Accounting / Stock Management software sync website

[Rob2012]

Hello,

Does anyone know an accounting / stock management software that can be synced with e commerce website (I am on woocommerce platform).

I simply need the accounting software to capture all the sales going through the website and sync stock levels. The sync ideally would be two way but at this point I would settle for a decent one way also website>software.

I've looked at quickbooks ONLINE and on the outside it looks great before you realise you have to pay for all additional functionalities e.g. stock management, syncing with website and any other useful feature costs monthly £ which are like 4 times the amount of quickbooks itself, and they are developed by external programmers...so no stability.

Any advice would be much appreciated and I'd love to hear how e commerce owners do their accounts.

Regards

 

[grgzy]

I am also building a site with woocommerce but get a t lot of B2B sales so need a reliable invoicing system too.

I have been experimenting with clearbooks, So far it seams to be good value for money and has a moderate learning curve but you would need to find an ordering management system to handle that side. I was looking at channel grabber.

QuickBooks does seam to partner with more companies but as you said also does not provide stock management except from their partnership with SOS inventory.

I am doing a lot of research just now as I want to find a system (involving one or more firms) that can give me seamless ordering > stock / order management > accounts processing.

 

[Pish_Pash]

There are very few solutions that do both stock/order management and handle accounts too ...as far as I'm aware Brightpearl is the only such offering (but if you have numerous sales channels, you best start thinking about donating kidneys...and reviews seem a mixed bag)

Most folks end up with two system cobbled together e.g. Linnworks & Sage ...with Tradebox in the middle as the 'glue', etc.

The price models of all such solutions seem to work on the very rough principle that if you have several sales channels, then you're ripe for a kicking from a fees perspective.

Basically, from what's out there ....you'd think we were living in 1990 not 2015.

 

[Rob2012]

Thanks for replies guys, lets try to get through this together .. Maybe we should create software company at this point rather than e commerce haha

I kindo went back to quickbooks for accounting as they can actually be linked with website using a 3rd party plugin and seem to be pretty simple to use, as for stock management I might use excel file for now.. as you can download and upload stock levels using CVS.

I am also looking at another solution exactonline and their wholesale distribution package, it does seem like a complete solution... just waiting for them to give me the free trial, would love to know if anyone tried them out?

Other suggestions most welcome

 

[GraemeL]

Pish Pash is on the nail here. I use Linnworks and ClearBooks, its a little clunky but does the job.

In a previous life I used Lakeview http://www.lakeview.co.uk/ which is a fabulous system, but I think would be cost prohibitive. And there's the rub. A combined accounting/stock management system that can link to a variety of sales channels costs more to develop and support than small users are prepared to pay.

G

 

[Rob2012]

Pish Pash is on the nail here. I use Linnworks and ClearBooks, its a little clunky but does the job.

In a previous life I used Lakeview http://www.lakeview.co.uk/ which is a fabulous system, but I think would be cost prohibitive. And there's the rub. A combined accounting/stock management system that can link to a variety of sales channels costs more to develop and support than small users are prepared to pay.

G

How about your stock management?

 

[Pish_Pash]

How about your stock management?

Linnworks does stock management.

Actually Quickbooks does a rudimentary form of stock management.... so what do you want from 'stock management'?

What#s the name of the 3rd part Quickbooks plugin you mentioned?? (i.e. that pulls in orders from your website)

There is a firm in India that offers multi sales channel integration with Quickbooks (including Amazon)...when I looked it seemed very competitive (a one off fee), but I can't find any reviews.... (worse still I've lost the URL!)

In my opinion, you are right going with quickbooks (it offers great bang for the buck'.....if you do go with quickbooks, I recommend shelling out for transaction pro importer ....it allows semi automation of sales, purchase order etc into Quickbooks.

Whichever way you go ...the best tip I can offer *anyone* starting in ecommerce, is have your own database containing all your products & all your customers (& sales) ...SQL, Access etc....you;'ll not know it from the outset, but it's totally key to running an efficient business. To give you an example, when I first started out, I was taking my packages to the Post Office, I needed a certificate of posting, so every day I'd handwrite out one of those puppies (it took me 10-15 minutes). I was using Linnworks (a database), but it couldn't produce a certificate of posting. the solution was to learn ms access ....using that, it's easy enough to create a certificate of posting for all the packages being taken to the post office that day (takes about 1 min - no errors, because I scan the packages). I then started using drop & go...they needed a drop & go manifest ....once again, ms access allowed me to produce one of those automatically.

Using ms access allows VAT codes to be assigned to all sales transactions automatically (i.e. before importing them into Quickbooks), it adds exchange rates to all transactions (if you deal in foreign currencies) it allows you to farm email addresses 'show me all customer email addresses that bought product X, but not product Y'. I buy stuff in yen ....using access allows me to show the landed sterling price, it allows me to create a B2B price lists in 2 minutes etc etc. My point being...there are software packages off the shelf that will allow you to do 70% of what you need...but the other 30% might be absolutely vital/key to your business....and the #off the shelf' software you've bought won't do it - that's where a database comes in.

I knew zilch about MS access...about 8 months into my business, I realised I needed my own database - it then took me a couple of months to get to the point where I could make ms access do what I want....so if you're not familiar with databases, I'd strongly suggest making a start as early as possible!

 

[grgzy]

Pish_pash

I to have been using RM drop & go service and the manifest can be useful as a hard copy of posted items however I have been looking into a way this can be done automatically.

How easy did you get Access to populate the manifest and can you suggest any URLs or guides to reference for help in building something similar too?

 

[Pish_Pash]

Pish_pash

I to have been using RM drop & go service and the manifest can be useful as a hard copy of posted items however I have been looking into a way this can be done automatically.

How easy did you get Access to populate the manifest and can you suggest any URLs or guides to reference for help in building something similar too?

Unfortunately, it's not that repeatable ...in other words it's not like I can say 'here you go' (your database requirements will certainly be different from mine)

I import all sales order from a text file into a main access table. I then scan a barcode located on my shipping labels (these scanned barcodes go into a their own access table), it's then just a matter of running a report (a report pulls out all the fields you require from your overall database...eg name, address postal service used), the report shows only those packages that have just been scanned (it takes a lot of formatting to get the output to exactly match up with royal Mail's pdf files!)

Automating the certifcate of posting is not trivial ...indeed, this particular solution was an evolution, first I had to learn about databases, then about queries, then about reports...it was only when I had these tucked away, did I have 'the nous' to be able to create 'certificate of postings', 'drop & go manifests' etc (I'd say after about 2-3 months of dabbling with your database on a daily basis that you'll likely have the 'chops')

The beauty is that once you've learned, you can quickly adapt to anything needed by anyone. For example if I start using a different courier...I can quickly pull out all the info they'll require in the format they require...it allows great efficiency & fleet of foot.

The cut/thrust of my earlier post was that a database is essential to a business....sure, you can buy business packages that all have own dedicated database, but chances are they'll be generic & won't do what you need, then you're in the domain of 'making do'...or hoping that the development team will embrace your idea.

 

[Raw Rob]

@Pish_Pash makes some good points there. Personally I just use the database that I already have within my online shop (currently ZenCart) and I added some php files to pull certain data I needed in certain formats. You can also use Access to pull data from a mySQL database, maybe you can even get Access to pull data directly from the database your ecommerce system uses using a ODBC connector (I've not tried that, not sure if it works over the net but interesting to look into).

 

[Pish_Pash]

I should also just say I'm not a programmer, I curl into the foetal position at the mere thought of editing php files etc. The beauty about ms access (vs. the more 'grown up' mySQL) is that it has such a nice 'front end' on it, for most stuff, you don't have to get deep down 'n dirty with code....it's like "A wuss's approach to databases", but I don't care...it gets the job done!

 

[SiBales]

Tradebox links direct to Sage accounts - they also link to order management systems that in turn integrate to all the main marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay etc..

 

[antropy]

I'm not sure about WooCommerce but I know that OpenCart will connect to Sage via Tradebox.

 

[Pish_Pash]

Re Tradebox, it looks like the OP is cost sensitive....

I've looked at quickbooks ONLINE and on the outside it looks great before you realise you have to pay for all additional functionalities e.g. stock management, syncing with website and any other useful feature costs monthly £ which are like 4 times the amount of quickbooks itself, and they are developed by external programmers..

it'll be costly to use Tradebox (monthly subscription, it gets very expensive alarmingly quick if several channels are used). As I mentioned, if you are using quickbooks, buy Transaction pro Importer ...it's a modest one off cost (not a monthly sub) & essentially functions like Tradebox does ...i.e. it 'glues' your stock management system to your accounts system, (Quickbooks)

 

[Linn Systems]

Hi Pish Pash,

One suggestion you could consider is speaking to our technical support team.

They would be able to help you by offering a commissioned scripting to build you a custom query (in SQL) for use in Linnworks with all of the fields of information you require in a single CSV.file.

You could then import into your accountancy software directly using CSV.file transfer (if available) as and when needed to pass information for processing. It may even be possible to automate this process if the software offers automated import from CSV.file.

All you need to do is raise a support ticket to our Technical team through your account page, highlighting the data you want in the correct format for your chosen third party software.

As a example of what can be achieved through custom scripting Click Here for link to our forums where we have a customer who has built there own Quickbooks script into Linnworks.

I hope this helps.

Kind Regards

Richard Maxted
Business Deveelopment Executive.
Linn Systems LTD

 

[Pish_Pash]

Hello Richard,

The problem with Linnworks to Quickbooks, is that it's a pretty huge job (I see there are constant threads popping up on your Linnworks forums saying "Who wants Quickbooks integration?" ...from what I can tell, it never make it to fruition (here in the Uk at least) because it's a very involved job, therefore I doubt asking your tech team to assist me would be fruitful (or cost effective!)

Transactio Pro Importer costs $199 (about £130), but Linnworks scripting hourly rate (from recollection) is something like £85 per hour ...it would need many, many hours scripting work to nail Linnworks to Quickbooks requirements.
.

 

[Linn Systems]

Hi Pish Pash,

This wouldnt be a integration as offered previously, rather just a easy means of you being able to export the correct fields of data without you having to manually reformat various spread sheets from Query Data in Linnworks into one file for import into your preferred software.

Regarding scripting prices it is £85 for the first hour then £75 every hour after, and the level of work required would depend on how many fields of information you require out of the report.

If you have any further questions regarding Linnworks please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Kind regards.

Richard Maxted
Business Development Executive.
Linn Systems LTD

 

[Pish_Pash]

The problem here is that Quickbooks doesn't allow the importing of transactions in csv format...all sales transactions has to be in a special quickbook format (hence having to use Transaction Pro Importer, which takes a csv/excel file & allows that to be imported)

 

[BusinessPlexus]

Pish Pash.... Such software is great if volumes are high in terms of sales... if you remember we had a discussion previously. Best bet for time being would be to implement a manual approach until your business is in the profitable side.

 

[Page]

DO NOT try and integrate the two

Accounts is every changing

Do you ever need all sales in your accounts package - if so why
It is a time wasting red herring IMHO
Better to just post daily or weekly or monthly totals across and free your time to do something useful

 

[Pish_Pash]

This is like Groundhog day.

It takes me 3 minutes each to to have all Ebay/Amazon/Website sales transactions piped into my accounts software ..I like seeing running sales/gross & net profit in (virtual) real time. I'd agree that it would be too much if it were onerous to do this...but like i say 3 minutes (max)

re ever changing...my 'integration' has been solid for a year...no changes afoot ...why? (because I have a Desktop version of acocunts software...not forever changing like Cloud)