The natural materials used to produce Teko’s product lines, including organic wool, recycled polyester and organic cotton, not only play a role in the comfort, quality and durability of the socks, but are also sustainable resources.

The combination of great fit and the highest-quality materials earned Teko the designation as official sock of the Freeride World Tour and makes Teko the preferred sock of professional and recreational athletes across sports ranging from cycling to skiing to climbing – and anyone desiring the best-performing socks on the market.

Teko Socks are currently found in online and at hundreds of stores around the world, including the U.S., Western Europe, Australia, Asia and Canada.

When QuickBooks just isn’t enough

As Teko’s business grew, so did their inventory control and business management needs.  QuickBooks alone and spreadsheets were not handling their inventory very well, so they began the search for a system that could. In their search, they came across ACCTivate!.

“It’s way better than just using QuickBooks. QuickBooks was running really slow for us before we got ACCTivate!. It was just overrun with data and in QuickBooks you can’t do reporting like you can with ACCTivate!.

So now that we have control of our inventory we are able to have real-time data and to provide our customers with information they need right away.”
- Owen Hammond
Director of Operations, Teko LLC

In addition to the ACCTivate! solutions and features that have improved Teko’s business operations, they also recognize the customer service and support ACCTivate! provides.

“It’s been great to get the constant updates..and the customer service and the ACCTivate! team is really good to work with, very responsive and I like it that [Alterity is] always looking to improve the software.,” Hammond said.

The ACCTivate! + QuickBooks Solution

Businesses in need of more than QuickBooks offers are finding ACCTivate! is the solution they’ve been looking for.

ACCTivate! for QuickBooks Inventory Management software is the award-winning, affordable solution for small, mid-sized & growing businesses using QuickBooks with the most robust set of Inventory Management & Warehousing features available in the marketplace.

And, just as your business doesn’t stop at the warehouse door, neither does ACCTivate!.  Packed with Business Management and CRM tools to integrate & coordinate the resources, information and functions across your business, ACCTivate! for QuickBooks Inventory Management software is the solution that delivers the most value for your money.

Learn more

Find out how companies of all sizes & industries are solving limitations, gaining advanced  inventory capabilities, obtaining business management tools and much more… without leaving QuickBooks.

Contact us or give us a call at 1-866-877-1311 to learn more today!

• Per the UK’s Office for National Statistics, as of Oct 2011, exports were valued at £25.5bn, up 0.6% from July and the highest level since monthly records began in 1998
• Every day US$1.4 billion of bilateral trade crosses the U.S.-Canada border, according to the U.S. Department of State 
• In 2010, Irish exports to the U.S. totaled U.S. $33.9 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade Statistics
• Per the WTO, Europe’s exports of manufactured products grew by 11 per cent in 2010 

Multi-currency capabilities: Opening trade around the world

Regardless of their “home” location, most businesses desire to expand their operations globally.

While improved communications and the internet have greatly improved the ability for businesses to engage globally, one obstacle still restricts trade significantly:  multiple currencies.

The ability to trade in multiple currencies is a requirement for buying and selling internationally.

Multi-currency with ACCTivate!

Buy and sell globally with ACCTivate!’s multi currency capabilities.  Seamlessly integrated with QuickBooks and across all of ACCTivate!, including purchasing, inventory management & sales, ACCTivate!’s multi-currency enables businesses to extend their operations into the global marketplace.

ACCTivate!’s multi-currency capabilities enable you to:

• State published prices in multiple currencies
• Report sales transactions in country of sale currency & home currency
• Currency rates are automatically updated from QuickBooks exchange rates
• You may maintain a separate price list for every currency
• Create virtually any report or document to gain the information you need, in currency of choice

Learn more today!

Contact us or give us a call at 1-866-877-1311 to speak with an inventory specialist.

Landed cost is the process of capturing all costs associated with the acquisition of goods, enabling businesses to accurately calculate inventory valuation by including these associated costs, whether the costs are known at the time of receipt of the goods, or sometime after.

Landed cost: Definition & calculation

To calculate the landed cost, or true cost, of a product, associated costs are added to the cost of the product, including:

• Shipping: Costs associated with crating, packing, handling, and freight.
• Customs: Duties, taxes, tariffs, VAT, brokers fees, harbor fees
• Risk: Insurance, compliance, quality, safety stock costs
• Overhead: Purchasing staff, due diligence cost, travel, exchange rates

Landed cost: Importance in decision making

Nearly everyone uses a version of landed costing in their daily lives.  Let’s say you need a new refrigerator; you will probably do a bit of shopping around before you make your purchase.  The one from the big box store 40 miles away may be $50 less than the one from the appliance store down the street, but when you add in the delivery charge of $100, it may end up being cheaper to buy the higher priced one that is nearby with free delivery.

So, one would assume businesses, when sourcing a product from potential manufacturers or distributors from around the world, would compare the true or total landed cost prior to making purchasing decisions.  Without understanding of the total landed cost, it is nearly impossible to make informed decisions on product sourcing and profitability.

Yet, according to the 2010 Third Party Logistics Study, only 45% of the respondents stated they used total landed cost extensively.  Reasons cited as to why total landed cost was not used included necessary data not available (49%), did not have the right tools (48%), did not have sufficient time for analysis (31%) and not sure how to apply landed cost (27%).

Landed cost with ACCTivate!

Award-winning ACCTivate! is packed with Inventory Management capabilities, including the most robust available landed cost capabilities available to small and mid-sized businesses.  ACCTivate!’s landed cost can include additional costs associated with the acquired goods such as duties, taxes, VAT, government fees, freight and insurance in product valuation, whether the costs are known at the time of receipt of the goods, or sometime after.

In addition to powerful inventory management capabilities, ACCTivate! includes Customer Satisfaction tools &  Business Management features, enabling businesses to automate, organize and easily make better business management decisions for a sustainable, competitive advantage.

Learn more today!

Contact us or give us a call at 1-866-877-1311 to speak with an inventory specialist.

What is a serial number & a lot number?

• A serial number is a unique number assigned to identify a specific item.
• A lot number is an identification number assigned to products indicating the batch or lot in which the product was manufactured or processed.
• Serial number tracking & lot number tracking is the ability to track and trace serial numbers back to suppliers, through outsourcers or to customers by lot or batch.

Who uses & tracks serial numbers?

While most consumers associate serial numbers with computer hardware and software, serial numbers are common to many industries.  Serial numbers - and the need to track serial numbers - are an important part in the supply chain process of getting products from manufacturer to consumer, safely & accurately.  Examples include:

• Auto parts distributors recognize serial numbers when inventory is received or shipped & track serial numbers for recalls
• Electronic distributors use lot number & serial number traceability to capture test certifications, specifications & related references
• Medical supply & pharmaceutical manufacturers & distributors must manage, view and report on source, expiration date, lot, inspection and quarantine information to comply with regulatory requirements and track serial numbers & lot numbers to do so

Total control & tracking of serial numbers with ACCTivate!

“Prior to having ACCTivate!, we were only using QuickBooks, but we weren’t tracking serial numbers, we weren’t tracking anything. So if someone pulled the wrong serial number we wouldn’t know it until the end of the month.”

- Chysawndra Schultz, Finance Manager

Assembly inventory: the benefits

Assembly is commonly used by businesses that do light manufacturing or, in other words, businesses that purchase multiple inventory items and combine them together into one “assembled” new product.   The benefits of using assembly to create inventory include:

• Reduces production cost by producing larger production runs
• Increases customer satisfaction by shortening lead times
• Achieves predictability through the use of documented, standardized processes with the creation a bill of material (BOM)

Assembly inventory: the process

Imagine that a company sells a build it yourself desk as one of its products. This desk is made up of different parts and when the parts are put together, the result is an assembled product – that is, an assembly is created.

The parts to make the assembly may be purchased from different vendors and, when received from each vendor, the assembly parts are entered into inventory.  Once  all the required parts for the assembly are received, a product called “desk” is created – which is the assembled product.  Upon creation of the new product, the components used in the assembly are depleted from inventory and the new product is added to replenish the finished goods inventory.

The desk parts are boxed as a product and placed on shelf. Upon receipt of an order, the boxed product is pulled and shipped.

Assembly inventory software: ACCTivate! 

Maximize resources by creating finished products from multiple inventory items utilizing the flexibility found in ACCTivate!’s inventory management system. Whether products are made to stock (assembly inventory), made on demand (kitting) or a combination of the two, ACCTivate! controls the inventory, and provides visibility on sales, margins, availability and anticipated current and future component inventory requirements.

Award-winning ACCTivate! is packed with Inventory Management capabilities, Customer Satisfaction tools &  Business Management features, making it  the most feature-rich inventory control solution available to small and medium-sized businesses.

Learn more today!

Contact us or give us a call at 1-866-877-1311 to speak with an inventory specialist.

Alterity Inc., will exhibit ACCTivate!, their Inventory Software for QuickBooks and provide information about their new ACCTivate! Consulting Partner Program at The Sleeter Group’s conference.

ACCTivate! Inventory Software specialists will attend The Sleeter Group’s Accounting Solutions Conference in Las Vegas from November 7-9. Hundreds of top accounting experts attend this event each year to learn more about small and mid-sized business solutions.

Alterity Vice President Jim Carpenter will be presenting the topic, “How focusing on wholesale distribution, inventory and operations management can help you grow your practice”. His presentation will give accountants and consultants insight on the benefits of focusing on a vertical market.

“Wholesale distribution is one of the cornerstones of our national economy, representing more than $5 trillion in annual revenue. And interestingly, small to medium-sized businesses are responsible for producing the lion’s share of that revenue,” Carpenter said. “There is tremendous pent-up demand for the kind of consulting that accounting professionals are uniquely positioned to provide. We look forward to sharing information with them that may open a lot of doors that they may never have considered entering.”

Carpenter will speak at two of the sessions during the conference. His sessions will be held on Tuesday, November 8 at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The first session will be at 9:30 a.m. in the Yaletown 2 room and the second session will be at 12:45 p.m. in the Yaletown 1 room.

Alterity will also have information available about the ACCTivate! Consulting Partner Program, which is designed to provide partners with free training on ACCTivate! products, successful consulting, industry specific topics and creative workflow solutions.

This is the sixth consecutive year for Alterity to exhibit at The Sleeter Group’s conference. Alterity holds the designation of “Awesome QuickBooks Add-On” that they received from The Sleeter Group in 2007 and 2008, for their superior design, implementation, features, seamless QuickBooks integration, good accounting principles and operating standards.

About Alterity, Inc:

Alterity, the creators of ACCTivate! for QuickBooks Inventory and Business Management software, helps companies solve their inventory, warehousing and distribution needs, while also delivering a complete business management system.

ACCTivate! is a feature-rich inventory solution designed for QuickBooks that enables companies to gain control of their business and manage everything from inventory to customer service management – all delivered in an interactive interface complete with robust reporting and a dashboard for turning data into management information. ACCTivate! is distributed in the United States and internationally, including in the Caribbean, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa. Try the free trial today to experience the power of ACCTivate!.
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Alterity will exhibit ACCTivate! inventory software at the Intuit Summit again as a sponsor and this year they will also introduce the ACCTivate! Consulting Partner Alliance for Intuit Solution Providers and QuickBooks Advisors.

As a software that serves the wholesale distribution and light manufacturing industries, ACCTivate! presents opportunities to Intuit Solution Providers and QuickBooks Advisors in growing their practices and the ACCTivate! Consulting Partner Alliance will help them maximize those opportunities.

“Wholesale distribution and light manufacturing represent a $5 trillion plus market, and is growing fast. At least 70 percent of that market is served by small to medium-sized companies who fit the QuickBooks profile,” Jim Carpenter, Alterity Vice President said. “

This means that there is a tremendous opportunity for Intuit Solution Providers and QuickBooks Advisors to differentiate their practices and create value-added services that are desperately needed by small companies who are competing on a very large scale. Since they are competing in big markets, they have to streamline business processes, manage inventories tightly and make sure that their eCommerce and EDI solutions are state of the art.”

ACCTivate! inventory software, which is also the only ERP solution that works with QuickBooks has the capabilities needed by many wholesale distribution and light manufacturing businesses that the Intuit Solution Providers and QuickBooks Advisors serve.

“With the ACCTivate! Consulting Partner Alliance we intend to show Intuit Solution Providers and QuickBooks Advisors how to build larger books of business, and stable bases of clients by differentiating themselves, and focusing on a market segment that has continued to grow, even during recessionary periods,” Carpenter said.

The ACCTivate! Consulting Partner Alliance Program is a certification-driven partnership, rather than a sales-quota driven relationship. Alterity will provide their consulting partners with free education on such topics as:

• The wholesale distribution and light manufacturing markets
• Interpersonal communication, coaching and mentoring
• Change-management
• Workflow-analysis and business process development
• Project leadership
• ACCTivate! solution components and how they solve mission-critical information management needs within the wholesale distribution and light manufacturing market segment

“The ACCTivate! Consulting Partner Alliance Program is a unique program in which the commitment we want is a learning commitment. We will do the heavy lifting in sales, we want the partners to deliver services,” Carpenter said. “The program is focused on providing an exceptionally-high level of customer service, education and support to help our partners’ clients get solutions in place quickly and move them towards greater profitability.”

Intuit Solution Providers and QuickBooks Advisors will be able to get more information about the ACCTivate! Consulting Partner Alliance Program when they visit the ACCTivate! booth at the Intuit Summit.

About Alterity, Inc:
Alterity, the creators of ACCTivate! for QuickBooks Inventory and Business Management software, helps companies solve their inventory, warehousing and distribution needs, while also delivering a complete business management system. Alterity is an Intuit QuickBooks Gold Developer and ACCTivate! has received the designation of “Awesome QuickBooks Add-On” by the largest community of QuickBooks professionals in the United States, The Sleeter Group.

ACCTivate! is a feature-rich inventory solution designed for QuickBooks that enables companies to gain control of their business and manage everything from inventory to customer service management- all delivered in an interactive interface complete with robust reporting and a dashboard for turning data into management information. ACCTivate! is distributed in the United States and internationally, including in the Caribbean, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa.

Try the free trial today to experience the power of ACCTivate!.

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Alterity, Inc., the leading provider of inventory software for QuickBooks, recently released ACCTivate! 7.3, which introduces many new benefits, including two major features: a Web Store Integration module to simplify eCommerce integration and a copy purchase orders function to increase efficiency.

“We’ve developed the new simplified eCommerce web store integration in ACCTivate! 7.3 to meet the increasingly evident demands for an eCommerce web store presence within the small to medium-sized business market,” Brian Sweat, Alterity product manager said.

“Our inventory and business management software seamlessly integrates to popular eCommerce platforms, such as Magento®, ASPDotNetStoreFront, Volusion® and many other eCommerce platforms.”

The eCommerce web store integration functionality offers convenience with one-click synchronization, rather than shuffling files around to download and upload them.

The one click synchronization is bi-directional and can be performed at any time to synchronize orders, tracking information, inventory availability and customers between ACCTivate! and the integrated eCommerce websites.

With the synchronization: web orders instantly come in as ACCTivate! sales orders; any new customers that ordered through the eCommerce website are automatically created in ACCTivate! and inventory availability is adjusted accordingly in both ACCTivate! and the eCommerce web store.

ACCTivate! 7.3 enables businesses to gain efficiency on many levels with various enhancements, including the added functionality to copy purchase orders. Like many of ACCTivate!’s features, the copy purchase orders function can be used in multiple ways to meet specific needs for a business. For instance, a company can copy requests for quotes to send to multiple vendors or copy closed purchase orders to use as a template for recurring purchase orders.

About Alterity, Inc:
Alterity, the creators of ACCTivate! for QuickBooks Inventory and Business Management software, helps companies solve their inventory, warehousing and distribution needs, while also delivering a complete business management system. Alterity is an Intuit QuickBooks Gold Developer and ACCTivate! has received the designation of “Awesome Quickbooks Add-on” by the largest community of QuickBooks professionals in the United States, The Sleeter Group.

ACCTivate! is a feature-rich inventory solution designed for QuickBooks that enables companies to gain control of their business and manage everything from inventory to customer service management – all delivered in an interactive interface complete with robust reporting and a dashboard for turning data into information.

Try the free trial today to experience the power of ACCTivate!.

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In the business world, inventory and cash, from an accounting standpoint, are pretty similar, both being considered assets. Yet, many businesses think of inventory only in terms of the items bought in hopes of getting sales.

And, while inventory’s purpose is to be sold, the amount of profit a business achieves is largely based on how well the inventory is managed - from the purchasing of inventory, to inventory control, to the shipping of goods and finally the post-sales activities, such as customer service and returns management.

Beyond improved sales & operations, better managed inventory means better cash flow and a reduced need for additional credit, something difficult or impossible for many businesses in today’s tough economic times.

Better managing inventory can be a company’s competitive advantage and the key to increased profitability.   So, how do you better manage inventory?

• Analyze demand & trends so you can reduce inventory investment & make better purchasing decision
• Gain control over your inventory investment & COGS with improved inventory control
• Place inventory management at the center of your business & consistently adhere to inventory management processes & procedures

Managing inventory:  Analyzing demand & purchasing the right products in the right amount

The true cost of carrying inventory is more than the simple cost of the items in stock.  The full cost includes interest on loans to purchases the inventory, storage, damaged, lost & stolen items, inventory insurance, taxes on the inventory, potential obsolescence, and the opportunity cost of the better use of the cash spent on the items sitting in the warehouse unsold.

Managing inventory begins by  making sure you have enough of the right inventory on hand, but not too much, to fulfill sales when sales happen – which can vary depending on trends and seasonality.   The process begins with demand analysis which includes examining historic sales, trends and market conditions.  Products are then ordered to meet established service level goals – the acceptable percentage of orders that will be filled (or won’t be due to out of stocks). Ordering needs to take into consideration vendor response & fulfillment times, as well as reliability.

Managing inventory: Gaining control over your inventory & COGs

Ongoing inventory management combines an inventory control system of software, processes & procedures to achieve consistency and efficiency improvements resulting in reduced costs and improved quality throughout a business.

The inventory control system should be implemented across all physical and virtual locations or warehouses and, to identify productivity problems & costs reduction possibilities, each location should have separate financial treatment.

Inventory control requires real-time visibility of key inventory control indicators for consistent monitoring & analysis of inventory.  Key capabilities for managing inventory include the ability to identify products by multiple ids, multiple units of measure, multi-level bill of materials, matrix inventory, kitting, assemblies, and lot & serial number management.  Additionally, EDI, eCommerce, drop shipping and consigned inventory management can provide methods for significant cost reductions.

By implementing an inventory control system, many inventory & business challenges are reduced or eliminated, resulting in increased inventory accuracy, savings across the business & lowered cost of goods sold.

Managing inventory: Placing inventory management at the center of your business

By placing inventory management at the center of your business in a single system, management, purchasing, warehousing, sales, marketing, shipping, and customer service all have real-time access to the same information, increasing productivity and enabling real-time access & visibility across your entire business.

The result…

• Faster, better decision making
• Intelligence and flexibility injected into the order process
• Increased on-time, error-free deliveries
• Issues proactively identified and corrected
• Equipping the entire company to deliver customer satisfaction

Managing inventory with ACCTivate!

ACCTivate! is the only inventory software that enables companies to gain control of inventory, manage their entire business, and delight customers - all at an affordable price.

Contact us or give us a call at 1-866-877-1311 with any questions, to discuss your specific situation & needs, and to start your free trial.

Amazing! They have completely rethought the problem of inventory receiving, storage, picking and packing. With the Kiva system, all inventory is stored on special shelving and the shelves are automatically moved around the warehouse by small robotic units that roll under a shelving unit, lift it by a couple of inches and then move the entire shelving unit to where it is needed.

Image via Kiva Systems

Wow! Shelves come to the picking station, highlight the bin that the product to be picked is stored in, flashes a light to indicate which carton the product should be placed in and scans the barcode on the product automatically when it is pulled off the shelf and again when it is placed in the carton. If you find that hard to believe, don’t take my word for it, go to the Kiva Systems website and see for yourself!

Finally, I thought, a system that would NEVER make a mistake in inventory. NEVER ship the wrong product to the right customer. NEVER lose track of exactly what is in inventory and where it is. It even reorganizes the warehouse dynamically to improve efficiency in storing and retrieving stock.

Then reality set in. Why should this be any more reliable than the use of handheld computers with built in barcode scanners and constant Wi-Fi connection to the database? It depends on the “human factor.”

Since the first merchant took his goods to market in the town square, people have been struggling with the “what do I have, how much did it cost, and who should I deliver it to?” question.

Automation has virtually eliminated errors in recording, tabulating and analyzing inventory data. It has not been as effective in eliminating the human errors. The times that a person is in the middle of picking 10 pieces of a particular item and is interrupted and then can’t remember if the piece that he just put in the box was scanned or not. Or the times that the piece is scanned and then placed in the wrong bin. You know the kind of errors I’m talking about. Not negligence, simply the human factor.

Automation addresses efficiency extremely well. It can also eliminate tasks that have been traditionally done by people, thereby reducing the opportunity for making errors. It is less effective in addressing the personal discipline required to reduce human errors. In fact, automation sometimes reduces the work of personnel to a repetitious, boring process that increases the likelihood of errors.

The best systems are those that eliminate boring, repetitive, error prone tasks and then enrich the job to keep the employee engaged and bring the satisfaction that comes from contributing to the organization.

We must recognize, however, that as long as we humans are part of the process, we will find a way to make an error!

- Ron Souder, CEO & Founder, Alterity