If you’re not sure what 2FA is, you can think of it like another layer of protection to make sure it’s really you who’s logging into your inFlow account and accessing your business’ data. Your inFlow password is the first layer of protection, and a new six-digit code is the second layer.

It’s up to each inFlow team member to choose whether they’d like to receive codes via email or generate them with an authenticator app.

How does this affect me?

For new users: anyone who starts a trial today will first end up in a sample database with fake orders and products. Anyone who moves past the sample database and begins to use their own data will have to use 2FA for logins.

For existing users: 2FA will start off as optional for existing inFlow accounts. However, because 2FA is quickly becoming an industry standard for security, we’ll be enforcing 2FA as a mandatory requirement for all inFlow accounts in the near future.

If you’d like to learn more about 2FA or how to set it up, we’ve prepared a new 2FA Learning Center article to help you with all of the details.

The post Two-factor authentication (2FA) is now available in inFlow appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

You now have three ways to handle payments while connected to QuickBooks:

1. Sync payment details between inFlow and QuickBooks. This is a new option, and the most flexible. Use this if you want to be able to record payment details on either platform.
2. Push payments from inFlow to QuickBooks. This is the option we’ve always provided. In this scenario you should enter payment details in inFlow only and our integration will make sure those details are pushed to QuickBooks.
3. Pull payments from QuickBooks to inFlow. This is another new option for customers who prefer to handle all of the payment details in QuickBooks Online.

Note: in order for inFlow to sync payments (option 1) or pull payment details (option 3), the corresponding order must first have been pushed from inFlow. For more details on this, please see our updated QuickBooks support article.

This update expands the functionality of our QuickBooks Online integrations for all current and future customers.

If you’re already using our QuickBooks integration and want to use one of these new options, simply head to your integration settings in the web app.

If you’re not using inFlow yet, our integration could save you hours of duplicating order information across your inventory and accounting systems. To try inFlow out for yourself, start your free trial below:

The post inFlow adds two-way payment sync with QuickBooks Online appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

Our brand new Email Designer gives you a quick and easy way to create email templates with customizable text and subject lines. It works for every email you send out of inFlow and it even applies when you send in bulk, too!

Default styling

One of the first things you might want to do with Email Designer is to set up default styling. This establishes a general look and feel for the emails you send from inFlow. 

You can choose a header image, customize its size, and pick the button color. The button colors will be generated based on your header image, but you’ll also have access to a color picker if you’d really like to get specific. 

Edit templates

We’ve provided default templates for every single type of email you can send from inFlow, but you can customize these further if you’d like.

You can change the subject line and body content in each email type with your own text and inFlow variables. So if you’ve got a standardized message you’d like to include with each invoice, you can now set that template up once and never have to worry about copying and pasting again.

Variables can be added with just a few clicks, and you can filter the variables just by typing some of the characters out.

Easy email previews

When you go to send an email you’ll see a preview of the subject line and email contents, with all of the variables filled out with real data. This makes it easy to double check your message before sending it out. 

If you need to customize the email in the moment, you can click on the preview and edit the message.

That wraps up our new Email Designer, which is now available on all plans. We hope it saves you time when messaging your customers and vendors!

If you’d like to try Email Designer now, you can simply:

1. Open an SO or PO and select Email.
2. Then select Edit email template to open up the Email Designer.

If you’re not using inFlow for inventory and order management yet, you can start your free trial now!

The post Create Customized Messages with inFlow Email Designer appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

Customize blocks in sales and purchase documents

If you’ve ever tried to design a document in a word processor, you know how difficult it can be. You’ve probably had to fight with margins and font sizes just to get the spacing just right.

inFlow’s Document Designer takes a what-you-see-is-what-you get approach by breaking documents down into a series of blocks.

We’ve provided a few templates for each major document type related to purchase and sales orders. When you edit one of these documents you’ll see blocks for letterhead, order details, custom text, and more. You can re-organize these templates and add or remove blocks as you see fit.

Here’s what that looks like in action:

You can select a block to customize it further: choose how many columns you want to display and add or remove fields to control the amount of detail on the page.

If inFlow’s default fields don’t work for you, you can simply rename the fields on that particular document (other document templates won’t be affected).

And of course all of these changes happen in real time so you can preview changes instantly.

Organize everything in the document manager

You can customize all of the document types for sales and purchase orders—including pick lists, purchase quotes, receipts, and more—in the document manager.

You can edit one of the existing templates from the list or create a new document.

inFlow also supports multiple document versions for each document type. For example, you can create one invoice for B2C and another for B2B.

You can also name each customized document so that you can tell them apart easily when it comes time to email or print them.

There’s even more to discover in the new Document Designer. We’ve put together a full walk-through of the feature below:

If you’d like to try Document Designer yourself, you can:

1. Open an SO or PO and select Email or Print, and then select Edit document.
2. Go to the main menu and selecting Options -> Orders -> Documents.

If you’re not using inFlow to manage your inventory orders, there’s never been a better time to start. You can start your free trial at the link below:

The post Create Professional Sales and Purchase Documents appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

We know a lot of you have been asking for attachments, so we’ll dig into that first.

Attachments in the inFlow web app

Similar to our Windows app, you can now attach files to records in the inFlow web app.

Want to attach a PDF manual to your product record? Or do you need to keep shipping documents for a large sales order? You can add an attachment from the action bar on most records.

You can attach a wide variety of files in inFlow, but there are some exceptions—like .exe files—for security purposes. Don’t worry though, any files you’ve already uploaded from the Windows app still stay in inFlow, and we’ve also listed all exceptions in our Attachments Learning Center article.

Multiple barcodes per product

While you could technically add multiple barcodes to a product before today, our previous implementation needed some improvement. The barcodes needed to be separated by commas, which made them harder to read. And scanning a product with multiple barcodes didn’t always work properly.

We’ve addressed all of that in this latest update. inFlow now verifies that each barcode is unique to guarantee scanning performance, so this means you’ll no longer be able to use the same barcode across multiple products (e.g., no more duplicate barcodes).

There are new fields to support multiple product barcode and you can now choose a default product barcode for use in label printing and e-commerce integrations. However, scanning any one of a product’s barcodes will work for tasks like picking and receiving.

Improved barcode scanning in the web app

There are now prominent buttons to show when you can scan barcodes.

While scanning you’ll see a new “pill” to show you when inFlow is awaiting a new scan, or if you scanned a barcode that inFlow doesn’t recognize.

New inFlow 13-digit barcode generator

inFlow now uses a 13-digit barcode format that meets modern GS1 standards.

These barcodes will enable some new features in the coming months, so we encourage you to use the new barcode generator for internal inventory tracking going forward.

But please note that barcodes generated by inFlow are not usable at external retailers like Walmart or Amazon. To use barcodes with external retailers you’ll still need to register your barcodes with GS1 so that they’re guaranteed to be unique worldwide.

This sums up the changes for this release. If you have any questions, just email support@inflowinventory.com and we can help you out.

And if you’re not using inFlow for inventory management yet, this is a great time to try it out and get a head start on barcoding.

The post Attachments, Multiple Barcodes, and Improved Barcode Scanning appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

Automatic exchange rates

We know you might sell your products in many other currencies, so you need accurate exchange rates to calculate costs and profit.

Our latest update makes this easier by allowing you to pull in exchange rates automatically. Whenever a new foreign currency order is created, inFlow will use the latest mid-market rate from Open Exchange Rates.

If you’ve already set your own custom exchange rates then inFlow will use those instead.

Want to double check your custom exchange rates? Just head to your Global settings and select Currency and exchange rates.

Better sorting on transfers, adjustments, and counts

We’ve been exploring in-app controls to make inFlow easier and more customizable. Our latest improvement allows you to sort columns or manually reorder line items on certain types of records.

Sort by column

You can now select a column header to sort it alphanumerically, in either ascending or descending order.

Reorder line items

Or do you want reorder things yourself? No problem!

Just mouse over the left side of the product column until you see a grab handle (a grid of eight dots). Then click and hold on the handle to move a product up or down the table.

View a product in a new tab

Sometimes you just want to check on a product without losing your spot—and now you can!

Just mouse over a product and click on its name to open it up in a new tab.

These updates (sorting, reordering, and viewing products) are only for stock adjustments, stock transfers, and stock counts for now—but we’re excited to bring these controls to other areas of inFlow, wherever it makes sense to do so.

That’s it for this round of inFlow updates, but we’ve got a lot more in the pipeline for 2024.

If you’re not yet using inFlow to make inventory management easier, you’ve come at a great time. You can start your free trial at the link below and see these improvements for yourself.

The post Automatic Exchange Rates and Improved Sorting appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

inFlow customers manage lists of orders and products, so we’ve focused on making this process even faster.

Customize your columns

inFlow already provides inventory access to anyone at your company. But salespeople need different details from those in fulfillment, and it’s hard to create one view that suits everyone’s needs.

That’s why you can now choose which columns—including custom fields—are displayed in any list. You can select which columns to add and remove, and you can even reorder them to suit your preferences. If you end up creating a view you don’t really like, just scroll to the bottom of the column list to reset everything to default.

Best of all, these settings are saved per team member and per tab. So you can have a layout that suits your work, while your team members can choose something to suit theirs.

Act on multiple records at once

There are some tasks, like assigning orders or updating categories, that are easier done in bulk. We’ve added checkboxes along the left side of each record in a list. You can use these checkboxes to select up to 20 records at a time and choose the action you’d like along the top of the screen.

If the action you chose can’t be applied to all of your selected records, inFlow will let you know which ones are excluded.

These bulk actions are available for product, sales, and purchase order lists for now, but we plan to expand them to other lists soon!

That concludes the major changes to our lists in inFlow. We hope they can help you dial inFlow in to better fit your work.

And if you’re not using inFlow to quickly manage your orders and inventory, you can start a free trial below.

The post List improvements and bulk actions appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

That all changes today with the launch of manufacturing in the inFlow web app.

Here’s looking at you, Mac and Linux users! 

Just like with stock counts, this wasn’t just a matter of transferring existing features from the Windows app. We’ve taken the time—and a lot of great customer feedback—to revise and improve upon manufacturing in inFlow. 

Here are some of the highlights:

• prioritize orders based on what’s in stock
• more easily estimate build costs
• outline your production routing
• streamlined complex builds with sub-assemblies
• disassemble products
• view quantity buildable
• auto-build after a sale

Looks good, right? Read on to learn more!

Meet manufacture orders

One of the simplest changes we’ve made is that work orders (WOs) are now manufacture orders (MOs).

If you’ve been using work orders already, don’t worry: all prefixes and order numbers will stay the same for existing inFlow customers. Just know that when we mention MOs, they’re the same thing as WOs. 

Prioritize what to build next

Aside from orders and due dates, you now have more tools for deciding what to build next. There’s a stock availability column that shows you whether you have enough stock to complete that order right now. You can also star orders to pin them to the top of the list.

You can customize your list further by filtering or even adding or removing columns. 

Estimate building costs ahead of time

If you build products that contain smaller products then this change is for you. 

We’ve changed the way that inFlow reports on sub-assembly costs within a bill of materials. Any costs shown for sub-assemblies in BOMs now uses the calculated cost of components (instead of the cost on the product record itself). 

What this means is that you’ll have a better cost estimate on the BOM tab, even if one of the sub-assemblies on that BOM has never been built before. 

Production routing (a.k.a. operations)

In addition to the bill of materials, you can also outline the required steps to complete a build. We call these operations. You can add instructions and variable costs (based on how long you think the task should take).

When it’s time to build on an MO, you can tick off each operation in sequence to track your progress.

Redesigned manufacture orders

We’ve updated manufacture orders to be easier to read, even if you have complex builds with multiple sub-assemblies. You can show or hide the raw materials with just a click, which should make it easier to focus on what you need to do on larger builds.

Each assembly will show up on a separate line, and you’ll see a status for which ones you can build based on the statuses along the right side.

If you show the raw materials, you’ll even be able to see which raw materials are preventing you from completing that build. 

When you’re ready to work on an assembly, just select it to see its pick list and operations. You can complete them in whichever order you prefer. 

Other manufacturing improvements

Make and unmake (disassemble)

Any product that has a bill of materials can now be disassembled.

Just head to the Manufacturing tab of the product record and you’ll have the option to disassemble that product. The details of the disassembly will appear as new stock adjustments in inFlow. 

View quantity buildable

You might stock certain sub-assemblies just to keep them ready for upcoming builds. But it’s also useful to be able to see how much of a product you could build, given the raw materials at that location. The new Buildable quantity shows just that.

Quantity available and quantity buildable can also be reported as a single number. This is great if you sell a product standalone, but also separately as a kit. This will allow your e-commerce sites to accurately list the correct stock levels for a standalone product, and the kits that contain it.

Automatically build after you sell

If you have kits or bundles, or if you can quickly build to order, you can have inFlow automatically create and complete a manufacture order after you fulfill a sales order. 

This can help you keep inventory accurate across any connected e-commerce stores, and also saves you from having to create and complete a separate MO yourself. 

That sums up the major changes to manufacturing in the web app. These features are available to any inFlow customer who uses BOMs and work orders right now. So head on over to the web app to check it out!

If you’re not using inFlow for manufacturing and order management yet, today’s an even better day to get started with a free trial.

The post The Big Manufacturing Update appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

Stock counts are useful for setting the record straight: inFlow shows you the quantity on hand, you count the actual physical products on the shelf, and then you can check for any discrepancies. This is crucial to maintaining inventory levels that you can trust and exposing how much inventory shrinkage (shrink) your business has had in a period of time.

Counting one sheet at a time in Windows

We’ve had stock counts for years in the Windows app: we’ve called them count sheets there. Each count could support a single sheet, so counts in the Windows app would look like one scrolling record.

This works well if you do smaller cycle counts of particular categories or sublocations, but it can be tougher to view if you’re counting products by the hundreds or thousands. It can also be a challenge to track progress on a long count sheet when the work is split amongst multiple people.

That’s why we’re introducing some newer ways to work in the web app.

The web app supports multiple sheets per stock count

You can still create single-sheet stock counts in the web app (and they’re still sticking around in Windows), but if you have larger physical inventory counts, you may find it a lot easier to divide that work across multiple sheets.

For example, if you have to count 200 products, you can split that work up across 10 sheets.

These sheets are not physical sheets of paper—think of them more like sub-documents that specify what needs to be counted, and by whom.

If you like to plan ahead, you can assign team members to each sheet. Or you can simply look at a sheet’s status to see if it’s open, complete, or see if someone is working on it right now.

It’s now easier to manage stock counts

Every stock count consists of two records:

• the stock count outlines which products should be counted at which location
• the sheets within a stock count help to divide the work and track overall progress

To help organize all of this, you can now assign a stock count to a team member. That team member can act as the general supervisor for the entire count and assign team members or help to double check counts.

If your inFlow plan supports user access rights, you can also limit someone’s access to count sheets only. This helps to ensure that only managers can start and finalize counts.

General improvements to counting in the web app

We’ve also tried to make the act of counting a little easier in the web app. Discrepancies now show up immediately after you input a counted quantity, and they’re color coded so they’re harder to miss.

Each sheet has its own remarks field and can be completed individually.

You’ll also see a warning if multiple people are trying to edit the same count sheet at the same time.

And that’s a quick summary of count sheets in the web app. They’re a great new way to maintain accurate inventory in inFlow.

If you’re not using inFlow yet and need a system to make physical inventory or cycle counts easier, you can start a free trial here:

The post Stock Counts Are Now Available in the inFlow Web App appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

For both sales and purchases, you’ll now see three lists: Open, Unpaid, and All.

The All list is what long-time users of inFlow’s web app will recognize. It sorts in reverse chronological order by default—so newest orders will be at the top—but you can change the sorting method at any time.

The Unpaid list shows you the purchase or sales orders that haven’t been fully paid yet, with the oldest orders at the top. You can use this list to quickly find the oldest—and possibly overdue—orders that you need to pay or get paid for.

Your Open list of shows you the orders that you still need to take action on. For purchases this shows orders that haven’t been received or are which are only partially received.

But the Open list of sales orders has a few more goodies.

You can select the star icon in the right-most column to prioritize an order. Prioritized orders stay anchored to the top of the Open list by default. If you have multiple priority orders, you can drag and drop to sort them however you’d like.

The Open list of sales orders also shows you stock availability. This new column allows you to instantly see whether you can fulfill an order now, whether you need to wait on a delivery, or whether you need to order more stock.

That sums up the changes to purchase and sales orders in this update—we hope these new changes make inFlow easier to use and save you some time.

If you’re not using inFlow for your purchases and sales yet, you can start a free trial now:

The post View Stock Availability And Prioritize Sales in inFlow appeared first on inFlow Inventory.