dynamic Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 I am wondering if anyone can help. I am real new to the vending world and I would like to get a software program that would connect with quickbooks and with my Iphone so I could track maintenance, product fills and use, and sales? Any ideas would be very appreciated. Thanks Cory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vendors Tech Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 You would need probably 50+ machines just to make something that expensive worth while. With 10 machines, its FAR easier just to show up, walk inside, and see whats low. The bank can tell you how much money you pull out each week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 I am wondering if anyone can help. I am real new to the vending world and I would like to get a software program that would connect with quickbooks and with my Iphone so I could track maintenance, product fills and use, and sales? Any ideas would be very appreciated. Thanks Cory I think that you will find that having something like this would be cost prohibitive for a small start up route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaughn Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Why dont you put together an Excel Spreadsheet ? You can pretty much do anything in Excel . put one together, put in a sheet per site and keep all records, sales history, sales averages, sales figures on it and if you want to spend some extra money then put it on a tablet/iphone and fill in the spreadsheet at each site during each visit. It worked well for me. Once your route grows then you can spring for the extra cash to buy custom software that links back to an accounting package. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I use quickbooks. It does what I need it to do for the small amount of customers that I have but it is limited on various things, especially calculating sales tax and commissions. Excel will not only do almost everything, it pretty much will do everything. In fact, I know that in various industries, many companies start off using spreadsheets for their business when they are small, then they get specialized software when they are medium/medium-large, and finally they go BACK to using spreadsheets because a spreadsheet can do practically anything. Why do companies use specialized software then? The answer: because it's easier to use for people who aren't totally familiar with spreadsheet software such as excel. The moral here? I bought quickbooks because I wanted something easy to manage my software but the limitations are pretty substantial and noticeable for a vending business. Learn to use a spreadsheet now and it will benefit you greatly in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walta Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Google doc has a spreadsheet you can enter data from your Iphone. But that will take lot of your time. If you want to use the DEX output to download the machine data then you are into big buck hardware and software. Walta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shauna Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I hated quickbooks. It is an absolute headache for vending. Because if you go for the full enchilada, with inventory tracking and everything, you can only input one price per item sold, and does not allow for a difference in prices at different locations. That, and paying commissions was so much more painful in quickbooks, than it is tracking it on a spreadsheet. What we need is someone to put together some excel spreadsheets for the download area of the forum that will be customizable for our vending needs while containing the important formulas to keep accurate tracking of sales, stales, inventory and all other details. I can do some basic/intermediate spreadsheet work, but I by no means am an expert at creating them for others to use in excel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I hated quickbooks. It is an absolute headache for vending. Because if you go for the full enchilada, with inventory tracking and everything, you can only input one price per item sold, and does not allow for a difference in prices at different locations. That, and paying commissions was so much more painful in quickbooks, than it is tracking it on a spreadsheet. What we need is someone to put together some excel spreadsheets for the download area of the forum that will be customizable for our vending needs while containing the important formulas to keep accurate tracking of sales, stales, inventory and all other details. I can do some basic/intermediate spreadsheet work, but I by no means am an expert at creating them for others to use in excel. If I had any kind of project for anything, I would definitely want you on my team. You like to get stuff done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogcow Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I hated quickbooks. It is an absolute headache for vending. Because if you go for the full enchilada, with inventory tracking and everything, you can only input one price per item sold, and does not allow for a difference in prices at different locations. That, and paying commissions was so much more painful in quickbooks, than it is tracking it on a spreadsheet. What we need is someone to put together some excel spreadsheets for the download area of the forum that will be customizable for our vending needs while containing the important formulas to keep accurate tracking of sales, stales, inventory and all other details. I can do some basic/intermediate spreadsheet work, but I by no means am an expert at creating them for others to use in excel. i have put these type of things together but they are not easy to make a "generic" one for everyones route and they took a lot of time to make them no way i would be giving them away for nothing (nor would they be very useful because you would have to change a lot of things) but my sheets do track everything down to inventory levels so i can see visually what needs to be reordered. that said, it can be done given enough time i am far from an excel expert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shauna Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 If I had any kind of project for anything, I would definitely want you on my team. You like to get stuff done! Haha! I like to throw out ideas and have someone else pick it up and run with it. Which is why I was in management in the corporate world. i have put these type of things together but they are not easy to make a "generic" one for everyones route and they took a lot of time to make them no way i would be giving them away for nothing (nor would they be very useful because you would have to change a lot of things) but my sheets do track everything down to inventory levels so i can see visually what needs to be reordered. that said, it can be done given enough time i am far from an excel expert. I don't know about that. It could be done. I'll probably try it out, but I can make spreadsheets that make sense to my twisted brain and no one else would be able to figure it out. We'll see what I can come up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mission vending Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Haha! I like to throw out ideas and have someone else pick it up and run with it. Which is why I was in management in the corporate world. I don't know about that. It could be done. I'll probably try it out, but I can make spreadsheets that make sense to my twisted brain and no one else would be able to figure it out. We'll see what I can come up with. If you are so inclined why not come up with something and post it here for feedback and suggestions and we can make this a community effort? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngryChris Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 If you are so inclined why not come up with something and post it here for feedback and suggestions and we can make this a community effort? Yeah! What Mission said! Yeah! 'cause I sure as hell don't want to do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shauna Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 If you are so inclined why not come up with something and post it here for feedback and suggestions and we can make this a community effort? I accept that challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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