Any reccomendations for stock control software?

[AdamB]

Hi all - good to see the forum back and thank you to Justin for all his hard work in the background (hope you havn't got too much grey hair?).

So, I was wondering if anyone uses or could reccomend any stock accounting software?

The shop we are opening will also be selling a large range of childrens clothing at at the moment we are accounting for it via an excel spreadsheet. Although excel is an excellent piece of kit I don't think this will last too long as the list contstantly expands with new ranges and items.

I need something that I can account for items that will be in different categories and also show the cost price and selling price of the item. I'll also need to account for items and enter things in as they are sold giving new totals and records (for the tax man!).

Not sure if anyone can help?

Kindest regards to all

Adam

[bms]

I'd recommend Sage Accounts 50 - this version gives you stock control with customised re-order levels. As you invoice out the goods so your stock changes and if you're VAT registered then Sage will do the VAT return calculations for you. The basic version of Sage is okay (Sage Instant) but if you need the stock control element then it will need to be Sage 50.

[JSR]

Is this any good to you -

http://www.losoftware.co.uk/index.php?s ... rol%20lite

It came up when I Googled.

They say -

"Free serial keys only apply to individuals, charities or not-for-profit organisations and sole traders."

The paid versions are £29.99 and £49.99.

I'm tempted to try it myself.

[John G]

I use quickbooks accounting software - if you set it up properly, with stock codes, it will keep track of all your stocks, suppliers and customers etc. It also helps you with your vat return - set the parametres and with one click of the button your vat 100 is printed out for you with the correct figures to write in the boxes. You'll definately need accounting software if running a shop, excel, while excellent software, isn't up for the job - in my opinion.

Cheers John

[AdamB]

Thanks guys for your replies - much appreciated.

Martin - I have read a lot about Sage, and have a look at Sage Accounts 50. It seems like a very good program but a little on the expensive side considering I would probably only use about 5% of the software's capabilities.

JSR - I had a look at the 'Right Control' software, and being free it was worth a download to try it. After spending an hour adding categories etc the thing 'crashed' on me .......... losing everything! I had a look on the support forum and found a few people who had 'experienced' problems and the techies were working to iron them out. Don't think I can afford to go back to this just in case it crashes and burns and I loose all .............. good find though, many thanks.

John - Quickbooks was one of the programs I was looking at yesterday and I have just downloaded the 'Simple-Start free version' that is limited in some facilities. This (unfortunatly) is limited in the things I need to try out such as adding stock, selling stock etc - but at £99 (plus VAT) it seems like a cheaper alternative for Sage. I agree with you about Excel, I use it on a regular basis but I think that my requirements will outgrow excel.


It just seems like some of the stuff is jam packed full of features for 'businesses' but I just need something 'basic'.

I need to add items to an inventory in particular sections and subsections. When adding these items I need to input the cost price and selling price. All items in the shop will have tags that will identify the item so at the end of each day (or during if it's not busy) the stock can be 'sold' on the program, removing the item from the 'amount on hand'. Projected sales, and profit etc are also a great thing to have.

[JSR]

JSR - I had a look at the 'Right Control' software, and being free it was worth a download to try it. After spending an hour adding categories etc the thing 'crashed' on me .......... losing everything! I had a look on the support forum and found a few people who had 'experienced' problems and the techies were working to iron them out. Don't think I can afford to go back to this just in case it crashes and burns and I loose all .............. good find though, many thanks.

Thanks for the warning.

I don't know what kind of stock control features it has, but you could try Gnucash - http://www.gnucash.org/. As near as I can tell, it's meant to be more of a financial/accounting software than stock control but it's free and you could try it out. Gnucash has been around for awhile so you should be safe with the latest "stable" release.

It's also available in "portable" format (so that you can run it from a USB stick and then carry it around with you to any computer) from http://portableapps.com/apps/office/gnucash_portable.

[John G]

I'd be a bit nervous relying on a free software program to run a legit business, especially as it might not be totally bug free, but it does actually look quite good!

[JSR]

I'd be a bit nervous relying on a free software program to run a legit business, especially as it might not be totally bug free, but it does actually look quite good!

Well, paid-for software is rarely free of bugs either. The only difference is that when they fix bugs in paid-for software they call it a "new version" and you have to pay again. When they make new features in paid-software, they discontinue the version you've just bought so you have to pay again. And when you change your operating system they say it's not compatible so you have to pay again.

With free software it's, well, free to fix bugs, free to upgrade, and free to get the next version for your new OS.... And if you want to run it on a Mac, or on Linux, it's also... well, free...

[John G]

The only difference is that when they fix bugs in paid-for software they call it a "new version" and you have to pay again /quote]

Well, with quickbooks there was a few bugs but they were dealt with quickly, as downloads were freely available, new versions weren't released to sort these - the next versions offered different services altogether. I'm still using Quickbooks 2002 and there's no bugs in that - had all the updates that I require and its still perfectly running a legit company without any glitches - even though its not supported now.

A free version is exactly that - on your head be it. Any comeback and its - well what do you expect, it was for free anyway. If you want to run a business, pay for business software - don't cross your fingers and hope for the best.

[JSR]

A free version is exactly that - on your head be it.

That mantra doesn't change just because you pay. If you rely on any software, paid or otherwise, and it lets you down - it's still on your own head. Paying a few quid doesn't prevent you from being landed right in it when things go wrong, it just gives you someone to blame.

I use both paid and free software depending on what suits my needs.