QuickBooks: Update a category — request body — body

API reference · Contract 2026-10-20

SDK schema: Update a category — request body — body

Field	Type	Presence	Description and constraints
$	object	Root	Additional keys: not allowed
Active	JSON	Optional	For categories, this is always set to true .
Active (anyOf 1)	boolean	Alternative
Active (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	One of: true, false
AssetAccountRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To Reference to the Inventory Asset account that tracks the current value of the inventory. If the same account is used for all inventory items, the current balance of this account will represent the current total value of the inventory. Query the Account name list resource to determine the appropriate Account object for this reference. Use Account.Id and Account.Name from that object for AssetAccountRef.value and AssetAccountRef.name , respectively. Required for Inventory item types. Conditionally required
ClassRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To Reference to the Class for the item. Query the Class name list resource to determine the appropriate object for this reference. Use Class.Id and Class.Name from that object for ClassRef.value and ClassRef.name , respectively.
CustomExtensions	Model	Optional	Expand Create an item — request body — body Custom Extensions Array of custom extension objects that associate additional attributes with the item. The ExtensionType field specifies the type of extension. The currently supported value is DIMENSION . The AssociatedValues array contains key/value pairs referencing Dimensions DefinitionID/Dimension ValueID. Multiple key/value pairs per extension type are supported. This field is designed to support additional extension types in the future. Dimensions is available for Intuit Enterprise Suite.
Description	string	Optional	Description of the item.
ExpenseAccountRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To Reference to the expense account used to pay the vendor for this item. Must be an account with account type of Cost of Goods Sold . Query the Account name list resource to determine the appropriate Account object for this reference. Use Account.Id and Account.Name from that object for ExpenseAccountRef.value and ExpenseAccountRef.name , respectively. Required for Inventory , NonInventory , and Service item types.
FullyQualifiedName	string	Optional	Colon-separated list of the top-level category, followed by each sub-category in the hierarchy. Takes the form of Category:SubCategory1:SubCategory2:… . Limited to 5 levels: 4 category levels with an inventory, non-inventory, or service item as the 5th. Read only: true
Id	string	Required within parent
IncomeAccountRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To Reference to the posting account, that is, the account that records the proceeds from the sale of this item. Must be an account with account type of Sales of Product Income . Query the Account name list resource to determine the appropriate Account object for this reference. Use Account.Id and Account.Name from that object for IncomeAccountRef.value and IncomeAccountRef.name , respectively. Required for Inventory and Service item types.
InvStartDate	string	Optional	Date of opening balance for the inventory transaction. For read operations, the date returned in this field is always the originally provided inventory start date. For update operations, the date supplied is interpreted as the inventory adjust date, is stored as such in the underlying data model, and is reflected in the QuickBooks Online UI for the object. The inventory adjust date is not exposed for read operations through the API. Required for Inventory type items. Conditionally required
Level	JSON	Optional	Specifies the level of the hierarchy in which the object is located. First sub-category level below the top-most category is 1. Returned in the response body only when SubItem is set to true . Sub-categories can be nested to a maximum depth of three levels below a top-level category. Read only: true
Level (anyOf 1)	integer	Alternative
Level (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	Pattern: ^-?[0-9]+$
MetaData	Model	Optional	Expand Read a bill — response body — Bill Meta Data Descriptive information about the entity. The MetaData values are set by Data Services and are read only for all applications.
Name	string	Optional	Name of the category.
ParentRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To The immediate parent of the sub item in the hierarchical Category:Sub-category list. If SubItem is true, then ParenRef is required. Query the Item name list resource to determine the appropriate object for this reference. Use Item.Id and Item.Name from that object for ParentRef.value and ParentRef.name , respectively.
PrefVendorRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To Reference to the preferred vendor of this item. Query the Vendor name list resource to determine the appropriate object for this reference. Use Vendor.Id and Vendor.Name from that object for ParentRef.value and ParentRef.name , respectively.
PurchaseCost	JSON	Optional	Amount paid when buying or ordering the item, as expressed in the home currency. Decimal string
PurchaseCost (anyOf 1)	number	Alternative
PurchaseCost (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	Pattern: ^-?[0-9]+(?:.[0-9]+)?$
PurchaseDesc	string	Optional	Purchase description for the item.
PurchaseTaxCodeRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To Reference to the purchase tax code for the item. Applicable to Service, Other Charge, and Product (Non-Inventory) item types. Query the TaxCode name list resource to determine the appropriate TaxCode object for this reference. Use TaxCode.Id and TaxCode.Name from that object for PurchaseTaxCodeRef.value and PurchaseTaxCodeRef.name , respectively.
PurchaseTaxIncluded	JSON	Optional	True if the purchase tax is included in the item amount, and therefore is not calculated for the transaction.
PurchaseTaxIncluded (anyOf 1)	boolean	Alternative
PurchaseTaxIncluded (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	One of: true, false
QtyOnHand	JSON	Optional	Current quantity of the Inventory items available for sale. Not used for Service or NonInventory type items.Required for Inventory type items. Conditionally required Decimal string
QtyOnHand (anyOf 1)	number	Alternative
QtyOnHand (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	Pattern: ^-?[0-9]+(?:.[0-9]+)?$
ReorderPoint	JSON	Optional	The minimum quantity of a particular inventory item that you need to restock at any given time. The ReorderPoint value cannot be set to null for sparse updates(sparse=true). It can be set to null only for full updates. Decimal string
ReorderPoint (anyOf 1)	number	Alternative
ReorderPoint (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	Pattern: ^-?[0-9]+(?:.[0-9]+)?$
SalesTaxCodeRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To For non-US companies only. Reference to the sales tax code for the Sales item. Applicable to Service and Sales item types only. Query the TaxCode name list resource to determine the appropriate TaxCode object for this reference. Use TaxCode.Id and TaxCode.Name from that object for SalesTaxCodeRef.value and SalesTaxCodeRef.name , respectively.
SalesTaxIncluded	JSON	Optional	True if the sales tax is included in the item amount, and therefore is not calculated for the transaction.
SalesTaxIncluded (anyOf 1)	boolean	Alternative
SalesTaxIncluded (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	One of: true, false
Sku	string	Optional	The stock keeping unit (SKU) for this Item. This is a company-defined identifier for an item or product used in tracking inventory.
Source	string	Optional	The Source type of the transactions created by QuickBooks Commerce. Valid values include: QBCommerce
SubItem	JSON	Optional	true —The object is a sub-category. false —The object is a top-level category (default). Sub-categories can be nested to a maximum depth of three levels below a top-level category. Required if this is a sub-category object. Conditionally required
SubItem (anyOf 1)	boolean	Alternative
SubItem (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	One of: true, false
SyncToken	string	Required within parent
TaxClassificationRef	Model	Optional	Expand Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To Tax classification segregates different items into different classifications and the tax classification is one of the key parameters to determine appropriate tax on transactions involving items. Tax classifications are sourced by either tax governing authorities as in Malaysia or externally like Exactor. ‘Fuel’, ‘Garments’ and ‘Soft drinks’ are a few examples of tax classification in layman terms. User can choose a specific tax classification for an item while creating it. A level 1 tax classification cannot be associated to an Item.
Taxable	JSON	Optional	If true, transactions for this item are taxable. Applicable to US companies, only.
Taxable (anyOf 1)	boolean	Alternative
Taxable (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	One of: true, false
TrackQtyOnHand	JSON	Optional	True if there is quantity on hand to be tracked. Once this value is true, it cannot be updated to false. Applicable for items of type Inventory . Not applicable for Service or NonInventory item types.
TrackQtyOnHand (anyOf 1)	boolean	Alternative
TrackQtyOnHand (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	One of: true, false
Type	string	Optional	Must be set to the literal string, Category .
UnitPrice	JSON	Optional	Corresponds to the Price/Rate column on the QuickBooks Online UI to specify either unit price, a discount, or a tax rate for item. If used for unit price, the monetary value of the service or product, as expressed in the home currency. If used for a discount or tax rate, express the percentage as a fraction. For example, specify 0.4 for 40% tax. Decimal string
UnitPrice (anyOf 1)	number	Alternative
UnitPrice (anyOf 2)	string	Alternative	Pattern: ^-?[0-9]+(?:.[0-9]+)?$
domain	string	Optional
sparse	boolean	Optional

Referenced models: Read a bill — response body — Bill Meta Data, Create an item — request body — body Custom Extensions, Create a purchase order — request body — body Ship To