It is well-known that online accounting makes the otherwise tedious accounting process hassle-free thanks to the almost automated invoicing, quoting and expense management, time tracking options and auto-generated business reports.
However, since every business sells something, whether it is a product or a service, they need to keep track thereof in the most effective way possible.
This is where inventory comes into the picture: this way you can easily manage the items and services you are selling, store the contact info of vendors you are purchasing said items from and create invoices/quotes etc. To make things even better, the best online accounting solutions have built-in inventories, but if they don’t, you can take advantage of their API support and integrate the best third-party inventory apps or ecommerce solutions of the market to create a fully automated system, so you can spend your time running your business.
Essentially, an inventory is an advanced spreadsheet in which you can store the quantity of the products/services you sell, along with other data such as their price, cost etc. In fact, some accounting solutions even allow you to use actual Excel sheets and import them into the software, turning it into more than just a plain document. An inventory, which keeps track of your items in real-time, can highlight current stock levels and your best selling products, showing you the profit margin to make future business decisions accordingly.
However, the main reason why an inventory is more than just a database is that it can speed up data entry to previously unseen extent. You can not only create invoices and quotes based on what you have in your inventory in a jiffy, but you can also separate items you want to sell and buy. Moreover, this separation can go one step further by choosing not to track your items, which comes in handy if you are selling services that doesn’t qualify as countable.
Aside from payroll, inventory is one of the black sheep of cloud-based accounting, as it is often not present as a full-fledged feature. However, thanks to the support and offering of an API, most accounting solutions allow users to integrate third-party apps, like TradeGecko, into their accounting software. This way you can add an inventory to the mix with which you can manage bigger “warehouses” than the ones built into the accounting programs. This especially comes in handy if the integrated software is an ecommerce solution, since the moment a customer purchases something through the ecommerce site, an invoice is automatically created and the bank feed you see in your accounting software is updated.
Another suitable solution is Vend, a popular POS with inventory feature uses: it sends all data needed for accounting after each register closure, and even creates invoices for business reporting purposes (a feature working vice versa as well). The same two-way compatibility is also the case for contact management: they can feature in both Vend and your accounting software.
As we said before, inventory management is a feature not all cloud-based accounting software has; however, thanks to the support of an API, it is possible to at least integrate existing inventory solutions into your accounting program. But sometimes both solutions are available, as is the case with the following two accounting programs, Xero and QuickBooks Online.
Xero is a progressive and innovative online accounting solution that enables you to manage your accounts more effectively and make your accounting hassle-free. Some of its features include invoicing and quotes, bank reconciliation, inventory, mobile capability, third-party apps, purchase orders and payroll. The mobile version of the software, Xero Touch, makes it possible to access all your accounting data instantly from wherever you may be. Xero integrates and works well with many other third-party applications (such as advanced solutions for CRM, point-of-sale, e-commerce and more). You have a choice of three pricing plans – Starter, Standard and Premium – all of which have slightly different features and a reduced price for the first six months. Xero also provides a 30-day free trial. Customers enjoy efficient and reliable support from Xero online teams. Xero’s US headquarters is in San Francisco, but this publicly listed company’s products are used in over 180 countries. The company has garnered impressive experience in the area of cloud computing and accounting and has continued to innovate and create new products for the market.
It is quite unbelievable that U.S.-based online accounting company Intuit Inc. has already been on the market since 1983. But the success of its main product, QuickBooks shows that they aren’t just simply lucky. The software exists as downloadable software for desktops, and a cloud-based accounting solution dubbed QuickBooks Online, which the company quite aggressively promotes. This latter version, of which we will be talking about, is ideal for everybody from simple sole-proprietors to bigger companies. Regardless of the chosen subscription, you can create invoices, expenses, and estimates with a few clicks, quickly manage sales receipts, create and print checks, payrolls, have multiple tax rates, real-time banking and reports. You can integrate the software with over 300 third-party solutions, and be entitled to full customer support. You also have the option to try out the software completely free of charge for 30 days. Skipping this trial period you get a discount from the monthly subscription fee for six months or a whole year. But if you don’t like the software, you still have a 60-day money back guarantee.
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