Acctivate

What is Acctivate

Acctivate is an inventory management software made for small and medium-sized businesses that use QuickBooks for their accounting. The main purpose of Acctivate is to add powerful inventory, purchasing, and order management features that are not available in QuickBooks alone. It works together with QuickBooks, sharing data in both directions. This means you can keep using QuickBooks for your finances while managing your complex inventory operations in Acctivate. The company, Acctivate, was started in 2003 and has its main office in Texas, USA. It is designed to help businesses grow without needing to replace their familiar accounting software.

Acctivate Features

Acctivate offers many features to help businesses manage their operations better.

• Inventory Control: Track inventory in real-time across multiple warehouses. You can manage stock levels, avoid running out of products, and reduce carrying costs. It supports various costing methods like FIFO, LIFO, and average cost.
• Lot and Serial Number Tracking: Trace products from the supplier to the customer. This is very important for businesses in food, medical, or electronics industries for quality control and recalls.
• Purchasing Management: Create and manage purchase orders easily. The system can suggest what to buy based on sales history and stock levels, helping you make smarter purchasing decisions.
• Order Management: Handle sales orders from different channels like eCommerce websites, EDI, and direct sales in one place. This makes the order process faster and with fewer errors.
• Warehouse Management: Improve warehouse efficiency with features for picking, packing, and shipping. It supports barcode scanning to speed up processes and increase accuracy.
• Manufacturing: For businesses that assemble or manufacture products, Acctivate helps manage bills of materials, production orders, and component inventory.
• eCommerce Integration: Connects with popular online shopping carts to automatically download orders and update inventory levels online.
• Reporting and Analytics: Provides detailed reports and a dashboard to give you insights into your sales, inventory, and business performance.

Acctivate Pricing Plans

Acctivate provides pricing based on the specific needs of a business. The cost usually depends on the number of users who need to access the software and the specific features required. They offer different plans that are suitable for businesses of various sizes. A smaller business might start with a basic plan, while a larger, growing company can choose a more advanced plan with more capabilities like manufacturing or multi-channel order management. To get exact pricing, businesses need to contact the Acctivate sales team for a custom quote based on their requirements. They offer both on-premise and cloud hosting options, which can also affect the price.

Acctivate Free Plan

Acctivate does not offer a free plan for its software. However, they provide a free trial period or a guided demo for businesses that are interested. During the demo, a product expert will show you how the software works and how it can help your specific business. This allows you to see the features in action and ask questions before making a decision to buy. This is a common practice for specialized business software to ensure it is a good fit for the customer.

How to use Acctivate

Getting started with Acctivate involves a few key steps.

1. Integration with QuickBooks: The first step is to connect Acctivate with your QuickBooks company file. The software is designed for a seamless, two-way synchronization.
2. Data Import: You will import your existing data, such as products, customers, and vendors, from QuickBooks into Acctivate.
3. Configuration: Set up your inventory details, warehouse locations, pricing rules, and other business settings within Acctivate.
4. Process Orders: Start entering sales orders directly into Acctivate or let them flow in automatically from your eCommerce site. You can then manage the entire fulfillment process, from picking and packing to shipping.
5. Manage Purchasing: Create purchase orders in Acctivate to restock your inventory. When you receive the items, the inventory levels are updated automatically.
6. Track and Report: Use the dashboard and reporting tools to monitor your business performance, track inventory levels, and analyze sales trends.

Pros and Cons of Acctivate

Pros:

• Deep QuickBooks Integration: Its main strength is the strong, two-way sync with QuickBooks, allowing businesses to keep their accounting system.
• Comprehensive Features: It offers a wide range of features for inventory, order, and warehouse management that are not in QuickBooks.
• Scalability: The software can support a growing business with increasing transaction volumes and more users.
• Traceability: Excellent lot and serial number tracking is a key benefit for many industries.
• Deployment Choice: Businesses can choose between cloud hosting or installing it on their own servers (on-premise).

Cons:

• Learning Curve: Because it is a powerful system, new users may need some time and training to learn how to use all its features effectively.
• Cost: It is an additional investment on top of QuickBooks, which might be a consideration for very small businesses.
• Complex for Simple Needs: For businesses with very basic inventory, Acctivate might have more features than necessary.

Acctivate integrations

Acctivate connects with many other business applications to create a centralized system. Key integrations include:

• QuickBooks: Seamless two-way integration with QuickBooks Pro, Premier, and Enterprise.
• eCommerce Platforms: Connects with major platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and BigCommerce to manage online sales.
• EDI Providers: Works with EDI providers such as SPS Commerce, TrueCommerce, and B2BGateway to trade with large retail partners.
• Shipping Carriers: Integrates with shipping solutions like ShipStation, UPS WorldShip, and FedEx Ship Manager to streamline fulfillment.
• Payment Gateways: Supports various payment solutions for processing credit card transactions.

Acctivate Alternatives

• Fishbowl Inventory: A popular inventory management software that also integrates well with QuickBooks. It is known for its strong manufacturing and warehouse management features.
• Cin7: A cloud-based inventory system that connects inventory, sales channels, and accounting. It is a good choice for multi-channel retailers.
• QuickBooks Commerce (formerly DEAR Systems): An inventory and order management platform owned by Intuit. It offers strong features for eCommerce and wholesale businesses.
• NetSuite: A full Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that includes accounting, inventory, and more in one platform. It is a good alternative for businesses that have completely outgrown QuickBooks and need a single, unified solution.

Acctivate API

Yes, Acctivate provides an API (Application Programming Interface) that allows developers to create custom integrations and connect Acctivate with other software applications. The API enables access to data and functionality within Acctivate, such as creating sales orders or looking up product information. To get access to the API, you typically need to be an Acctivate customer. You would contact their support or development team to receive the API documentation and an API key for authentication.

Here is a general example of what an API call might look like in C# to get product information:

// This is a conceptual example
using (var client = new HttpClient()){
    client.BaseAddress = new Uri("https://api.acctivate.com/v1/");
    client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Authorization", "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY");

    var response = await client.GetAsync("products/PRODUCT_ID");
    if (response.IsSuccessStatusCode){
        string productJson = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
        // Process product data
    }
}

Acctivate Affiliate program

Acctivate offers a Partner Program rather than a traditional affiliate program. This program is designed for business consultants, value-added resellers (VARs), and accounting professionals who work with businesses that need better inventory management. Partners can refer their clients to Acctivate and may receive a referral fee or commission for successful sales. To join, you need to apply on the Acctivate website. They will review your application to see if your business is a good fit for the partnership. The specific commission rates and payment details are typically provided once you are accepted into the program.