Plain and Simple: Bright Business Insights Spring 2019 | Page 5

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Your Best Friend In The Operations Of Your Business Whether you operate a manufacturing business, retail store or distribution operation, maintaining appropriate inventory levels is critical. As your business evolves, more resources will be dedicated to raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods, so it’s important to know how these assets impact your books. Inventory management is the process of ensuring that you always have the products you need on hand and that your costs are as low as possible. Too much inventory (or too little) can have huge implications on your bottom line, which is why optimizing the right mix of what to order, how much to order and when to order it, is the main goal of your inventory management system. As your business evolves, more capital will be dedicated to your inventory, which is why it’s so critical to know how much of a product you have and need, as this information will QuickBooks ® QuickBooks is the most popular accounting software for small- to medium-sized businesses, and there are different versions ultimately play an important role in your cash management strategy. available to meet the needs of different types of businesses. Your inventory management system allows you to track your inventory access to an entire suite of tools designed to help you keep track in terms of physical locations, quantities stored in each location and of your inventory. On the other hand, QuickBooks Enterprise can the accumulated costs associated with your inventory on your balance work well for companies that have less complex operations with sheet. The type of data most inventory management systems capture minimal items, little to no assemblies and no requirements for is pretty standard, but it’s also possible to customize your reporting customization. to meet the specific goals of your business. In fact, depending on the With QuickBooks Enterprise Advanced Inventory, you will have sophistication of your product, your inventory management system can Fishbowl ® be used to track materials, assemblies, lot traceability, reorder points, If you’re looking for a product that can be used alongside lead times of products, mid/max levels and different types of costing QuickBooks Desktop, take a look at Fishbowl. Fishbowl (FIFO, LIFO, weighted-average, etc.). Manufacturing® offers users advanced manufacturing and There are a number of inventory management systems available. From utilizing an Excel spreadsheet to track the inventory you have on hand to a multi-million dollar Enterprise Resource Planning System, picking the right system to help you meet your objectives while growing alongside your business is the key to your success. The client advisory services team at Rea & Associates has experience with a wide range of systems and can help you evaluate which systems can be tailored inventory management features, which put you in control of your production and order processes, and Fishbowl Warehouse® offers the most advanced inventory management features. This software is a desktop-based platform that integrates with a number of accounting systems. SOS Inventory ® For an online, cloud-based product, SOS Inventory is a cost- to meet your specific needs. Keep reading to learn more about three effective and well-rounded inventory system that integrates with popular options currently used by business owners. QuickBooks Online, Shopify and ShipStation. This product has an open API platform and is geared to help small- to medium- sized businesses with better inventory, order management and manufacturing than using QuickBooks Online alone. This software also offers many capabilities such as sales orders, assemblies, serial and lot inventory, multiple locations and more. by: Maura Zace Senior Associate 545 North Market St. Wooster, OH 44691 234. 249.3460 [email protected] These are just a few of the many inventory management systems available. While both desktop and online software are user-friendly and offer guides and tutorials, our team can help you with implementation and show you how to get the most out of the software. Give me a call to discuss your options.