Cloud accounting software is always getting better. Dozens of cloud accounting options, like Freshbooks, Quickbooks, Zoho Books, and Xero, strive to be the best in the field.

If you’re a small or medium-sized business, competition is good news for you! Cloud accounting providers continually update their software with new features and new capabilities to get an edge over competitors. This means you get better features to help your business.

In addition to automated invoicing, fast quoting, process tracking, and financial reporting cloud accounting services now offer inventory management. 

Inventory management software infinitely simplifies your buying, stocking, and selling process. It eliminates surprise outages and double orders. With cloud-based inventory management, you know what you have, what you sell, and how much.

Better still, your efficiency gets passed on to your customers. You grow your reputation and don’t have to lose out on sales because something is out of stock.

Why Cloud Accounting Inventory Software?

If you’re running an e-commerce business, you’re probably already working with some type of inventory management system. Inventory management is absolutely critical to understanding Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) and your gross margins. You have to keep track of orders and items in stock, but you might not be making use of your cloud accounting software’s inventory management tools.

Over the long term, it pays to use your cloud accounting provider’s inventory management software for a few reasons.

• First, when you can integrate inventory management with bookkeeping and accounting. This will help you save a lot of time and energy on the accounting and you get useful insights into your company’s sales processes. 
• Secondly, you’re killing two birds with one stone. Subscribing to one software service can get you bookkeeping, accounting, and inventory management fully integrated, and in one place.

It pays to use your cloud accounting provider’s inventory management tool because you save time and money. 

But which one should you use?  We mentioned that there are dozens of options, all competing to be the best. In this post, we will list the pros and cons of each.

What’s the Best Cloud Accounting Inventory Management Service?

Different software solutions have different pros and cons. We’ll break them down in the list below.

Criteria

Before jumping into our list of the best solutions, let’s quickly define what makes a good inventory management service.

Capability–the best inventory management software should be able to perform all the functions you require as a business. It should, at the very least, present your inventory data, alert you in case of low stock, and send reports on inventory trends.

User Interface–the best software is the most usable software. We’ll rank inventory management services based on their usability and capability.

Integration–finally, we’ll rank software based on the overall integration of inventory management with the app’s bookkeeping and accounting function. This is, after all, the big reason to use your cloud accounting app’s inventory management tool.

#1 Xero Inventory

Xero Inventory brings Xero’s world-class intuitive interface to bear on inventory management. For all round functionality, it can’t be beat. What it lacks in capacity it makes up for in usability.

Capability–Xero has all the basic features you’d look for in an inventory management tool. Things like tracking and valuing stock items, reporting on sales trends, and adding inventory items to invoices, are all standard features. For most e-Commerce businesses Xero is more than capable of meeting inventory needs, however, if you need more tools, you could use a third-party app like Cin7 or Katana. The good news is, both will integrate seamlessly with your Xero bookkeeping and accounting processes. You’ll just have to add your inventory management tool through the integrated Xero Apps Store.

User Friendly–Xero is highly rated for its beautiful and intuitive layout. Like QuickBooks (outlined below), Xero’s unique selling point  is its user-friendly interface. There’s no point paying for a bunch of extra features if you don’t know how to use them.

Integration–Xero inventory integrates inventory with bookkeeping and invoicing so you won’t have to manually update inventory whenever you sell an item. It also has a comprehensive app store that allows users to add more advanced inventory applications as needed. 

#2 QuickBooks Inventory Tracking

Quickbooks inventory tracking is a solid option for new e-commerce businesses. With real-time inventory tracking, low stock alerts, and insight reports that allow you to better understand your selling trends, Quickbooks offers solutions for most inventory problems you’ll encounter.

Capability–Quickbooks’ in-house inventory manager is admittedly basic. It comes with features like inventory tracking, sales and payment sync with apps like Shopify, Amazon, Stripe and Paypal and basic selling trends. If you’re looking for features like point-of-sale tracking, multiple warehouse management or automated ordering you’ll have to go with a third-party app. The good news is that QuickBooks integrates with over 300 apps, including inventory management leaders like Cin7 and Katana.

Use Friendly– Users widely review QuickBooks as highly intuitive. Its inventory management system includes features like easy import from Excel lists so you can smoothly transition onto the app. 

Integration– QuickBooks has a comprehensive app store and hosts most mainstream inventory apps. The in-house inventory management function syncs with sales and payment apps, so you’re not manually entering transactions.

#3 Zoho Inventory

Like Xero, Zoho Inventory is highly reviewed for user-friendliness. Couple that with its attractively low price tag and you’ve got a competitive inventory manager. Its downside is its limited capabilities.

Capability–Zoho captures product information like SKU, vendor details, stock in hand and even product images in one place. Zoho users can also customize prices for individual customers and send reminders about upcoming orders. Zoho will track selling patterns and produce automatic inventory reports. It will send alerts and reminders based on past activity or minimum stock numbers set by business owners. Additionally, Zoho inventory will auto-fill purchase orders so you won’t have to manually process each order. It does not, however, have multiple warehouse management or drop-shipping automation.

User-Friendly–All Zoho products are backed by a top-notch customer service team. Although the process is highly intuitive with a gentle learning curve for new users, should Zoho users have an issue using the product, they can rest assured they won’t be left high and dry by the company’s customer service. 

Integration–Zoho Inventory is already a part of the Zoho suite of business apps. Zoho Books takes care of bookkeeping and will include new orders triggered by the inventory app automatically in its financial tracking and reporting.

#4 Netsuite

NetSuite is the grandfather of cloud-based ERP software. NetSuite pioneered many of the features we now associate with cloud accounting and bookkeeping. As an inventory manager, NetSuite’s biggest advantage is its holistic structure.

Capability–NetSuite offers real-time inventory tracking, allows you to see what’s on order, and offers suggestions for orders based on sales trends. With NetSuite, you can convert leads to orders, and orders to shipments in one place. If you’re looking for an all in one including CRM and Supply Chain Management NetSuite is a solid option.

Use Friendly–Here’s where Zoho, Xero and Quickbooks have an edge. As far as clean and intuitive interface they’re hard to beat. Netsuite is designed for small and medium-sized businesses and does have good reviews from new users and offers many options for customization, it has  a slightly steeper learning curve for new users.

Integration–NetSuite is a complete ERP suite. From CRM to Accounting, to Process Tracking  and Inventory Management, NetSuite has you covered. Unfortunately, Netsuite does not host advanced inventory management tools on its App store, so, should your company outgrow its in-house tools, upgrading might be a challenge.

#5 Odoo Inventory

It wouldn’t be a complete list without Odoo, your one-stop, open-source option for cloud accounting and bookkeeping.

Capability– Odoo does it all. Like Netsuite, Odoo is a complete suite of business software tools. For inventory management, Odoo offers an in-house app with advanced capabilities including multiple warehouse management, fully automated replenishment, and drop-shipping. Odoo’s inventory management app has more capabilities than other cloud accounting inventory management, but it does not integrate with third-party tools like Cin7 and Katana.

Use Friendly–Odoo’s learning curve is steeper than options like Zoho, Xero and QuickBooks. Users will likely need to spend a few days understanding the system before they benefit from the added efficiency perks.

Integration–Odoo’s entire in-house system is generally well-integrated. However, it does not have the same scope of app store options for inventory management as other cloud accounting software providers. 

If you have questions about integrating or choosing an inventory management system, book a consultation with Vertical CPA here to answer any specific questions you have. If you’re not ready to sign up with an accounting firm right now, we understand. Consider signing up for our newsletter here for weekly finance insights and tips to help your business grow.