Michell Consulting Group Blog

QuickBooks + Fishbowl vs. SAP Business One

Written by Marketing | Jul 15, 2022 2:50:25 PM

Maybe you started your small businesses with QuickBooks as your business management software. Your company has grown, and now you are looking for enterprise resource planning software (ERP). You have many options when it comes to ERP software. 

This blog will look at two: pairing QuickBooks with Fishbowl ERP or migrating your data into SAP Business One.

Overview

You know all about QuickBooks. It's financial management software that focuses mainly on financial data and accounting. 

Fishbowl ERP

Fishbowl ERP came on the market in 2001 and was designed to integrate with QuickBooks.

Fishbowl Has the Following Out-Of-The-Box Features:

  • Asset tracking
  • Inventory management
  • CRM
  • E-commerce
  • HR
  • Sales Supply management
  • Order management

Fishbowl Software Handles Many Tasks a Business Needs, Including:

  • Barcoding
  • Raw materials management
  • Cycle counting
  • Reporting
  • Automated ordering
  • Purchasing.

It provides real-time updates on inventory levels even when products are in multiple warehouses.  

Fishbowl is used by small manufacturers, retailers, and e-commerce businesses. 

Fishbowl and QuickBooks give you an integrated set of tools to handle your finances and get a better overview of all phases of your business. 

But you're using two business software programs to do everything that SAP Business One can do - and do better.

SAP Business One

SAP Business One is a comprehensive ERP that supports financials, accounting, inventory, sales, time tracking, customer information, sales teams, and more. It can ease the order management process and help you deliver customers' expected efficient service.

You can customize the software to meet your specific needs.

Business One doesn't come out of the box; it comes in the form of modules you choose based on your business needs and goals. 

SAP Business One Modules Include:

  • Financials 
  • Sales 
  • Purchasing 
  • Inventory 
  • Warehouse 
  • Production 
  • CRM
  • Human Resources 
  • Reporting 

The modules integrate seamlessly with each other. And you can add modules as your business grows.

 

Key Features: QuickBooks + Fishbowl and SAP Business One

QuickBooks Features:

  • Allow users to track income and expenses
  • Can connect to bank accounts to download transactions
  • Tracks sales and customers
  • Allows users to create and send invoices
  • Offers a mobile app for on-the-go access
  • It has a variety of reports to help users track their business finances 

Business One Features:

  • Tracks inventory and sales
  • Can connect to bank accounts to download transactions
  • Tracks customers and vendors 
  • Allows users to create and send invoices 
  • Offers a mobile app for on-the-go access 
  • It has a variety of reports to help users track their business finances

Fishbowl ERP Features:

  • Tracks inventory and sales 
  • Can connect to bank accounts to download transactions 
  • Tracks customers and vendors 
  • Allows users to create and send invoices 
  • Offers a mobile app for on-the-go access 
  • It has a variety of reports to help users track their business finances

CRM

QuickBooks has a CRM system called QuickBooks Customer Manager. QuickBooks Customer Manager includes QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, and Enterprise Solutions. It offers contact management, sales tracking, and customer communications management features. 

Fishbowl ERP has a limited CRM module that lets users track customer interactions and sales opportunities but does not include any marketing automation features.

SAP Business One includes a CRM module that lets users track customer interactions, manage sales opportunities, and automate marketing processes. The marketing automation feature lets users create and automate marketing campaigns. 

For example, your marketing team can define a target audience, create a campaign schedule, and automate email and social media messages.

Inventory Management

Both Business One and Fishbowl have an inventory management system. Both can track inventory stock levels, reorder parts, and generate reports and barcodes. 

SAP Business One offers a more comprehensive inventory management solution with multiple warehouse support, serial and batch number tracking, and expiration date tracking. 

Fishbowl ERP isn't as robust. Its inventory management solution offers basic stock control and inventory reporting.

Reports

Business One and Fishbowl ERP have reporting capabilities that allow users to track and analyze data within their businesses. But, there are some key differences between the two platforms. 

Business One offers a more comprehensive and customizable reporting experience. You can create custom reports with a wide range of built-in reports. 

Fishbowl ERP has a limited number of reports and does not offer the same level of customization.

QuickBooks and Fishbowl

When Fishbowl integrates with QuickBooks, inventory, purchase orders, and sales order tracking in Fishbowl. Paying your bills is still handled in QuickBooks. 

Fishbowl can export accounting information to QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, or Xero. 

And, Fishbowl can connect to Shopify, Amazon, and eBay and shipping managers such as ShipRush.

But there are a few key areas where users find Quickbooks and Fishbowl ERP to be less than ideal when used together. Although designed to integrate seamlessly, there are sometimes glitches when moving data between the two platforms, leading to data entry errors and duplication of effort. 

 

Also Consider:

  • QuickBooks and Fishbowl may run better on the same server, which may require an expensive upgrade. When the two apps run on different machines, you may experience slow batch updates.
  • If you're running an online B2B platform and want to let your customers place orders,  Fishbowl doesn't have this feature. You can do it by installing  LilyPad Vortex, but you have yet more software to purchase, install and manage.
  • Fishbowl can't support any of QuickBook's customized accounting features. QuickBooks allows for customizations in several areas, including invoicing, tracking inventory, and managing finances. None of these customizations will transfer to Fishbowl. 
  • Fishbowl lets users create estimates but not quotes. Estimates can't be stored, and pricing plans are created only when a customer is ready to buy. If you are a business providing customers with quotes, you can work around the problem using Excel spreadsheets.

 

You will not encounter these types of problems with SAP Business One

Users like Fishbowl's affordability and flexibility and consider its warehouse tracking one of its strongest features. Fishbowl can predict inventory requirements based on sales trends. 

Its weaknesses are in its e-commerce inventory management and inventory forecasting. And it doesn't allow customized reporting.

Languages Supported

QuickBooks offers support for English, Spanish, and French. 

Fishbowl ERP offers support for English, Spanish, and French. 

Business One offers English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese support.

Costs

SAP Business One and Fishbowl are both offered as a one-time cost. In addition, SAP Business One can be licensed as a monthly subscription.

The cost of Business One is $3,499 for a single-user license, and the cost of Fishbowl is $1,500 for a single-user license. And the cost of QuickBooks is $500/year for a single-user license.

Business One offers different functionality based upon "user type." For example, Professional Licenses offer more functionality than Limited licenses. For detailed info on SAP Business One Pricing and license options, go here: 

You will also have data migration/integration fees for Business One and maybe even QuickBooks and Fishbowl.

Business One is more expensive, but it has more features and gives companies room to grow.

Which is Right for Your business?

QuickBooks has a larger user base, meaning more people are familiar with it, and more support is available. When paired with QuickBooks, Fishbowl is an affordable ERP solution for a small company.  

If your business has a lot of complexity, Business One may be the better choice, with tighter application integration and deeper inventory management capabilities.

With its feature-rich platform, Business One, In the long run, might be a smarter option than moving forward with QuickBooks + Fishbowl ERP. This will help you avoid more disruptive ERP migrations down the road.

Conclusion

So, which is the right software for your business? Do you want to pay (and manage) multiple software packages when you could pay for Business One and get a more robust platform? Weigh your needs, company size, business complexity, and budget before deciding on any ERP.

As a leading ERP software provider, SAP Business One offers a comprehensive range of features to streamline your business operations. However, implementing and maintaining SAP Business One can be complex and challenging. 

That's where Michell Consulting Group comes in. We specialize in SAP Business One consulting and implementation, and we have a proven track record of helping our clients get the most out of their SAP Business One investment. 

Whether you're looking to improve your overall efficiency or need help getting started with SAP Business One, we can provide the expert guidance you need. 

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you make the most of SAP Business One.