Inventory is a list of goods in stock i.e. total amount of materials contained in a unit/store. Inventory management is the management of that list of material in stock. Efficient inventory management means that there should be constant inflow and outflow of material, it should be a consistently controlled process so that inventory should not become too high or too low. Buffer stock should be kept in order to meet the uncertainties in the market i.e. in the demand of goods as well as to meet the time lag from supplier to user. Inventory can be of different types like raw material inventory, work in progress inventory, finished goods inventory and goods for resale inventory. Different components of an inventory management system are barcode scanner, barcode printer, barcode label, inventory software etc. Inventory management software works along with barcode for inventory tracking and control. These software provide business solutions for managing inventory, sale, purchase and shipping etc. Below is the compiled list of top five freeware inventory management software.
1. Pos Maid
Pos Maid is free software for inventory management and control which is very helpful in merchandise retail sale like in provision store, super market store, electronics goods store etc. POS stands for Point of Sale. This program has many good features like you can easily fill in your inventory and has complete control over it; customer and employee management, financial report generation, account management, low stock alerts etc. This software is recommended for small business stores.
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- Pros: Building inventory database is very easy with Pos Maid and it automatically generates stock reports.
- Cons: Doesn’t work well for big business owners.
- OS: Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit, Vista, XP
2. inFlow Inventory Free Edition
inFlow Inventory Free Edition is a free inventory management software which keeps your business organized and manages all your cumbersome paper work easily. This program keeps full track of inventory from purchase till sale. Its features include product and customer management; issue invoice and create purchase order; multiple units measurement, creates business documents, automatically assembles finished products and updating inventory; barcode scanner for accurate inventory management and much more.
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- Download inFlow Inventory Free Edition
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- Pros: Easy and simple interface, customizable, full support included.
- Cons: Doesn’t support large business, limited to small business.
- OS: Windows 7, Vista, XP, server 2003
3. ABC Inventory Software
ABC Inventory Software is a freeware inventory management application which should be an absolute choice for small and middle level business groups because it works like a professional. This program is jam packed with multiple features like purchase order management, complete inventory track along with barcode, sale and shipping order management, scheduling warehouse appointments, automatic stock report generation, sale quotations, unlimited database record, mailing labels and so on.
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- Download ABC Inventory Software
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- Pros: This program has full online support, attractive interface and is a very reliable product.
- Cons: It is a complex program as it is loaded with features, so can be bit complicated to operate initially.
- OS: Windows 7, Vista, XP, server 2003
4. BS1 Enterprise Accounting Free Edition
BS1 Enterprise Accounting Free Edition is a freeware program for inventory control and management which is useful for small business section. This program has a very simple interface with very easy to use design. It has different department like accounting, distribution and manufacturing department which have further sub terms like sales orders, purchase orders, accounts payable, accounts receivable general ledger, inventory and much more.
- Our Rating:
- Download BS1 Enterprise Accounting Free Edition
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- Pros: The program is intuitive plus very simple and easy to use.
- Cons: Not meant for middle and upper level business segment and interface is not very sleek.
- OS: Windows 7, Vista, XP, server 2003
5. Chronos eStock Card Inventory Software
Chronos eStock Card Inventory software is a freeware inventory management application which keeps the complete track of your sales, purchase and warehouse inventory. It supports barcode system. Its features include detail inventory tracking, customizable interface, email alerts, complete inventory management, stock transfer, report generation, multi currency conversion and many more.
- Our Rating:
- Download Chronos eStock Card Inventory Software
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- Pros: Simple interface, screen layout can be customized, good online support.
- Cons: Bit slow in screen to screen movement.
- OS: Windows 7, Vista, XP, server 2003
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Thanks. This is a genuinely helpful article.
Thanks for mentioning inFlow – it’s much appreciated!
Just wanted to also let you know that we do work for big businesses as well. For example, we have a well known computer part manufacturing company as well as a large jewelry company as clients. Using multi-user mode with inFlow makes it very scale-able where you can have multiple people working with the same data in real time.
If anyone has anymore questions regarding our software, please feel free to get in touch here.
Great article. Very informative. I’m just curious why my company, Spiceworks, didn’t make the list since we have a very popular inventory management app that also includes network monitoring, help desk functionality, software auditing, and more.
Feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions. I look forward to being featured on your site in the future!
Because your products are crappy. Classic case of over promising and under delivering…
We have a manufacturing unit of gases like oxygen ,carbon dioxide and acetylene so we need to maintain a stock of item and equipments etc etc….
So i just need to know which will be suitable for us
What you are looking for is probably more advanced than the most of the inventory systems out there since most of those are designed for retail. I honestly doubt that you will find a suitable solution which is free.
I am looking for a RMS/POS software for a school district. I am in the purchasing/receiveing dept. and we are looking for software for our warehouse supplies. Any help is appreciated.
I am in the same boat, what did you end up choosing?
HI,
Im looking for free bussinnes software for textile industry?
Hello,
Haye you got the sofware?t
Do you know of any good inventory products for consignment company?
We sell second hand kids clothes, we have clothes that we purchase and resell but we are also looking into consignment but would need a way to manage the clothing other people would send us to sell on the site
Hi
We have a small spy shop and need a realiable inventory and management software. More than that, since our products are electronics, we will need a separate entry for products that have serial numbers. So if the category is “surveillance” and the sub category is “night vision cameras”, there will be a need to input a serial number to the specific product. Any suggestions?
Great article! Thank you for choosing our software Chronos eStockCard as one of the Best Free Inventory Management Software. We will take note on the issue that you mentioned here. Feel free to contact us if you have any question. Thank you.
Good afternoon. My husband has made & sold lamps out of our garage for a few years (word of mouth). He has researched & discovered that selling “lamp parts” only is more cost effective & more profitable. He has collected lamps/lamp parts for over 10 years and has a huge collection of parts. What would be a good software to track inventory, sales, purchases, etc? Thank you for your assistance.
sir,
i want to know what will be the best procedure to mainatin stores inventory management system of a beverages based company. only discuss of raw material, spares etc.
my company is small business which imports products from Asia and do distribution to retail stores and products are larger pcs and need multi location stocking
I have software for full accounting sale purchase etc . I need warehouse inventory locations mainly please suggest what programme could be suitable
The purchasing department is looking for an inventory software. I have installed Inflow which is doing 80% of what was expecting. we are not using the purchasing and sales features of Inflow. we only need the Inventory and Reports.however, some features are we need are actually missing like product issue, to whom it was issue, etc. which product can best suit me.
Thanks
Hi Roy
The “to whom it was issued” could be solved by actually “selling” the item to someone internally. We have several companies that set up an internal tracking system that way. You can also add “sales reps” to specific orders if that helps: here.
I work for a NFP that’s looking to add some sort of POS/inventory software. Is there any software out there that can retain data for both your organization AND your customers? (credit, purchase history, etc.) We service a limited number of people (less than 150), each of which we have information and :”account numbers” for. It would be great to track their information on a POS system rather than continue to use spreadsheets.
Thanks!
Will inFlow work with an online ordering system with a shopping cart?
I forgot to ask, are any of these softwares touch-screen friendly?
Looking for software were i can control stock that goes out of the warehouse into theretail stall. the warehouse is right next to the shop but its hard to control what goes into the shop from the warehouse. We work with grain products, rice, pasta, beans exc. what is the best software to use for that and also to run invoicing and pricing on the items and to to stock counts and control
I have sales persons on the road doing sales for 18 to 20 days straight and need to have daily sales reports and inventory control of what is on the truck so as to reload without full inventory every month. At present time they call in what they need for us to send them that they feel they may have run out of instead of knowing for sure by checking there inventory log on line. Also, if it can be scanner based so that we know what credits they pick up even before the physical product gets back in warehouse three weeks later.
Please which of these software would be most suited for a apparel retail store? I sell both children and women’s cloting. Also I intend to start selling wholesale so I need recommendations for wholesale clothing inventory management.
I want signal our new free simple software inventory, here
Hello,
I have to manage the stock of a hardware store comprising wide range of Paints, Plywoods, cement of a wholesale dealer…please suggest me the best way to do that…
We are manufacturer of furniture products we purchase raw furniture as per buyer order and sell finished product in different shade we need to keep stock of all finished products and raw products and also keep stock on hardware,finishing and packing material.
we get order in different finish we combine all quantities per product and buy from from our suppliers/contractors with single product code and finish product and add finishing code to product
Raw code is ABC-001 AND Finish code is ABC-001-BLUE,ABC-001 RED,ACB-001 GREEN and also want to track by multiple PO wise and buy from suppliers PO wise
I have an accessories business and I make all my products. I’m looking for a software that will help me list all my inventory, keep track of what I have in raw material, and keep track of what I sell.
we have a manufacturing firm of electronic and mechanical weighing machines.
i want a software in which i can input all the items (around 200) and the items used in making of a specific product.
so dat items ciud be reduced automatically according to the product sold.
which software wud be suitable for me ??
Looking for inventory software that can track rental of equipment.
Hello to everyone, is there any brother who could give me lem inventory data software, please I am from poor family and a company has recommended me to purchase this and i can not afford, so please help me.
hi everyone plz i need a software which i can use to for a salon business
I am currently looking at Linnworks as I need an order management & inventory control system for Amazon and Ebay. Is any of the above suited.
Thanks in advance for your response,
Bee
We need a program that will track inventory of books that are sent to libraries at no charge. The programs needs to track the inventory and let us know when the inventory is low. Order books and materials from different vendors. Also the program needs to produce a shipping list for the books and materials be shipped.
Is there such a program for a small state agency?
I am looking for a program (pref free), that will work alongside NetSuite (or stand alone) to help me manage my inventory levels. Somewhere I can input data to keep track of stock levels. I think NetSuite’s inventory management sucks and I am fed up creating my own spreadsheets to help me manage stock. Unfortunately my small company do not wish to change from NetSuite so it seems I am stuck with it for the time being.
If anyone has any ideas please, that would be great.
I am manager of a phone unlocking website. I need a small software for my daily orders management. To keep an eye on timely delivery of my orders. Want to get alerts if any of order lags behind the schedule. I really don’t care its integration with website.
Any help will be highly appreciated please.
can u unlock i phone 5 locked to us sprint network
I am looking for a software that will track inventory for small business. we will be using a bar code scanner
I am opening a Tile and stone store and need an operating system that I can take money and invoice out at a later date then taking it fully out of inventory. A lot of programs do not have a way to do this. FRUSTRATING LOL.
I am interested in a system, i can use to better assist keep track of incoming and out going materiel we seldom have new items this is more of a revolving system.
So far, while looking for a inventory software program, they use the word free to lead one to believe the program is free, and lead one to the rest of their advertisement. But, I am confused. They evidently are using the word free to mean the download to be free, or free for X number of days. It would be more helpful and honest to have the program cost listed up front to see if it fits with ones budget. It would help if one knew how much is going to be charged to make it easier to choose, without taking all the time going through site after site.
I am looking for a very simple inventory control system for vintage items I will be selling on consignment in an antique store. How to keep accurate records of items on the shelf, what is sold and running account of cash totals are basic requirements. The simpler the better.
Would appreciate your help.
Thank you
My husband and I own a small screen printing business. I am looking for a program that will keep inventory and create invoice.
I am setting up a public house stock taking company, we will need a software that will allow us to complete stock-takes for various public houses, produce an instant printable report, and save the data for the next stock take, and also allow us to use the software to do multiple stock takes at different pubs for different companies, can you recommend a free software that will allow us to do this, or will it be necessary to have a customised software written.
I am interested in a system, i can use to better assist keep track of incoming and out going materiel we seldom have new items this is more of a revolving system
I am interested in a system that can be used by low skilled workers where they can see ( photos) all items in the store as well as in the warehouse,, so they can order what they want and need.. What I have in mind is a system where I post pictures of our stock with their retail price, the employees get to look at these pictures and specify how many pieces of each item they want, their order should be sent to the warehouse via internet and they get to prepare it there. I don’t know what such system is called thank you for your help.
I am running two shops with many different items ( small wall mart no food and clothe ) and have one warehouse
Hi Ali Marji
You can definitely use photos with inFlow Inventory Software. Best way is to upload the product details and include a path to the photo.
Cheers,
-Matt
Hi,
I am running a small business of spare parts and acessories and i need a best inventory managementsystem to keep track of stock n sales orders and also help me in final auditing, could any one please suggest me the best inventory management system which is user friendly and please also mention the price of the same.
Regards
Sharath shetty
I want to know which software are generally used for catering stores in India
Hi
We have a very small retail outlet selling ink cartridges to the public, and we’re a little concerned keeping proper track of stock purchased vs sales and timeous re-ordering of products. It sounds as if POS Maid would be suitable but is this really free software or will there be a trial period with an expected purchase on expiry of the trial. Please confirm as I’m keen to download this and get started.
Thanks
Noel
Any software out there which supports the Intermec CN 50 handheld using Windows Mobile 6.1?
Any help much appreciated.
Hi, we have a swimwear company, manufacturing swimwear, multiple styles/cols/sizes. & supply multiple stores. At the moment we do so many excel spreadsheets & so much paperwork to keep track of everything! We really want a simple to use program that handles, manufacturing orders, wharehouse stock made, stock sent out to stores for store inventory orders, those stores individual inventory records that adjust when sales reports from them arrive that we enter & when we restock them adjusts our base warehouse stock levels. Possibility of barcoding things, printing barcodes/style & price stickers that we can put onto our swingtags – we are not using this yet but want to. What can you recommend?
Im looking for a sleek software to help manage pharmacy stock. It will be helpful if this can be integrated with epos to automatically deduct sales and generate daily sales report etc.
Contact me if you have a suitable software.
Is there an inventory software package recommended for a landscape supply store, no barcode inventory required…thank you
Luca:
inFlow should be able to take care of your swimwear company. Most customers first use excel spreadsheets and later upgrade to a solution like inFlow. You would create a new product for each style/color/size. Stock adjustments, multiple locations are not a problem. You can also easily assign barcodes (and just as easily create them yourself).
Tunde:
While inFlow doesn’t integrate direct with epos, it can definitely help you manage your pharmacy stock. Daily sales reports and more is not a problem
Lynda:
We have another customer using inFlow who works with Granite (and doesn’t have barcodes. I would image it might just work for you too. You can try the free edition at the the website.
Let me know if this helps!
I’m trying to find a program to help me organize customers, and inventory, and thumb prints for local authorities in a pawn shop, any recommendations?
I would like to find out you can get “off-the-shelf” stores management software that is compatible with Oracle?
Need inventory management systems software suggestions for small industrial manufacturing company? intuit compatible maybe? Don’t know a thing about inventory management software,just have used products in retail type industries before. This is something new, any suggestions greatly appreciated!!
hi i need free warehouse management soft ware
Which would be best for inventory on an ebay or online store?
i need a spare parts store management software
I want to start a business as wholesaler of foods items and home ware items.
I need a software to use for record of purchase sale stock and profit and loss.
Hi Jennifer and Umer
You can try the free edition of inFlow. There’s many small industrial manufacturing companies using it. You might want to try out the “bills of materials” function which lets you turn raw materials into finished goods.
Cheers,
-Matt
I agree inFlow is a good and ready to use for inventory managment in a small and medium company. It is adequate and not insufficient.
We use this in managing inventory movement and tracking in a small logistics company. That looks fine so far.
I’m looking for a inventory software for a small cabinets refinishing company. Something that will track orders and inventory, what do you recommend?
Thanks,
Tommie
Looking for a program that I can add images of the product so the sales forces can see what it is upon arrival. Thinking some sort of program to assign warehouse space basic info of item and a way for the sales force to see the item and it’s location in the warehouse. Not wanting to spend a fortune, just need better organization.
Can you suggest a program that has a way to inc photos?
hi yall,
need help finding a software that can help me keep track of samples coming in and out of an engineering laboratory. need to organize the lab and need to create a system than can help me handle Eng. samples. sample comes in to a common area, then go to lab, its tested, then return (disposal) as it is right now its a messy and not efficient at all, samples get lost all the time and there’s no way to track.
-Franklin
Hoping to get some advise on warehouse stock control softwear which is barcode compatible, I own a small workwear business with a small retail shop & need an easier manageable process from warehouse to retail & stock control of goods in & out
We have a separate POS
Hi dear
i am managing small company which deals house hold items on easy installments, which is inventory management and hire purchase. please anyone help me for free software.
Can any body tell me that ABC inventory software is helpful for pharmaceuticals holesaling business or not?
These products are not 100% free. They are either fre to try or just samples.
If you are going to list a product as free, its needs to be 100% free with no strings
or time limits.
I hav a one motor parts shop. I want a software that suitable for maintain sales & stock . It need jst future safe and easy maintain my accounts Including customer dealing,purchase dealing. Please reply it.
I need a software for a civil and mechanical engineering warehouse that has stakes in oil and gas.
I am lookig for track inventory software for spare parts sales biz. Important thing is the part can have main part number and interchangeble numbers. In invoice main part number is pointed.
We have a small merchandise tent (t-shirts, sweat shirts, etc… with a number of other assorted items) at certain sports venues and have no tracking of inventory, or pos data etc. Everything to date has been willy-nilly, for lack of better term, and it has to change NOW! I am looking for an inexpensive and simple system that will log-in purchases from suppliers, record pos transactions using smartphones if possible, and automatically let me know when I need to reorder along with sales analysis data at the end of each day. Can anyone help me ???
good
Is there any built in PHP? Much appropriated if you guide for free Inventory management software using php and mysql?
searching for store inventory software
I run a Car parts yard. What would be the best software to manage incoming and outgoing stock. Ideally a software that would be easy to use and make updates on
Hi,
I’m looking for free program for soap making company small company rwith 6 employees. There is approx 60 ready products to stock but I’m gonna need something which I can use also for traceability by adding ingredients list for making the products where there is connection and will tell me that if I make batch if this soap it will inform me I need to re order ingredients.
Any recommendations please?
Any ideas?
Thank uou
Hi Anita
inFlow has a Presume edition which lets you keep track of ingredients for your soap! You’d use work orders to assemble your products and the bills of materials to see what components are set for each.
When your low in stock, you’ll have reorder points set up so inFlow will let you know to order more ingredients!
You can try a 30 day free trial to see it working in your soap business!
All the best,
-Matt
And by Presume Edition, I totally meant Premium Edition 😉
Hi
I work for an Emergency Medical Services Company, and im looking for a Inventory Management Package to help us keep track of medical stock with expiry dates and different locations as well as inventory.
We are a small private company and unfortunately most of the software trials i have tried are either too much for our requirements or don’t have the expiry date functionality.
Basically all i want to do, is the following:
*Check stock quantities in each location with min quantity functionality.
*Keep track of Expiry dates with a notification when they are within less than a year, 6 months, 3 months, and a month.
*Assign assets to specific locations and track and monitor the assets.
*Transfer stock between locations.
*the functionality to report on stock items that are soon about to expire and stock that is short.
*if possible the software should have barcode scanner functionality, to help speed up the stock take process.
We do not need accounting functionality at all as we do not bill for stock.
If anyone can suggest any software that is available that can pretty much help with this it would be appreciated. at the moment i am using an excel spread sheet, and would like to speed up stock take and be able to track easily without having to manually check each Excel spread sheet for each location and then have to draw up a list of items that are low or are about to expire.
Thanks once again for your assistance.
Grant