Finding The Best Distillery Inventory Management Software

Finding The Best Distillery Inventory Management Software

Choosing the right Distillery Inventory Management software is never an easy process. Whether you are looking to transition from spreadsheets, or your current distillery software doesn’t quite do what you want it to do, it’s time consuming to go through all the options and work out which one is the best fit for you now and into the future.

In a previous article, I discussed the processes that I go through when I’m looking to narrow down the Inventory Management, or indeed any other, software options for a client (you can find that article here). In this article, I’m looking at the options that can meet the Inventory Management needs of a distillery.

From our discussions with distilleries around Australia, it seems clear that a great many are using excel or google sheets for inventory management and this was confirmed as being the case in a survey that I undertook of Australian Distillers Association members via their Facebook page, with a third of respondents indicating that this was the case. It’s likely that the real percentage is higher amongst the non-respondents, and this wouldn’t surprise anyone reading this, it’s probably you!

Excel or google sheets are very useful tools, we all use them, but they do have limitations, especially when your business starts to increase in complexity as you add new products and increase your raw material base. They are one errant click away from hours of repair work.

It is invariably the case that a distillery looking for inventory management software already has accounting software in place and therefore integrating with the accounting software is a key driver in deciding the right solution. That’s understandable but keeping an open mind to changing the accounting software or moving to a fully integrated ‘Enterprise Resource Planning’ (ERP) solution may be the right approach.

The table below looks at the compatibility of distillery inventory management software together with a handful of ‘generic’ inventory management software options with the most used accounting software. At the time of writing, I identified 14 distillery specific inventory management options of which 4 are part of ERP solutions, though there are a great many more ‘generic’ options.

The Canstar Blue’s 2021 Accounting Software review lists the top 4 rated accounting software as Xero, Intuit QuickBooks, MYOB and Reckon, with an honourable mention for Sage. While the review is the top rated, it’s probable that these are also the most used options too. So, these are the ones included in the table.

Now we have a list, let’s look at each option. I’ve listed them in alphabetical order:

Bevica

Regions: UK
Accounting software: Microsoft Dynamics Business Central 365
Pricing: From £300 per user per month

Complete ERP solution within Microsoft Dynamics Business Central 365 that includes finance, duty (UK), supply chain, inventory management and CRM/Customer service. Estimated set up times range from 1-2 months for a Select Startup to 9-18 months for a bespoke Enterprise level subscription.

Capable of integrating with Shopify and bespoke website solutions.

BrewMan

Regions: UK, Australia, EU
Accounting software: Xero, QBO, Sage (UK only)
Pricing: £50 per concurrent user per month
Aus$100 per concurrent user per month

Full range of production and inventory management features, including raw materials, fermentation, distillation, bottling, a customer relationship database and fleet management. Recent improvements include barrel ageing, which will broaden its appeal beyond gin and vodka producers.

Integrates with Shopify, Woocommerce, Square and a number of other POS options, which makes it one of the easier systems to integrate into your ‘tech stack’.

Simple subscription model that allows a distillery to scale without a significant jump in ongoing costs.

Crafted ERP

Regions: Australia
Accounting software: NetSuite
Pricing: user specific

Utilises the power of NetSuite, so it doesn’t integrate with Xero or any of the other popular accounting software. It does have Australian based support, but the cost structure of NetSuite may well preclude smaller distilleries. If you are operating a larger distillery and require integrated functionality across a range of requirements, then this may be worth looking at. It is my understanding that currently, the cost to implement are specific to each distillery.

Distill x 5

Regions: US, Australia, UK and Canada
Accounting software: Xero and QBO
Pricing: from US$325 per month

Full range of production and inventory management features, including raw materials, fermentation, distillation, barrelling/maturation, bottling etc. Has a strong background in aged spirits, though perfectly suitable to unaged/unoaked spirits too.

Used in 20 countries across 5 continents, good visuals and easy to navigate make it a great option for many distilleries.

Distillery Tracker

Regions: Australia
Accounting software: n/a
Pricing: options range from $149 to $549 per year

Software operates on Microsoft Access. Tracks operating, distilling and manufacturing process, together with changes in stock. This will save you trying to create your own spreadsheets.

DRAMS

Regions: US and UK
Accounting software: ERP Solutions inc. SAP
Pricing: user specific

Bulk inventory and distillery warehouse management system that comes into its own if you are storing over 10,000 barrels of spirit.

EzySpirit (inc. EzyDistillery)

Regions: Australia, New Zealand, South Africa
Accounting software: own solution, but also has improved integrations with other accounting software.
Pricing: initial set up c$30-35,000 (3 users, $2,500 per additional user)
$250 per month for support/upgrades (3 users, $50 per additional user)

EzyDistillery is effectively a back office, distillery production option, whereas EzySpirit is a fully integrated ERM system, incorporating production, CRM, Accounting, Payroll, Barrell Maturation etc.

The new ‘Pro’ series offers easier integrations with other accounting and ecommerce platforms, such as woocommerce, shopify and vincreative.

An effective system, but the pricing is likely to exclude the majority of distilleries.

MasterDistiller

Regions: UK
Accounting software: Odoo, Xero
Pricing: c£250 per month

Master Distiller operates on the Odoo platform, and is part of a comprehensive Inventory Management system. Based in Scotland, it is part of the Uisge Tech group and is designed to meet the needs of the whisk(e)y industry.

The Uisge Tech group also offer services including Craft Whisky Club, Caskshare and Shopify website development.

OnBatch

Regions: US
Accounting software: None
Pricing: From US$98 per month, but expect to pay US$398 per month for a more comprehensive option

Currently not integrating with any accounting software, although both Xero and QBO are listed as being ‘On Road Map’. Software covers all the major functions for operating a distillery, including customer relationship management.

ORCHESTRA

Regions: US
Accounting software: ?
Pricing: ?

Us based system integrating with a US accounting system. I haven’t managed to get any information other than from the website.

PURTRAK

Regions: Canada
Accounting software: QBO
Pricing – From CAD$150 per month

Integrates with Shopify (CAD$25 per month) and Square (CAD$25 per month), with a customer portal (CAD$100 per month) for contract distillers.

Essentials is a basic system for a single user, it includes production, inventory and sales, but it excludes QBO integration and multiple sites, excise taxes and Purchase orders. These are all features of the Plus subscription level.

Additional features such as unlimited users, forecasting, scheduling and audit trails are part of the Premium subscription.

Sage ERP

Regions: ?
Accounting software: Sage
Pricing:user specific

The Sage ERP system can be configured in many ways and can be configured for a distillery.

Sage offer a full ERP system and costs will be dependent on your requirements and circumstances. If your income is over Aus$15m, it may be something to look at.

Vapour

Regions: UK
Accounting software: None
Pricing: From £350 per month

Excellent system for distillers looking for an in-depth inventory management option and accurate provenance records. Covers raw materials, processing, production and bottling.

Customer portal exists for those offering third party production and storage, with an integration to Opera for billing.
Doesn’t currently include purchase orders, capture costs or integrate with an accounting system.

Vinsight

Regions: Australia, New Zealand
Accounting software: Xero
Pricing: c$250 per user per month

Operates across wineries, breweries and distilleries and is based in Auckland, NZ.

Integrates with Woocommerce, Shopify and Vincreative for online sales. Xero link is a bit clunky and requires periodic journals to transfer cost of goods/stock value changes.

General Inventory Management software options

Finally, there are the generic systems that will meet the requirements of almost any business that buys, manufactures, and sells inventory. The ones listed all integrate with Xero and QuickBooks, with Fishbowl Inventory also integrating with Reckon.

Software costs aren’t dissimilar to the specialist distillery systems which probably puts the distillery systems listed above in a favourable light, especially when you take into account excise reporting and the likelihood that set up time in the distillery specific software options will be less than the generic options. Lower set up times will usually equate to a lower set up cost.

If you’d like to discuss your distillery requirements just drop me an email at [email protected] or book a call here and we can run through your requirements and see which option is best for your distillery and business.

NOTE: Every endeavour has been made to provide accurate pricing, but these may change at any moment and are outside the control of Refresh Accounting Pty Ltd. Refresh Accounting may receive referral fees on introductions to software providers.