices |
| **Default Expense Account** | Optional — items default to this on Purchase Invoices |
| **Item Tax Template** | Optional — auto-applies tax per group |

### Tree structure

Item Groups form a tree. Common shape:

```
All Item Groups (root)
   Products
       Raw Material
       Work in Progress
       Finished Goods
       Spare Parts
   Services
       Consulting
       Maintenance
       Support
   Trading Goods
       Brand A
       Brand B
```

An Item is assigned to exactly one leaf. Reports can roll up the tree.

### Default inheritance

When you create an Item, fields inherit from its Item Group:
- Default Income Account
- Default Expense Account
- Item Tax Template
- Default Warehouse

The Item's own fields override the group if set.

### Item Groups in reports

Most inventory and sales reports can group by Item Group:
- "Sales by Item Group this quarter"
- "Stock value by category"
- "Top-selling group year-over-year"

### Restricting users

For users who should only see certain groups:
1. Open the User → **User Permissions**
2. Add: Allow Item Group = [specific groups]
3. Save

The user can only see items in those groups in lists and reports.

### Common situations

- **Products vs Services** — top-level split; services have Maintain Stock = No
- **Brand-based catalogue** — sub-groups per brand under "Trading Goods"
- **Regulated items** — own Item Group with Item Tax Template = "Exempt" or special tax rules
- **Internal-only items** — group "Internal" not exposed to portal users

### Renaming and merging

You can rename freely — items follow. Merging: move items from old group to new, then disable old.

### Website / portal display

If you sell online via Webshop, Item Groups become the catalogue navigation. Plan the tree with both internal and external use in mind:
- Internal team navigates: Raw Material → Spare Parts → ITEM-042
- Customers navigate: Products → Spare Parts → Brand A → ITEM-042