One word keeps cropping up in conversations about inventory management: seamless.
Business owners agree that if you have to do double duty entering data in different systems, you’re bound to mess up and cost yourself money and time fixing the problem.
That’s where inventory management software comes in, taking over the tedious work of tracking merchandise, alerting you when stocks are low, and integrating with such other business systems as accounting and payroll.
Kevin Wales, president of Just Moulding in Gaithersburg, Md., uses an integrated QuickBooks program for all his business systems.
“When we first started, when I would get a job, I would go to the lumberyard and buy whatever materials I needed for that job,” says Wales, who makes custom crown molding, chair rails, baseboard and other wood trim. “I’d get the next job, go to the lumberyard and get more material.”
This pattern continued until Wales realized he was buying the same material again and again. So he purchased several thousand feet of lumber and put it in his warehouse. He entered the transaction into QuickBooks to keep track of his stock.
Now, whenever Wales gets a new job, he records the data in QuickBooks, and the computer tells him whether he has enough material to do it. When his inventory gets low, it sends him a reminder to buy more.
“When you update accounts, it updates your system,” Wales says. “You have to account for the material.”
Author: Lynne Meredith Schreiber
Copyright 2009 StartupNation, LLC
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