Saturday, March 9, 2013

The Best Inventory Software for your Business

You have a small business, maybe it’s a coffee shop or a bicycle repair shop or a dog grooming workshop. You begin to lose control of your inventory. What should you do? There are many business inventory software programs out there, how do you know which one to choose? Here are a few things to look for when deciding on a program that will work for your business.

Do you need to keep track of the items coming in from vendors? Most inventory software will add inventory items as you receive them, then when they are sold, it deducts them. This type of software will help your business by watching your purchase orders, sales and inventory numbers. You can make invoices, packing orders, pick lists, etc. It can use bar code scanner technology, integrating the items you use into the system. Keep your inventory under control at all times, allows you to know what is selling and what is not selling at a glance.

Most of the software is available to try before you buy as a download from the internet.

Some of the top business inventory software programs are:

In-Flow – This program has all the bells and whistles, it allows for Product List, Movement history, Integrate barcodes, Document creation, Multi-user mode, Customer history, Reports generator, auto back-up, Bills of material. This is the top program rated number one by CNET. This program is a little more expensive than some others at $299.00.

Inventoria – This program is a little different because it allows you to monitor stocks and manage re-occurring orders. It allows you to see in real time the items you have in stock. This is a very easy program to learn and run. Priced at $79..

Small Business Inventory Control Standard – This program manages your inventory for you, it has features such as configuring sales tax, create and send purchase orders to vendors, keeps track of your client and vendors lists. Priced at $99.

Know your Stuff – Inventory Control – This program is offered through the Insurance Information Institute. It makes keeping up with your inventory very easy. It differs slightly from other software because instead of buying the program outright, you pay a monthly fee of $9.95 to use it. Google and Google Apps host it. So if you own a small business and need business inventory software, there are many programs that are accessible.