Inventory Accounting

Trying to set up the accounting in inventory and had the following issue.  The payable side of the transaction hits an expense account based on item category.  The inventory hits an accrued liablity based on the transaction accounting rules.

The accounting should be:

Inventory                                            Accounts payable

Debit Inventory                                 Debit Accrued Liability

Credit Accrued Liability                     Credit AP

How do we accomplish this accounting?  An item can be used in inventory and in the business.  Do we need two items in that case?  Should we only have one Item Category for inventory items?