Inventory Control / Billing Customers

[Dirtbmw20]

To all the cuemakers and especially the cue repair guys........ Do any of you use an inventory control software system to keep up with and keep track of your inventory and supplies, such as tips and such ?? I know all the cuemakers and repair guys already know without me having to say it, but you can sink a TON of money just into tips and I'de like a way to keep track of my inventory and also keep track of my sales where everytime I bill one out it will relieve my inventory of said tip used. I have been in the automotive parts industry all my life so it is a must in my profession and would like to incorporate it into my cue repair business.

So how is everyone keeping track of their parts and supplies ???

And how do all the cuemakers and repair guys bill their customers ??? From a handwritten invoice or a computer generated invoice ??

 

[RBC]

Quickbooks Mfg and Wholesale edition.

 

[Dirtbmw20]

Quickbooks Mfg and Wholesale edition.

Is that what you use Royce ?? Does it allow you to assign part numbers to your items (tips) and it will relieve them out of your inventory everytime you bill one on an invoice ??

My dad has Quickbooks and that is what he uses but he has a Mac and I just have a regular PC with XP on it.

Does it HAVE to be the Mfg and Wholesale edition ?? Looking on Ebay, I see TONS of different Quickbooks.

 

[DanO]

I don’t keep track of my inventory but I use Microsoft Excel to log all my work. I can easily do a search for a previous customer to see what I did in the past. Surprising how many players say “put whatever tip you did last time”.

 

[Dirtbmw20]

I don’t keep track of my inventory but I use Microsoft Excel to log all my work. I can easily do a search for a previous customer to see what I did in the past. Surprising how many players say “put whatever tip you did last time”.

Way too much money invested in just tips alone not to track my inventory.

 

[cuejo]

All of the quickbooks can track inventory if you enable it...I think

 

[Dirtbmw20]

All of the quickbooks can track inventory if you enable it...I think

That's what I'm having a hard time finding out is which ones will deduct the quantity being used out of my inventory, I don't know if it is a specific quickbooks or will ALL of them do it. I even tried calling quickbooks and of course they want to sell me an online subscription to do everything I need, I just need to know WHICH quickbooks program I need to find on ebay.

 

[cuejo]

I'm not sure,
Is it cheaper to buy quickbooks on eBay?
I use premier for my "real" business
I don't use inventory tracking though.

 

[Dirtbmw20]

Not cheaper if I was buying a brand new 2012 current copy but you can find ones that were never used or installed for ALOT cheaper than retail.

I found a premier wholesale and manufacturing edition but it is from 2004, but I also found plenty of 2011 and 2012 office editions for a fraction of the cost, I just don't know which version to get.

 

[Trent]

Why not just build your own spreadsheet or access database excel would be the easiest that's what I use to quote cues.

 

[Dirtbmw20]

Why not just build your own spreadsheet or access database excel would be the easiest that's what I use to quote cues.

Because I have ZERO experience in useing a spreadsheet, much less BUILDING one. Plus I don't think a spreadsheet will keep up with inventory but I could very well be wrong.

I want something similar to an auto parts inventory / billing system but without having to spend $200,000 with someone like ADP or Reynolds & Reynolds to buy the system. I want a program to keep the inventory of my tips, assigned a bin location, and every time I bill that certain part number out, it relieves my inventory of that part number, and can set minimum stocking levels to tell me when I need to re-order, etc... Being an auto parts guy my whole life, that's what I'm use to and is easy for me.

 

[meridianblades]

Why not just build your own spreadsheet or access database excel would be the easiest that's what I use to quote cues.

I think Access comes with an inventory database where you can replace the values in the dummy database with your own. Here's one that's free to try and $15 to buy if you like it....

http://download.cnet.com/Basic-MS-Access-Sales-and-Inventory-Database/3000-2065_4-10612822.html

Heres a simple template you can use and replace it with your info etc...

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/inventory-management-database-TC001018458.aspx

Do a little tweaking and either of these will do what you need.

 

[chuckpilegis]

What kind of lathe did you get

 

[Dirtbmw20]

I think Access comes with an inventory database where you can replace the values in the dummy database with your own. Here's one that's free to try and $15 to buy if you like it....

http://download.cnet.com/Basic-MS-Access-Sales-and-Inventory-Database/3000-2065_4-10612822.html

Heres a simple template you can use and replace it with your info etc...

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/inventory-management-database-TC001018458.aspx

Do a little tweaking and either of these will do what you need.

Thanks meridian, I'll have to download one of those and play with it.

What kind of lathe did you get

I bought one of Todd's lathes, although it was used from another forum member, it's in great shape and plenty for what I have the knowledge to do. I know tips are a heck of alot easier on the lathe than with my old Willard machine, but so far I haven't ventured past tips and shaft cleanings. Box is being made for it tomorrow so I can contain MOST of the shavings and dust since it IS on the dining room in the house, wife has been real cool with it so far so I gotta keep it that way. After tomorrow I'll start playing with making some ferrules and I have one cue I bought off the forum that is too light and is not drilled for a weight bolt, two thers of my own I want the wrap changed on so no better way to learn than on my own cues.

 

[Cue Crazy]

I also use Quickbooks, although I believe It's just a simple version of it. It's nice for billing though, because You can set a list of common sale items or services in the drop down box, and just click on that to fill in the fields on the invoice, then list the number of said items, and it automatically calculates the total and taxes. You can also keep a list of transactions with individuals or business, and that keeps a list of all the invoices You have with each one. You can also list check numbers, marked paid, etc. on the invoices. There's a ton of other features too. basically you can set It up to be very efficient. Much easier then keeping, and going on hand receipts alone. I just use Mine locally, but You can use It online, and do invoicing over the web with It too.

 

[Renegade_56]

Peachtree or Quickbooks Pro,,,,,,either work nicely for this

 

[DanO]

I don’t track inventory but Excel will if I want. Right now I’m keying off of specific towns that I type to calculate where my work is coming from. Dixon 35%, Sterling 23%, RockFalls 8%...

You know I’m already categorizing what tip and how many I installed for them. I can add an inventory page with an “in stock” quantity, link it to the (1) Moori S for Joe Smoe installed. (1) tip is removed from the inventory page. This could be expanded to other components as well. I’ll have to play with this.

Excel is a very powerful software but if you’re not already using it, I would stay away from it. Sorry I really couldn’t help but I appreciate the question.

 

[Dirtbmw20]

I don’t track inventory but Excel will if I want. Right now I’m keying off of specific towns that I type to calculate where my work is coming from. Dixon 35%, Sterling 23%, RockFalls 8%...

You know I’m already categorizing what tip and how many I installed for them. I can add an inventory page with an “in stock” quantity, link it to the (1) Moori S for Joe Smoe installed. (1) tip is removed from the inventory page. This could be expanded to other components as well. I’ll have to play with this.

Excel is a very powerful software but if you’re not already using it, I would stay away from it. Sorry I really couldn’t help but I appreciate the question.

Thanks Dan, I wish I knew more about Excell. I know enough where if I was given a template, I could use it and make it work. When I was doing light metal fabricating, I found a template on Ebay that I could download and use to give estimates on jobs and it included my material fees, handleing fees, and anything else that went with a fabricating job. My BIG boss, the actual owner of the dealership I work at is a whiz with Excell and can write his own programs. I use to do ebay sales for the dealeship and he designed a spreadsheet for my ebay sales, ebay fees, paypal fees, and anything else he wanted reported in his hands,lol. Although he is an extremely nice and generous boss (he gives me permission to hang out on AZB all day long,lol), he is way too busy to bother with my petty side jobs.

 

[Dirtbmw20]

I appreciate all the responses and help with an inventory management program.

IF anyone is actually interested in one, I found a website named www.cnet.com that has literally THOUSANDS of free computer programs for download. I found one for inventory control called inFlow and it had over 700,000 downloads with a 5 star rating. It will do EVERYTHING that you could possibly ask for in dealing with a small business, keeps track of inventory, bin locations, billing, stock order reports, etc... just in case someone is looking to do the same thing.