Ilene Eisen to Speak at QuickBooks Connect

Ilene will be speaking that the Intuit Conference QuickBooks Connect in San Jose, California, Monday October 20, 2014 she will be presenting Mastering QuickBooks Inventory in Pro and Premier. This session will highlight the inventory features and strategies that Ilene uses when working with client to create an efficient workflow and accurate reports.  The session complete description is:

Managing Inventory can be quite complicated in any business! QuickBooks has features and tools that will help non-accountants manage the process. This course covers inventory concepts to help you understand the process and then introduces features and tools to purchase inventory, sell Inventory Parts, and enter Inventory adjustments.

Management should also understand the concepts, and use the tools provided, review reports, and be an active participant in the process to enhance internal controls. For this reason, we will also discuss reports, the reconciliation process, and an evaluation tool to easily identify errors and issues.

There are various versions of QuickBooks and we will discuss the inventory features that are available in QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, and QuickBooks Accountant version so that the user can assess their needs and purchase or upgrade to the version that is best suited for their Inventory needs.

New QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Subscription Plans

This month Intuit changed the way they sell NEW versions QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions (QBES), it is now sold on an annual subscription and will no longer function if the subscription is not renewed.  In addition to the Subscription, there are three packages that a customer chooses from, Silver includes Advanced Reporting, Gold includes advanced Reporting and Enhanced Payroll, and Platinum which includes advanced Reporting, Enhanced Payroll, Advanced Inventory, and Advanced Pricing.  Customers who currently own QBES will not be affected by this change.

Selling QBES on a subscription basis is a major change in the relationship between Intuit and the end user.  In the past a customer would purchase the software and had the option of purchasing the Full Service Plan (FSP) after the first year to keep the software current, if you did not purchase the FSP plan annually the software would continue to work, however you no longer receive product updates, online backup and technical support services.

The advantage of the subscription plan is that it is less expensive to add Enhanced Payroll and Advanced Inventory especially for customers with fewer users. The new price structure is also easier for customers to understand without having to price add-ons like payroll, Advanced Inventory and Advanced Pricing.  If the new structure reduces your cost, you can contact Intuit to switch to the subscription model, however this would be a non-revocable decision.

The disadvantage is that if you do not renew the subscription on an annual basis you will lose the ability to use or access your accounting software.

What is the best QuickBooks Program for Managing MY Inventory?

Many clients have inventory and struggle with how to manage the inventory effectively and easily.  Although QuickBooks does have inventory functionality in QuickBooks Pro/Premier and Enterprise, there are various add-on solutions that are also be helpful for your specific needs.  To determine the correct version and add-ons I’ve created the summary below. Retail businesses should also review the Point of Sale section. 

Quick Books Pro

Inventory functionality is very basic.

  1.  Inventory features are designed for businesses that buys and sells the same items over and over again (ie Antique Shops buy and sell different items).
  2. These businesses do not assemble items or repackage them and only have one location.

QuickBooks Premier

Inventory functionality of QuickBooks Pro and

  1. Ability to assemble items (remove raw materials from inventory and replace with finished goods or repackage in smaller quantities.)
  2. Create Sales Orders to manage partial shipments of goods and manage unfulfilled orders

QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions

Inventory functionality of QuickBooks Premier and

  1. Ability to use custom fields in transaction to configure orders
  2. Ability to add-on Advanced Inventory (annual fee)
    1. Use Multiple Inventory Locations
    2. Track Lot and Serial Numbers
    3. Bar Code Tracking

QuickBooks Point of Sale (POS)

This is a separate program that integrates with the other QuickBooks programs mentioned but is designed to work in a retail environment and function as a cash register.   

  1. Ability to run daily cash register reports.
  2. Ability to track individual cashiers
  3. Bar Code Tracking
  4. Multi-Store ability
  5. Styles view to see inventory availably by 2 designated features (i.e. size, color)