Our Verdict…

Finale Inventory is a user-friendly yet comprehensive inventory management system. We recommend this software for established retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and eCommerce sellers who are already using QuickBooks or Excel for accounting. Smaller businesses may want to hold off on using this software until they’re ready to dive into a more comprehensive solution.

We would not recommend Finale Inventory if looking for manufacturing processes beyond a few simple assemblies.

9.1
Our Rating
based on our expert editorial analysis
9.3
User Rating
based on 3 user reviews
Best for: Companies seeking an easy to use yet comprehensive inventory management system. It is particularly suited for eCommerce and other retail businesses which need real-time inventory updates.
Not a good fit for: Businesses using Apple barcode scanners, as this system only supports Android scanner integration.
Pros:
  • Offers comprehensive features.
  • Has a general help center, video tutorials, and allows specific service requests
  • Imports existing product data from spreadsheets and external systems
  • Has 50+ integrations available for accounting, POS, EDI, and more
Cons:
  • Only offers dedicated account managers on some plans
  • May not be affordable for smaller businesses
  • Not a substitute for an ERP or MRP
Starting Price
$99 /month
Price Range Learn More
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What is Finale Inventory?

Finale Inventory is an easy to understand, affordable, and adaptable inventory management system. You can access cloud-based Finale from a web browser or Android-compatible mobile device so users get a consistent view of inventory records from anywhere.

Finale software supports barcoding, QuickBooks data importing, serial numbers, custom reports, multi-channel eCommerce, ShipStation, and a broad range of features for overall warehouse management.

Pros Cons
  • Offers comprehensive features.
  • It has a general help center, video tutorials, and allows specific service requests.
  • Imports existing product data from spreadsheets and external systems.
  • Has 50+ integrations available for accounting, POS, EDI, and more.
  • It only offers dedicated account managers on some plans.
  • May not be affordable for smaller businesses.
  • Not a substitute for an ERP or MRP.

Our Ratings

Usability - 8.7 Has both a home screen and top navigation for modules; lets users easily create and edit product details manually or automatically import from integrated solutions.
Support - 9.4 Includes live chat in all plans with stated response time of under 3 minutes; help topics searchable within chat box; learning center with step-by-step videos.
Features - 9.3 Comprehensive features are categorized as Inventory, Purchasing, and Accounting.
Security - 9.2 Software automatically logs out after 30 minutes of inactivity; data export to PDF, Excel, JSON, TSV or CSV files.
Value - 8.5 Plans start at $99/month with a discount when paid annually; the top plan has custom pricing.
Performance - 9.0 Functionality was fast and responsive; it was easy to add new products, create purchase orders, and reconcile them in the system; no noticeable slowness or performance issues.
Key Features - 9.0 Includes inventory management tools like product lookup and transfers; also has tools for purchase orders and invoicing; integrates with QuickBooks for accounting.

Finale Inventory Features

While testing out Finale Inventory, we made it a point to focus on the key features of inventory management systems.

Add New Products

Finale Inventory has three separate ways to add new products to your account:

  • Import products from an external system: Use existing inventory information from an eCommerce platform to import data.
  • Import products from a spreadsheet: Use an existing Excel spreadsheet to copy over product data into Finale.
  • Add products manually: Finally, users can add products one at a time or in batches directly into Finale.

Once added, all product information can be exported to external systems, spreadsheets, and emails. Your product data stays yours at all times.

Stock levels can be manually modified at any time if changes are needed on an individual item. Users can also perform batch stock changes to change multiple stock levels at once. Just import the necessary product information from an Excel spreadsheet or even a Word document.

Add Products in Finale

Suppliers of these products can be added in a similar way: manually or from a spreadsheet.

Create Purchase Orders

Like products and suppliers, you can make purchase orders manually or import existing ones into Finale. Fill in all the relevant fields and you can start fulfilling the order.

Purchase Order in Finale

The purchase order itself acts as a guide to users, prompting users to mark a PO as complete after billing. This feature was useful for remembering where in the process a PO was and if any additional actions were needed.

If you have QuickBooks, you can automatically sync with Finale to get instant updates on POs and bills. Sync every five minutes or manually push it through so you can keep your books balanced with your inventory.

Custom Reporting

Finale Inventory offers an abundance of reporting methods for users, all of which are fully customizable. They are divided into different categories, like:

  • Stock
  • Purchase and sales
  • Master data
  • Accounting
  • Documents
  • Labels

There are additional reports within each category. For example, stock reports include:

  • Reorder reports
  • Transfer reports
  • Variance reports
  • Stock history reports
  • Build reports
  • Integration reports

Each subcategory offers even more ways to customize your final reports to include the specific product data you want to share.

Finale Reports

When it’s time to run the report, you can email or print it as a PDF. There are also options to export it to Excel, CSV, TSV, or JSON.

What Features Are Missing?

While using Finale Inventory, there were a few features which could have improved my experience:

  • Automatic time out: The software will automatically log-out if users are inactive for a period of time, roughly 30 minutes. While this is an important security feature, it can be a minor annoyance. For example, if you’re planning on stepping away for some other tasks and don’t want to log in again, you have to be fast.
  • Scanner limitations: Currently, the integrated barcode system works with the Android scanner app. There is not yet an Apple version, so users might have to adjust their hardware or buy new scanners.
Security Time Out

Pricing Plans

Plan Pricing Features
Starter $99 per month Designed for small teams.
  • 1 user
  • 500 included orders per month
  • 2 integrations
  • 100,000 products
Bronze $240 per month Includes all Starter features plus:
  • 4 users
  • 2,000 included orders per month
  • 4 integrations
  • Up to 3 work orders with attached procedures
Silver $420 per month Includes everything in Bronze plus:
  • 7 users
  • 5,000 included orders per month
  • 7 integrations
  • Report customization
  • QuickBooks Online
Gold $649 per month Includes everything in Silver plus:
  • 11 users
  • 10,000 included orders per month
  • 11 integrations
  • Barcoding app and mobile barcode scanner
Platinum $949 per month Includes everything in Gold plus:
  • 16 users
  • 20,000 included orders per month
  • Unlimited integrations
  • API access
  • SPS Commerce EDI
Platinum+ Custom pricing - request a quote Includes everything in Platinum plus:
  • Premium Service Plan

FAQ

Is Finale Inventory easy to use?

Billed as “the online inventory management system your employees can actually understand”, it may take some time to familiarize yourself with all the features offered by Finale. Fortunately, there are free training demos to help, along with a dedicated help center to guide new users through various processes.

I really liked how tutorial videos were incorporated into the quick start process. Even without a demo, you can get started right away by following the tutorials.

Does Finale Inventory have an app?

Finale Inventory has a mobile scanner app which works on Android OS and is available through the Google Play Store. There isn’t an iOS version available.

How much is Finale Inventory software?

Finale Inventory software pricing depends on several factors, starting with which plan is best suited for your business. For example, the Starter plan is $75 per month and covers up to 500 orders per month. The Platinum plan is $799 per month and covers up to 20,000 orders. If you go over, there is a charge of $0.05 per order (Starter/Bronze/Silver) or $0.03 (Gold/Platinum/Custom).

Plans can be changed at any time. There is a FREE 14-day trial available.

Who is the CEO of Finale Inventory?

Will Harvey is the current CEO of Finale Inventory. The rest of the leadership team is rounded out by his co-founders, Chris Hondl and Chinh Nguyen.

Alternatives

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What We Like
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inFlow Inventory
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Fishbowl Inventory
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Customizations can lead to difficult support scenarios

Summary

Based on our experience, we recommend using Finale Inventory if you need an easy to use yet comprehensive inventory management system. This software is particularly suited for eCommerce and other retail businesses which need real-time inventory updates.

Finale Inventory has several pricing plans, starting as low as $99 per month up to $949 per month. There are custom quotes for enterprise plans.

We wouldn’t recommend Finale Inventory if a business needed multi-currency support, as that is not offered. We also wouldn’t use it as a replacement for an ERP or MRP. Basically, manufacturers would be better suited by an actual MRP. And the accounting section isn’t a replacement for a full accounting software like QuickBooks but helps you get started.

Overall, Finale Inventory is a scalable inventory management solution with many integrations to fully customize the user experience.

Finale Inventory
★★★★★
★★★★★
(3)
Finale Inventory is an easy to understand, affordable, and adaptable inventory management system.
Price Range
   $     $     $     $     $   
   $     $     $     $     $   
Starting Price
$99/month
Client OS
Web
Deployment
Cloud Hosted

User Reviews of Finale Inventory

★★★★★
★★★★★
Submitted on September 23rd, 2019 by Todd Spendley

We previously had issues trying to debit and report sales post-shipping. My previous software vendor told me I was using their software the wrong way and wouldn’t support us or our desire to process high volume orders. Finale was the only company who said they could do what we wanted. Setup and integration were very easy.

★★★★★
★★★★★
Submitted on September 23rd, 2019 by Michael Walker

It’s very simple, easy to use, and clean. There is not a lot of clutter. We started researching programs a year ago and loved Finale. They are very attentive to our problems and are quick to help. They’ve helped us increase our productivity. We used to have no digital inventory control and had to update inventory manually. We’ve saved thousands with Finale and are very grateful.

★★★★★
★★★★★
Submitted on September 23rd, 2019 by Brian Panther

I’m happy with Finale. There were some initial worries but that is probably due to our size and multiple locations. The support team was always responsive and took our feedback and gave suggestions. We’re still evolving with it but we feel we can finally do everything we wanted within one program.