With QuickBooks Online, always know what’s in stock and what’s on order. Track your inventory easily with real-time updates and reports.
Keep track of every product you buy and sell
Available in QuickBooks Online Plus and QuickBooks Online Advanced
Track inventory in real time
Quantities are updated automatically as you work. Always know what’s on-hand and prevent stock shortages. Use this inventory calculator to make sure you’re not under or overstocking.
Get instant notifications
Stay ahead of back orders. We’ll alert you when it’s time to reorder inventory with low stock alerts. Once inventory arrives, QuickBooks converts the purchase order (PO) into a bill to make sure you pay your vendor on schedule.
Inventory insights on demand
Access reports to instantly see your best sellers, total sales, and total taxes. Know exactly what products you have stocked with the Inventory Summary report. QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced comes with a variety of reports to make inventory tracking easy.
Stay in sync with online sales
QuickBooks works with popular apps to boost your business.
Amazon
Create a master inventory list and sync product across channels.
Etsy
Integrate sales data to QuickBooks Self-Employed for instant insights.
Shopify
Enable automatic import of all Shopify orders and refunds in one click.
Flexible QuickBooks Online plans for your business
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$99
$4950/mo
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Connect with Live experts when you need it. They can provide setup help and bookkeeping guidance in QuickBooks, so you can stay organized and run your business with confidence. Free for 30 days. No auto-renew.
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Save time and effort by seamlessly moving from books to taxes, then prepare your current tax year return with unlimited expert help to get every credit you deserve. Access live tax experts powered by TurboTax. Costs vary by entity type. Subject to eligibility.
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Income and expenses
Securely import transactions and organize your finances automatically.
Banking with 5.00% APY
Every dollar put away in savings envelopes earns you interest at over 70x the U.S. average.
Bookkeeping automation
Automate bookkeeping to cut down on tedious tasks and get more time to focus on your business.
Invoice and payments
Accept credit cards and bank transfers in the invoice with QuickBooks Payments, get status updates and reminders.**
Tax deductions
Share your books with your accountant or export important documents.**
Comprehensive reports
Stay on track with inventory reports, enhanced sales reports, and profitability reports.*
Receipt capture
Snap photos of your receipts and categorize them on the go.**
Mileage tracking
Automatically track miles, categorize trips, and get sharable reports.**
Cash flow
Get paid online or in person, deposited instantly, if eligible.
Sales and sales tax
Accept credit cards anywhere, connect to e-commerce tools, and calculate taxes automatically.**
Estimates
Customize estimates, accept mobile signatures, see estimate status, and convert estimates into invoices.**
Contractors
Assign vendor payments to 1099 categories, see payment history, prepare and file 1099s from QuickBooks.**
Connect all sales channels
Connect any available online sales channels and automatically sync with QuickBooks.
Bill management
Organize and track your business bills online.
Multiple currencies
Record transactions in other currencies without worrying about exchange rate conversions.
Includes 5 users
Invite your accountant to access your books, control user-access levels, and share reports without sharing a log-in.**
Enter time
Enter employee time by client/project and automatically add it to invoices.
Inventory
Track products, cost of goods, see what’s popular, create purchase orders, and manage vendors.
Project profitability
Track all your projects in one place, track labor costs, payroll and expenses.
Financial planning
Create budgets with real-time data you can collaborate with your team on.
Advanced
$235
$11750/mo
Expert Assisted
Connect with Live experts when you need it. They can provide setup help and bookkeeping guidance in QuickBooks, so you can stay organized and run your business with confidence. Free for 30 days. No auto-renew.
Try expert help FREE for 30 days*
Access expert tax help
Save time and effort by seamlessly moving from books to taxes, then prepare your current tax year return with unlimited expert help to get every credit you deserve. Access live tax experts powered by TurboTax. Costs vary by entity type. Subject to eligibility.
with QuickBooks Live Tax
Income and expenses
Securely import transactions and organize your finances automatically.
Banking with 5.00% APY
Every dollar put away in savings envelopes earns you interest at over 70x the U.S. average.
Bookkeeping automation
Automate bookkeeping to cut down on tedious tasks and get more time to focus on your business.
Invoice and payments
Accept credit cards and bank transfers in the invoice with QuickBooks Payments, get status updates and reminders.**
Tax deductions
Share your books with your accountant or export important documents.**
Powerful reports
Monitor financial metrics and build customized dashboards that measure performance.
Receipt capture
Snap photos of your receipts and categorize them on the go.**
Mileage tracking
Automatically track miles, categorize trips, and get sharable reports.**
Cash flow
Get paid online or in person, deposited instantly, if eligible.
Sales and sales tax
Accept credit cards anywhere, connect to e-commerce tools, and calculate taxes automatically.**
Estimates
Customize estimates, accept mobile signatures, see estimate status, and convert estimates into invoices.**
Contractors
Assign vendor payments to 1099 categories, see payment history, prepare and file 1099s from QuickBooks.**
Connect all sales channels
Connect any available online sales channels and automatically sync with QuickBooks.
Bill management
Organize and track your business bills online.
Multiple currencies
Record transactions in other currencies without worrying about exchange rate conversions.
Includes 25 users
Invite your accountant to access your books, control user-access levels, and share reports without sharing a log-in.**
Enter time
Enter employee time by client/project and automatically add it to invoices.
Inventory
Track products, cost of goods, see what’s popular, create purchase orders, and manage vendors.
Project profitability
Track all your projects in one place, track labor costs, payroll and expenses.
Financial planning
Create budgets with real-time data you can collaborate with your team on.
Auto-track fixed assets
Automatically track fixed asset values, access all fixed asset info in one spot, and get insights about what may come next.
Data sync with Excel
Seamlessly send data back and forth between QuickBooks Online Advanced and Excel for more accurate business data and custom insights.
Batch invoices and expenses
Create invoices, enter, edit, and send multiple invoices faster.**
Custom access controls
Easily control who sees your data, assign work to specific users, and create custom permissions.
Workflow automation
Save time and mitigate risk with automated workflows and set reminders for improved cash flows and more.
Data restoration
Continuously and automatically back up your changes, restore a specific version of your company, and view version history.**
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Stay consistent, compliant, and credible with automated revenue recognition.
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- Automating QuickBooks based on your business needs
- Categorizing transactions and reconciling accounts correctly
- Reviewing key business reports
- Ensuring you stay on track for tax time
Call 1-800-816-4611 to get 50% off Live Expert Assisted for 3 months.*
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QuickBooks Commerce puts you in the driver’s seat
- Run custom reports, track sales across channels, and get alerts when it’s time to restock inventory, so you never fall behind.
- List and manage your products across multiple channels to increase brand awareness and grow your customer base.
Inventory management
By Erin Osterhaus
Tracking inventory can be tedious work, but it’s vital to running a business. Inventory management systems are designed to handle most of the administrative work, making it easy to put an important part of your business on autopilot.
So what exactly is an inventory management system?
It’s a software application that automatically updates your inventory levels as sales are made and items are shipped. It monitors your supply in real-time and helps you plan purchases from wholesalers and manufacturers. Perhaps most importantly, it’s a tool that helps you keep a finger on the pulse of your cash flow.
When you think about growing a business, you might first think about offering new products or finding new marketing channels. Improving your inventory management might not be at the top of your list, but there’s compelling evidence that it should be.
A good inventory management system can help your business in three key ways:
Save time: Instead of spending hours auditing and tracking inventory on a periodic basis, you have a dynamic look at your inventory levels. You’ll know when you’re running low on a product, so you’ll never keep customers waiting on their orders.
Cut costs: According to the 2016 National Retail Security Survey, 16.5% of inventory “shrinkage”—i.e. lost inventory—results from administrative and paperwork errors. This results in costly audits and lost time. The most efficient way to manage inventory is to automate it.
Budget and forecast: Real-time data helps you make decisions about purchasing and sales. You’ll know what products your customers love and which suppliers are slow to deliver.
The essentials of inventory management
Choosing the right inventory management system depends on your business. Real estate investors carrying property as inventory are very different than a tech company selling smartphones in 10 countries. And that is very different from a bakery selling perishable goods or a distributor selling sheet metal.
In each case, a clear look at the products coming in and going out helps the people in charge make strategic decisions. While most businesses start by managing inventory in an Excel spreadsheet (or in the CEO’s head), software usually takes its place as the supply chain grows in complexity.
What’s the difference between inventory management and supply chain management?
Inventory management is a key component of supply chain management. A company’s supply chain encompasses all of the steps needed to turn a raw material into a product available for consumers. The iPhone, for example, has an immensely complex supply chain. Apple sources parts and materials from California, Korea, Japan and China before the phone is assembled in China. Inventory management is the part of supply chain that deals with finished products. So in the iPhone’s example, Apple’s inventory management system deals with shipping the phones from factories in China to warehouses and finally to Apple stores and homes across the world.
Very few businesses have complete control of or visibility into their supply chain. In fact, most start by outsourcing manufacturing or sourcing to third parties. However, one way to improve costs is to analyze your supply chain. From choosing manufacturers to managing inventory, there are always areas for improvement.
When inventory management starts to get complex
Perishable goods – Grocery and other stores that offer perishable goods face unique challenges when it comes to inventory management. Milk and produce, for example, have short shelf lives. They become harder to sell the longer they sit on the shelf. Unlike stores that sell non-perishable items, grocery stores must be proactive about removing so-called “dead” goods once they near their expiration date.
Lots of products and categories – Some businesses hold inventory that is hard to categorize or differentiate. Auto parts distributors, for example, might carry thousands of different bearings. It’s easy to imagine a spreadsheet handling the first dozen SKUs, but getting incredibly complicated after that.
Seasonal businesses – A Planet Money podcast detailed some of the challenges that florists face before Valentine’s Day: “Sixty percent of us wait until the last minute to order our flowers, but the floral industry can’t afford to wait. About 190 million roses were pushed into production before you even cooked your Thanksgiving turkey.” Seasonality introduces a range of challenges when it comes to inventory. Manufacturing, shipping, cash flow—these parts of the business come together to make inventory a key part of serving customers when it matters most.
3 things to look for in an inventory management system
- An inventory management system should take the guesswork out of your business. The right tool is the one that frees you up to do what you do best. Here are a few things to consider as you look at replacing your current system.Re-ordering: Automatic reordering is great but not always ideal. For example, Quickbooks automatically creates POs for your vendors when you’re low on certain items. This ensures you can review them before making a purchase. You can set thresholds to queue up reorders before your inventory hits critical levels.
- Integrations: You want a tool that works with the systems you’re already using. Integrations with your accounting and POS software will make inventory management significantly easier.
- Real-time dashboards: Inventory management systems should provide you with real-time data and information. You should be able to get a pulse on your business no matter where you are as long as you have access to the internet.
Operationalizing inventory management may not be exciting, but it’s sure to save you time, money and headaches.
Frequently asked questions
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