Which accounting software tracks projects and inventory best?

Note.now includes project accounting - you can track income and expenses by project, see project profitability, and invoice clients based on actual costs. This is essential for agencies, consultancies, and professional services firms. Projects give you the visibility to know which clients and jobs are actually making you money.

Without project tracking, it is easy to appear profitable overall while losing money on individual clients. A project accounting report shows you the margin on each engagement - which tells you which clients to prioritise, which ones to reprice, and which ones to stop taking on. This information is often the most actionable financial data a service business can have.

For businesses selling physical products, dedicated inventory tools like Cin7, Fishbowl, or DEAR Inventory connect with accounting software to track stock levels, purchase orders, and cost of goods sold. QuickBooks Online includes basic inventory tracking built-in. Note.now currently focuses on service-based businesses but integrates with inventory tools through standard accounting entries.

The integration between inventory and accounting ensures that cost of goods sold is calculated correctly. When you sell a product, the inventory system decrements the stock level and calculates the cost based on the valuation method you use - FIFO, LIFO, or average cost. This cost entry posts to your accounting software automatically, keeping your gross margin figures accurate without manual adjustment.