2019 Review of Fishbowl Inventory Warehouse

Fishbowl Warehouse is an on-premise inventory management application is available in U.S. and Canadian editions, with warehouse and manufacturing options available. Designed to integrate with QuickBooks applications such as QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online, as well as Xero, Fishbowl can also be used as a stand-along inventory management application as well.

Mentioned earlier, Fishbowl is offered as an on-premise solution, but users can choose to purchase Fishbowl Anywhere, a plugin that offers remote access to the application from anywhere. Also available is Fishbowl Go, a mobile app that is designed to work with iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, allowing users to perform standard inventory management tasks from any warehouse. For smaller or online businesses that desire complete online product access, Boxstorm, an online inventory management application from Fishbowl is available. 

The latest version of Fishbowl contains a variety of product updates and enhancements including the addition of new reports, various module improvements, a new Work Order module, a new Quick Fulfill option, and improved address validation.

Fishbowl Warehouse offers complete part tracking, supporting inventory tracking for multiple warehouses. The product offers an unlimited number of custom fields, with users able to track the details they wish. Multi-currency capability is offered in the application, and the product supports customer discounts and variable pricing. Product reorder levels can be set in Fishbowl, and users can assign a substitute product should inventory be depleted prior to restocking. The product also supports multiple ship-to addresses, and tracks complete product history from initial purchase order to product sales.

Fishbowl also includes serialized tracking of all inventory, with users able to track inventory by vendor, lot, revision, or tag number. Users can also track inventory by barcode, using the mobile app. Along with barcode tracking, users can create and print custom barcodes in Fishbowl if desired. Images and other documents can be added to any product file, and the manufacturing edition of Fishbowl includes build-to-order capability, multi-level bill of materials and both standard and configurable kitting and assembly capability.

Fishbowl also includes a Pricing Rule module in the Sales group that allows pricing to be automatically adjusted based on variables such as order quantity, customer, day, product purchased, or average cost. Pricing can also be set in tiers if desired.  The Apply Price Adjustment feature offers a variety of pricing options with adjustments made for markdowns, margin, percent, or fixed price and customer groups can be created, with special pricing rules applied to each group. Fishbowl also supports multiple inventory valuation methods including LIFO, FIFO, Average, and Standard Cost.

Fishbowl offers more than 150 inventory and manufacturing reports in the Reports module. Reports offer some customization capability, and users can request a completely customized report directly from Fishbowl at an additional cost. Inventory reports available include Inventory Availability, Inventory Variance, Historical Part Cost, On-Hand, On-Hand by Date, Turnover report, and a Reorder report. A good selection of work order, sales, and purchase order reports are available as well. All reports can be scheduled in advance, and can be emailed to recipients directly from the print screen. Users also have the option to export any report as a CSV file or to Microsoft Word or Excel for further report customization.

Along with warehouse and manufacturing options, Fishbowl also offers a variety of add-on options designed to work with the core application including Fishbowl Time & Labor, Fishbowl ShipExpress, Fishbowl for Salesforce, and Fishbowl Commerce.  The product also offers integration with numerous third-party applications such as QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Avalara, Magento, Salesforce, UPS, Amazon, SolidWorks, ShipStation, and eBay.

Fishbowl’s training and support page offers a variety of resources including a Getting Started tutorial, training videos, FAQs, and a downloadable user manual. Both phone training and on-site training is available, and product support is available during regular business hours, with users able to contact support via the toll-free number provided, or via email or chat.

Fishbowl Warehouse is a scalable warehouse/manufacturing application that is well suited for mid-sized to larger retail businesses, and online merchants. Along with the core Warehouse and Manufacturing applications, Fishbowl also offers a variety of add-on applications that increase program functionality. The product also offers seamless integration with QuickBooks applications as well as Xero, and also integrates with a variety of online merchant applications and shopping cart software as well. Both Fishbowl Warehouse and Fishbowl Manufacturing start at $4,395 per year for a single user, with final pricing based on pricing based on the number of system users and the support plan chosen. Fishbowl offers a free 14- day trial for those interested in learning more about the application.

2019 Rating – 5 Stars