# Page 11 | Fishbowl Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra

> Page 11 - Is Fishbowl the right Inventory Management solution for you? Explore 1087 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/123794/Fishbowl/reviews

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Fishbowl

4.2 (1087)

[View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/123794/Fishbowl/alternatives/)

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/)

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Last updated March 13th, 2026

# Page 11 - Reviews of Fishbowl

## Showing most helpful reviews

Showing 251-275 of 1087 Reviews

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Rating

Company Size

Reviewer's Role

Length of Use

Frequency of Use

JM

Jeff M.  
CEO  
Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Will Fishbowl Survive in the coming years?"

December 22, 2023

1.0

Like many ERP systems, it has been overhyped and falls short of expectations. We initially implemented it alongside QuickBooks 2022. Interestingly, QuickBooks 2023 and subsequently QuickBooks 2024 have incorporated nearly all the features and functionalities that initially prompted us to integrate FishBowl. With the enhanced capabilities of QuickBooks 2024 and the shift towards cloud-based solutions, it's doubtful that FishBowl will sustain its business for more than a few years.

Pros

Onboarding was smooth and responsive. The team was responsive and helpful, although be prepared to do all the work yourself. while it seems crazy at some point its worth starting from scratch on your inventory and negating Quickbooks inventory all together.

Cons

Once your system is operational, support becomes a distant concern. Seeking assistance entails potentially shelling out thousands for even the most straightforward requests, if and when you manage to get a response. The scheduling for a simple fix or question may drag on for up to two weeks.

Reason for choosing Fishbowl

Initially, we opted for FishBowl due to QuickBooks lacking essential features such as inventory management, site locations, landed costs, and overall functionality. Unfortunately, QuickBooks has since incorporated most of these features in their latest release, signaling an aggressive effort to reclaim market share and compete with NetSuite for SMBs. This development is likely to diminish FishBowl's relevance within a few years or even sooner. In response, FishBowl has shifted its focus entirely to the "CLOUD" version, which, regrettably, lacks the robust features found in its desktop counterpart. There are no immediate plans to incorporate these features into the cloud version. This mirrors QuickBooks' move to the cloud, where the desktop features were initially absent, but QuickBooks has since acquired Rightworks and now offers cloud hosting for enterprise, intensifying competition against NetSuites. In summary, QuickBooks Enterprise 2024 now provides 85-90% of FishBowl's functionality. As is often the case with software companies, the initial allure and onboarding process may not accurately represent the actual capabilities, potentially resulting in additional costs for support or customization. While there may be a dedicated fan base, it's doubtful that even half of FishBowl's clients are aware of the added functionalities in QuickBooks 2024. Those who do leverage these features find themselves paying a substantial premium. A noteworthy caveat is that licensing is based on the number of users, but it's essential to be cautious as the number of users does not equate to the number of devices. Each user accessing the system from both a PC and a mobile phone, for instance, counts as two users/devices. This discrepancy can lead to higher costs than initially anticipated. Considering the recent developments in QuickBooks, the sale of FishBowl likely occurred for a reason, underscoring the evolving landscape in the realm of inventory and financial management solutions.

Review Source

TB

Trevor B.  
Director of Design and Technology  
Sporting Goods  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Functional but Complicated, Expensive but Unrefined, Capable but Rigid."

January 28, 2022

3.0

Overall, the Fishbowl program is decent. It is capable of doing almost all of what they claim, but the day-to-day usability is clunky and unrefined. It is as if they only stay on the development/conceptual side of things and never test their product daily. If they were to address the issues that I outlined that relate to the user experience, I would more confidently feel that this product would be more worth its large price tag. Until then, It remains difficult to recommend this product to others.

Pros

I like that this program allows your company to do a lot, as long as you know how to do it. It has also helped our company create more rigidity and procedure (Whether we wanted to or not).

Cons

I do not like that we have paid over $30,000 for a program that has basic functionality issues. We experience issues with basic things like scanning products, typing in fields, synchronizing inventory with our online store, etc. Also, their kitting function is what we were originally sold on, but we have now completely stopped using the function because it has fundamental issues. They are not always detrimental, but the accumulation of these small issues results in a program that you wouldn't believe costs what it does. Quite unfortunate. Another common issue that we face is the program's habit of freezing constantly. From what I have learned from support, the program does this on purpose to protect the database from data loss, but what it results in is our Sales guys needing to restart our POS program CONSTANTLY. Literally, on almost every transaction, their "Checkout" program freezes and they need to force quit and reopen. Our purchaser has also often been in the middle of a large PO, and the program freezes, requiring a restart and loss of that whole PO. Speaking of the POS side, their "Checkout" program is not great at all. It experiences all of the aforementioned issues but is also just a program that feels like they don't work towards improving at all. On top of that, they don't even integrate with any other POS programs or companies that work for basic retail applications, so we currently don't have an alternative.

Alternatives considered

[GiftLogic](https://www.capterra.com/p/109714/GiftLogic/)[Trident 1](https://www.capterra.com/p/214040/Trident-1/)

Reason for choosing Fishbowl

We chose Fishbowl because it the functionality and capability that they claimed to have, as well as their unique kitting feature.

Review Source

TG

Trevor G.  
Developer  
Retail  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Excellent ERP Solution"

June 3, 2022

5.0

Pros

We were really impressed with the how complete this software was. Others claimed to be similar but fell short in many key areas that should be standard features in this type of software. But Fishbowl checked all the boxes and helped us consolidate not only multiple pieces of software, but streamlined our operations significantly. It's intelligent enough to make many of the mundane decisions for our team that we shouldn't have to think about.

Cons

What we weren't a big fan of was the interface. Compared to other platforms, the interface feels overwhelming and dated. They could definitely take note from other competitors on this which I felt would make it easier for user to understand and get up and running much faster.

Review Source

MG

Michael G.  
President  
Fine Art  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Intuitive manufacturing, inventory control and distribution software."

March 2, 2022

5.0

Overall, I am satisfied with purchasing the Fishbowl software for manufacturing bill of materials and inventory management. Have only been using for approximately one year but so far it seems much easier to use compared to the previous software that we used. We have only used the out of the box software. All other software's we use always required special programing which was always a hassle and large expense.

Pros

The ease of set-up and use of the manufacturing process. Very intuitive and do not need to spend a lot of time training new people to use. Once we set up, new users can begin working with very little guidance.

Cons

The training was good, but for a startup additional training time would be good after we are up and running. After the initial training I only heard from someone when they wanted to sell me something additional. No follow-up calls, emails or communication to determine if there were any additional questions or concerns. With software I always felt that good prompt support is essential. I still have issues with the QB accounting integration, and I receive zero support from FB.

Reason for choosing Fishbowl

Ease of use very intuitive. The demo that was presented prior was seamless and the flow from purchasing to inventory to manufacturing to finished goods to shipping was a breeze. The other software companies' presentation crashed during the demo, and they couldn't explain why, and it was awkward. Fishbowl is making my business life easier.

Review Source

MA

Mike A.  
COO  
Airlines/Aviation  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Fishbowl Survey"

June 20, 2022

3.0

It has the potential to be a really strong entry level MRP if the reporting and label design/printing functions are improved to allow users to create their own reports and labels inside Fishbowl instead of having to bolt on third party software.

Pros

The entry and setup are easy to use. It is a pretty simple MRP.

Cons

The reporting and label creation/printing capabilities are weak and cumbersome. There is no PLM functionality. It would be nice to setup prototype BOMs and then walk that product through a workflow that saves all of the changes, revisions and approvals throughout the product history.

Reason for choosing Fishbowl

It was implemented when I started here.

Review Source

MW

Michelle W.  
Custom Orders Dept.  
Apparel & Fashion  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "A Great All Around Product For Inventory"

February 21, 2022

5.0

Fishbowl has helped us save money by being able to control everything from inside and not having to hire multiple 3rd parties to make connections. Fishbowl continues to add and upgrade the software to what consumers ask for.

Pros

Fishbowl software is easy to use. I like that you always have step by step instructions and some videos to help guide you. If you don't find what you are looking for, all it takes is an email, and support helps you as quickly as they can.

Cons

The only negative issue I have while using Fishbowl software is with the reports. Even though they have multiple reports to choose from, I feel as some of them can be upgraded to include more than one product a t a time. Example, when searching for a product that was sold on a particular day, and you have more than one size of the same product, it would be nice to be able to select as many products as you want to look at versus one at a time.

Switched from

[QuickBooks Enterprise](https://www.capterra.com/p/174984/QuickBooks-Enterprise/)

The company I work for will have multiple users at any given time, the other big named software could not handle more than 1 or 2 people in it, or it would freeze up. We had to adjust our schedules to get work done which was very frustrating. We started out with Fishbowl in 2017, switched over to the big name in 2018, but after a few short months, we made the switch back to Fishbowl in 2018, as it is the best option for what we need and can accommodate our inventory management. We still have the big named software but it is only used for accounting.

Review Source

Response from Fishbowl

March 17, 2022

Thank you so much for this review, Michelle. We appreciate you taking the time to provide your feedback. We are happy to hear that your experience has been satisfactory and will take your suggestions into consideration while we continue to make improvements.

MM

Mike M.  
Owner  
Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Dishonest, No Integrity"

February 1, 2024

2.0

Pros

My software implementation specialist was friendly.

Cons

I wish I would have thoroughly read these reviews before making the awful decision to give fishbowl a try. I had been in the market for this type of software for a while and had a long conversation with a fishbowl sales rep who promised me that fishbowl could do exactly what I was needing. I was hesitant, because it did not seem like this was true, but he promised me they could do a "custom build" that would address my company's specific needs. Most importantly, he assured me over and over that I could get a full refund if it turned out that the software was not a fit for my company. He promised that I would be able to go through training, implementation, and use the software for a full 30 days after the end of training to decide if it was going to work out. So I spent countless hours over the next several months in the training and implementation of the product. Throughout the training, I expressed my doubts that it would work out, but I had hopes that the "custom build" would be the solution. Training concluded, implementation began, I tried my best to make this thing work for my company, but we were approaching the money-back deadline, no custom build had been provided, and I could not see any way this software would do what I needed. So I attempted to contact my sales rep multiple times via email and phone but got no response. Miraculously, four days AFTER the deadline, I was finally able to communicate with someone who informed me that my sales rep was no longer with the company and that I had missed the deadline for a refund. So let's try that custom build now and see if that'll work. So we did, and to no one's surprise, it was still useless. I again asked for a refund at that point but was denied - "past the deadline." And all this communication was by email because they refuse to offer a phone number to actually speak with someone. So after a complete waste of $14,000 and about year of my time, I'm right back where I started, except poorer and older. I would STRONGLY advise thinking twice before entering into any relationship with fishbowl.

Review Source

MM

Mitch M.  
CEO  
Sporting Goods  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Extremely Frustrated and Feel Violated"

April 13, 2022

1.0

We purchased inventory software from Fishbowl and then had an exceptionally difficult time implementing the software. We paid for a number of items that we have not received months later, went weeks without receiving responses from them during the implementation process, and were verbally promised things that they have walked back or denied entirely. Worst of all, because of their lack of responsiveness, they claim that we are not eligible for a refund on the software because we are past the time limit for the satisfaction guarantee. Integrations, services, implementation support, and custom reports were paid for and never received. The server has been down for long time periods (days at a time), credit card systems won't integrate properly and the software crashes regularly on our machines. Rather than try to do what is right and work things through, they have opted to take a hard line on this issue with no flexibility at all. We are now currently pursuing legal action. If you are considering using their products or services I would recommend in the strongest of language possible to not do any business with this company.

Pros

It appeared to be a great product before we purchased it

Cons

Point of sale software is nearly un-usable. It does not support gift cards or customer accounts in any functional way. Implementation and support from the software company are beyond poor even after paying many thousands of dollars for extra support and help with implementation.

Alternatives considered

[NetSuite](https://www.capterra.com/p/135757/NetSuite/)[SkuVault Core](https://www.capterra.com/p/139964/SkuVault/)

Reason for choosing Fishbowl

Supposed integration with our eCommerce software that was not actually viable (which we found out after the fact)

Switched from

[Finale Inventory](https://www.capterra.com/p/149851/Finale-Inventory/)

To have better inventory control for eCommerce and communication between our systems

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Test Analyst  
Computer Software  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Fishbowl best tool Available Market"

January 13, 2023

5.0

One of the best product available in the market. The single tool has various features which is quite commendable.I recommend everyone to use this product .

Pros

Supply management,shipping management,order based system and it's quite simple to use.

Cons

Still don't find any major bug or issue on this. I assumed it's a one of the best product available in the market. The single tool has various features which is quite commendable.I recommend everyone to use this product

Review Source

VB

Vinko B.  
Director of Operations  
Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Could be a good fit/value for some with a few significant caveats"

September 25, 2016

3.0

Pros

We run FB 2016.11 with QuickBooks Premier 2015. FB handles quoting, sales orders, your basic pick/pack/ship, purchase orders and inventory. It has BOM capability but we find this limited. The price was right for us, esp. compared to our previous Sage software. Prepare to spend 3 to 4x the cost of the software in customization, support and initial set-up. Find other companies doing what you do (or more importantly the way you do it) and see FB in action. The software continues to have limitations and I have continued reservations about that. Some previous reviews bring this up: one's requests aren't really acknowledged or their sort of pooh-poohed. That doesn't make for a good feeling. Despite all the frustrations, limitations, and problems, Fishbowl has helped us. We'd purchase it again. We're at a point where we are again growing, and I think FB can grow with us.

Cons

I read through all the reviews (at this time 126 of them) and agree with the many that indicate that support is very difficult to get a hold of. I also echo the complaints about the need for A LOT of custom reports for simple things. And the fact that the software has bugs and that you WILL be resetting your server to complete end-of-day export to Quickbooks. Maybe more often if you export more frequently. But it is getting BETTER with every release. Still, there is no "user accountability" (again, to echo another review) with SO, PO, etc. Nor is there accountability with inventory entry. You simply have very few opportunities to have documented the ways in which your users interact with Fishbowl. And this lack is serious and can have consequences for your business. Further: be prepared for the result of the lack of customer support: Fishbowl relies on a network of consultants. You've got to get a good one to help you with bugs, problems, fixes, custom reports. And that can be expensive. There's some good consultants and bad consultants. The best consultants I've worked with admit Fishbowl's shortcomings but see the \*potential\* I can understand the criticisms of FB's sales staff in previous reviews. But these have to be put into context. I guess it's like a lot of sales people who promise you things. But what I would add is the sales people at the beginning of the process are so attentive than when you arrive to the post-sale status, it's just a little jarring how non-attentive the customer support staff are. So that might be the source of that criticism. From what I understand, you've got a lot of sales people, very few support people, and a lot of earnest, hardworking (and overworked) developers and programmers. I think they want to do good work and make a good product. I could speculate why the difficulties are present here but I don't have a full enough understanding to say anything more useful beyond my initial impressions and conversations with Fishbowl people. Finally: speaking of \*potential\*, I really do think Fishbowl has been good us and has the potential to be even better. But the number one problem may be the corporate culture. And I think I'm being fair in my assessment here. For the culture is a circle-the-wagons mentality. And it lacks transparency. Sure, there are customers who express their frustrations, but one must put those frustrations and the way the users express them into \*context\*. I think to its own detriment, Fishbowl does not do this. I'm not sure if I were purchasing today (and without having had the experience with Fishbowl that I now do and seeing what I now see it can do for us) that I would purchase it. One small example: Fishbowl used to have a user support forum where users could interact and sometimes FB employees would participate. That forum allowed us to see ways in which people were using Fishbowl. Apparently, some people were badmouthing the company (sometimes rightly), so FB canned the forum. (I think you can still see a google cache of it). I can think of dozens of user support forums from big (Apple) to small (smaller software) where users proffer all sorts of opinions. This doesn't stop them from allowing the community a voice. Or from users helping one another and building a supporting (and supportive) community that can benefit users. But again, the corporate culture is such that transparency appears to have little value. Perhaps FB wants to "control their narrative" from a centralized place. Many of its users would, I'm sure, defend Fishbowl from silly or inane comments and yet let the substantive comments stand as beneficial. For example: case studies. It's important for the potential buyer to get a full view of what and how FB is serving a particular customer with particular needs. That can influence a purchasing decision. You're not going to get serious help with understanding whether FB is right for you with these with facile, superficial "case studies" not generated by real users themselves but rather downloaded from the company website. These types of things often lack substance. They are more marketing material and than informed aids for purchasing decisions. We were approached to participate in such a study and we said no. In that context, we didn't think it wasn't the right thing to do and it didn't feel like a good fit with our values.

Review Source

CG

Conrad G.  
General Manager  
Business Supplies and Equipment  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Quality Software for Small to Mid-Size Businesses"

May 6, 2022

4.0

We have been using Fishbowl Inventory since 2011 and while it has been quite an eventful journey we have seen definite improvements over the years in stability and ease of use.

Pros

QuickBooks integration is probably the feature I appreciate the most about Fishbowl. Any small to mid sized business that is outgrowing QuickBooks inventory management features but doesn't want to pay the price of an all-inclusive ERP program targeted for larger corporations should consider Fishbowl Inventory. The ability to track inventory by location, assign multiple vendors to one item, create intuitive bill of materials items that are as simple or complex as you wish, add multitudes of pricing rules for your products and customers, assign reorder points and order up to levels for your parts to quickly reorder items that are low, Fishbowl plugins that connect to a wide range of third party programs, I could go on for a long time about what there is to like about this program. Their support has definitely improved over the years as well, with a response to a support ticket usually within the hour.

Cons

One inherent weakness with Fishbowl is the QuickBooks export connection. Fishbowl has made tremendous improvements in this area since we first started using it, but there are still multiple times that we need to restart the connection before running an export. To be fair, this may be as much QuickBooks' problem as Fishbowl's. The software also tends to be buggy after new releases. Again, they have improved lightyears over what they were 8 years ago, but still be prepared to have some weird things happen occasionally when a software update is released. Also, Fishbowl only has rudimentary accounting functions and leaves the majority of accounting related tasks to QuickBooks. This can create accounting headaches and even nightmares if the wrong QuickBooks accounts are assigned to items in Fishbowl. I do miss the QuickBooks ability to map transactions directly to expense accounts. In Fishbowl, you must create an item and then map it to the correct QuickBooks expense account, which again asks for accountant's nightmares.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Owner  
Furniture  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Don't buy Fishbowl"

November 9, 2022

2.0

I paid a lot of money for this software for my small and growing business. Training was expensive and took many weeks. Integrations with Quickbooks and my Sales channels were buggy and resulted in hours of extra work to edit changed sales orders and sift through garbage data sent to QB. A few months ago I uncovered a bug with how data was sent to Quickbooks that totally screwed up my books. Two different support people logged on and watched my workflow, confirmed I did everything correctly, and verified it was a program bug. A ticket was created and then....crickets. Nothing. I followed up repeatedly for weeks. For a while I got assurances that the "best people" were working on it. Eventually no one would reply to my emails, not even my account rep. They completely abandoned me so I switched to Katana which has been awesome for my needs. I've never been treated so poorly by a software company EVER. Maybe they have chosen to abandon their smaller clients in favor of bigger ones.

Pros

At first the customer support was great. You could call and a human would answer the phone and log into your screen and help you quickly. Those days are over apparently.

Cons

Fishbowl support has gone in the toilet. The phone menu you get for support doesn't even have an option for just solving a workflow problem or explaining an unexpected error or problem. They have the call back feature, which can take hours, if they actually call back. They promise to look into problems and then don't.

Review Source

LJ

Lucas J.  
Inventory Manager  
Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "We totally regret the purchase!"

September 27, 2016

1.0

Pros

The Part & Product feature works fine. The Calendar function is good. This guy (can't say his name) was the ONLY PERSON that should not take the blame for a bad customer support. He was excellent and I am very thankful to him!

Cons

Everything, or pretty much everything. Customer service is TERRIBLE, really, I am not exaggerating, it is the W O R S T P A I D customer service I've ever seen, looks like that they are your customer instead. Glitches, you will find MANY glitches! After 7 months using it and having issues with my inventory quantities day after day, month after month, I came across to a discrepancy in my inventory numbers that I was sure that wasn't a human error, got (miracle) on hold with their support team and what happened? "This is a glitch in your database that we can't solve, what YOU(yes, we, the customers) will have to do is to start a NEW database, from ZERO" And guess what? "Oh, by the way, you CAN'T import SO's that were already fulfilled/shipped(that means that we LOST our HISTORY of everything that we sold from the past 7 MONTHS!)" Do you think they helped me to import data to the new DB? No they did not, they simply stated that this is unlawful and they would not be helping me on the process. Plus, but not least, you CAN'T, as well, import fulfilled PO's, meaning that you also loses the history of your purchases! (like, dude, seriously?) Everything above is part of my recent issues, pretty much all that had happened around 09-01-2016 - 09-15-2016 \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Let's talk about scanning (yes we also did the mistake of purchasing the scanner and Fishbowl GO). Mind you that I am not even going to talk about the promises that were made in terms of fulfilling our needs and stuff, so you can assume that everything I am concerned about, it's just because we've spoke about it before purchasing it. Scanning(Fishbowl GO) is SIMPLE, that's the word. If you need to scan order's(doesn't a matter if it's a SO or PO) by boxes, FORGET ABOUT IT, the system will bring over the total amount of pieces/boxes that you are supposed to receive right after the first scanned bar code. What I want to say with that is that you ARE NOT ABLE to scan orders by boxes, having the sum of everything at the end, and THEN matching with the order. Police actions Pretty much everything in the system can be changed, when comes to dates, memos, SO's, PO's, etc. But Fishbowl won't hold a tracking of who has changed it, it simply won't. That's a big deal for us, and I believe for the majority as well. UOM - Conversions Be careful when setting UOM's and Conversions, this can REALLY screw up with your inventory! Training DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND TAKE NOTES ABOUT THAT - IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT! They will usually provide you with a 12h (the basic package) support, which will be also used to train you. Along the way with Fishbowl, pieces of information were given to me in a monthly basis. Meaning that I did not have someone that would come to me, study our needs deeply and work with it. Instead, I had to "play with it(as per what they told me to do)" and find errors, problems, situations where I'd need support with, in order to get an answer. YOU MUST KNOW exactly what you need, you must let them know it, and you must BOTHER them in order to get information. They will simply careless if you have a big issue. It took me about 6 months to fully (if I really do understand it) understand the software, and it was VERY painful. I don't even remember how many times I took the blame for errors that I came to realize that weren't my fault, but fishbowl's lack of information (or misleading information). I would not be writing all that if I was even a bit happy with the purchase, my life has been a nightmare since we bought it, mind you it was 7 months ago. The software isn't that bad, Fishbowl's consultants are the problem, or it's company's culture. Do yourself another favor, look trough all the bad reviews in here, it's very easy to manipulate good reviews, but the bad ones you cant. Make sure you have everything explained, and PLEASE, use the 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE to dig into the software, even if you have to create fake SO's and PO's to test it, even if you have to spend 8h/day during the whole month working on it, but DO IT, I assure you that it will help A LOT to really find out if that works or not for your company. I hope that you understand that this is a review of a very, very, VERY disappointed customer, and that in any situation I'd dispose myself to screw a company like that if I wasn't right. I hope you read it all and wish you better luck than what we had! :)

Review Source

CM

Cassie M.  
VP  
Warehousing  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "FB has abled our business to grow from a home based co. to a 10,000ft fully functioning warehouse"

November 21, 2017

5.0

Being able to operate above and beyond to what we used to. We can now compete with our competitors

Pros

I absolutely love that FB is easy to use and easy to teach. It has all the features that our company uses daily. Examples include customer pricing rules, customer "numbers" or customer sku's, Auto PO function, The import/export feature has been a God-send when we need to import products to our website or send information to our customers. The substitute feature is very helpful too. We also really love how we can create custom fields within every module. I really love how the FB team remembers our company when we call and goes above and beyond when we have a hiccup or questions. We can thank FB for some of our company's success. W/o being able to correctly track inventory and use it for daily operations, we wouldn't be operating at the level we are today.

Cons

There aren't things that I like "the least" but there are things I wish FB offered/had that would help our type of business/company. This includes: 1) Since we are a product distributor, we provide a lot of our customers w/ "quotes." FB has the ability to create an "estimate" but no way to store it or look back at it for reference. Pricing rules are essentially only created in our line of operation when a customer begins buying a product. So, we have to create "quotes" on excel sheets and save them on our network folder. So it would be easier if it was all w/in FB. Or if there was a different section from pricing rules that you could make a pricing rule? If that makes sense 2) Wish we could customize reports that are staples of FB w/o paying high dollar. For ex. the packing slip should have a signature line or at least the option to include it. Or there should be options on layouts or what columns to include. Also, we've gotten feedback from customers on how they wish the item # and description where split into different columns. 3) If FB alerted a user if a sales order has been in the system for "x" amount of time. Like a dormant SO in FB 4) Be able to sort the packing slip. Ex. by Item #, customer #, item description, etc. 5) Had a UNSPSC code field. We've found that this is going to be an important code for future web sales.

Review Source

MC

Mario C.  
Sole Member  
Wholesale  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Flooring Distributor using Fishbowl"

March 21, 2024

5.0

From the start they have been upfront and honest and having played around with giving me a very high price at first and then lowering it down by 50% like other companies that I dealt with. It’s nice to have the upfront and honest conversations without failing like I’m getting a sales pitch from, a company that just wants to make the sale. Fish bowls, seals representatives. Their internal staff have been very professional from start and throughout the process so far.

Pros

All of the pertinent information that my staff can utilize to help them be better at helping our customers.

Cons

Setting up all of the information. Although they have spreadsheets that you can fill out, it still takes a little time to gather all the information to insert it into the system like any other company.

Alternatives considered

[NetSuite](https://www.capterra.com/p/135757/NetSuite/)[CMiC](https://www.capterra.com/p/39271/CMiC/)

Reason for choosing Fishbowl

We chose fishbowl because we felt it had everything we needed, and everything was explained to us efficiently. We also had multiple Q&A’s done with fishbowl representatives that were professional and never felt like they were just trying to sell us quickly. Also, we felt very pleased with their pricing structure.

Review Source

BP

Brandi P.  
CEO  
Consumer Goods  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Lots of bugs."

June 17, 2023

2.0

Fishbowl needs to take data integrity more seriously. We are currently having to double-check everything manually and are being told by Fishbowl that our issues may or may not make it to the dev team's list to work on a month from now.

Pros

The concept of Fishbowl is great. We needed software that would help us pick and ship more efficiently and get us away from a paper-based system. We also needed it to plug in to QBO. I also like that we got access to a well-trained implementation specialist.

Cons

Now that we are actually using Fishbowl, we're running into critical errors that force us to do things manually. This means we are less efficient and slower than before we used it. I've invested a lot of time and money into transitioning into new software and feel like I cannot trust them with our data.We were also not warned about additional costs (like costs per user and hosting fees) until after we had committed.

Alternatives considered

[NetSuite](https://www.capterra.com/p/135757/NetSuite/)

Reason for choosing Fishbowl

I thought it would be more user-friendly.

Review Source

BJ

Bobbie J.  
Manager of Supply Chain  
Arts and Crafts  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "Fishbowl review"

May 25, 2022

4.0

Overall we're happy with the software. The plugins function well and transfer info back and forth efficiently. Inventory management functions smoothly, your report writing team wrote a custom report for demand planning that functions well. We use scanners in the warehouse for picking and packing orders, this has improved or order picking efficiency and accuracy.

Pros

FB is relatively easy to use, training the other users in our group was smooth. We've seemed to have worked through our issues and are processing both web and trade orders seamlessly. We integrate with Big Commerce, Ship Station and Quick Books.

Cons

We will be managing inventories and processing orders at two locations. I wish there were more functions to manage two different inventories. We're currently using two different domains.

Reason for choosing Fishbowl

Cost and ratings for companies comparable to our size.

Review Source

TS

Todd S.  
President  
Building Materials  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Fishbowl Review"

November 30, 2022

5.0

Based on our overall experience I would give Fishbowl a 6 out of 10, with their main issues being everything outside of the software. If you have patience then this is a good value, if not walk away quickly....

Pros

I like the ease of use with the Sales Order Side of the product. When the software is set up correctly it is almost flawless, and really makes the ordering process go much smoother. The interface is easy to use and easy to train new employees on.

Cons

The service and support are the worst I have ever dealt with. We paid dearly for the implementation of our data and if I say the words half ass that would hardly describe what they were able to accomplish. Getting someone to try and fix anything is nearly impossible, so we took it upon ourselves to correct all of their implementation mistakes. 3 months in and we still find implementation errors every day that we are correcting. When we attempt to use support their chat feature is useless, as the reps are answering multiple chats at once and it takes 5 minutes between comments for them to come back to you. If you call be prepared to sit on hold for at least an hour, and then they still wont be able to assist you most of the time.

Switched from

[QuickBooks Enterprise](https://www.capterra.com/p/174984/QuickBooks-Enterprise/)

Did not have the inventory interface we needed.

Review Source

AW

Amber W.  
Admin assistant  
Farming  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Gamechanger"

April 11, 2024

5.0

Great I'm excited to see how it develops within the next year.

Pros

I love how it can do so many things. There are so many different settings and options to accommodate your experience..

Cons

I do feel like training will never stop because there is so much to learn.

Review Source

KK

Kait K.  
Secretary  
Farming  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Dynamic Ag Services"

April 17, 2024

4.0

Pros

Inventory management and support is so easy to work with.

Cons

Have such stress with the shipping label to work on one computer and no one knows why, when I call into support.

Review Source

TB

Tommy B.  
Technical Manager  
Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "The Perfect Solution for Small & Large Businesses"

June 23, 2022

5.0

We've been successfully using Fishbowl now for at least five years and it's allowed our company to process orders and control our inventory to a point where everything runs smoothly between our manufacturing team and our front of house team. Fishbowl has helped turned our "mom and pop" business into a streamlined operation with customers all over the world.

Pros

I have used other CRM/inventory management applications over the years and Fishbowl is by far one of the most robust, all-in-one solutions for our business. It's ease of use, stability, and accessibility has helped run our business for the past several years in terms of POS operations, inventory control, and handling purchase orders.

Cons

My only complaints are that, under the customer tab, the SAVE and DELETE buttons are next to each other. Also under the customer tab, the check balance is next to the history button (which we have to utilize constantly throughout the day). If we accidentally hit CHECK BALANCE, the process runs and holds up Fishbowl for upwards towards a minute. Since this is not something that we utilize, is there a way to possibly disable that button?

Reason for choosing Fishbowl

The overall ease of use was the definitive selling point, along with the support offered. I foresee that we will be sticking with Fishbowl for years to come!

Review Source

TP

Tray P.  
President  
Airlines/Aviation  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Review after 7 years "

March 21, 2024

4.0

Overall has been good, as long as willing to spend significant time learning thier system without any help

Pros

Migration to SQL database allowing integration with other systems.

Cons

After selling to a larger company, support is almost non existant, if your small thet dont seem to care. Have tried to book many support sessions and never any availability unless you want to wait 2+ months. Good luck getting them on the phone, the chat works and will waste an entire day trying to explain any issues

Reason for choosing Fishbowl

Ability to handle complex manufacturing process.

Switched from

[QuickBooks Enterprise](https://www.capterra.com/p/174984/QuickBooks-Enterprise/)

Old system reached end of life leaving no alternatives.

Review Source

RCC

R. Craig C.  
IT Manager  
Construction  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "A Very Good Manufacturing Inventory and Order Management System!"

March 22, 2024

5.0

The service has been very good! Overall it is a very good great option for manufacturers as well as distributors!

Pros

It handles sales order entry well throughout the manufacturing and shipping process. It also handles the purchasing of parts from different vendors extremely well. The Bill of Materials handles multiple levels of assemblies within assemblies very well.

Cons

It has a lot of good pricing rules for all kinds of occasions. But it lacks last cost pricing for manufactured products.

Reason for choosing Fishbowl

Because it could handle our needs regarding complex purchasing and complex bill of materials ... and the price was in our range.

Switched from

[QuickBooks Enterprise](https://www.capterra.com/p/174984/QuickBooks-Enterprise/)

There was not a good ability by our previous program to handle assemblies within assemblies. Also the having different vendors and recording their last price and part name was a big help!

Review Source

DC

Dennis C.  
  
  
Used the software for:

### ""

May 23, 2013

5.0

We are a Head Start agency that uses FishBowl to purchase, track, and issue inventory to 60 Head Start classrooms and agency departments. Our system uses SharePoint, which is accessed by each classroom/dept. to place their order which is in turn sent to the approving supervisor. Once it is approved, it goes to the Purchasing office were it is imported into FishBowl (all done electronically within the magic of computer land...and the IT department). We started looking for new inventory software when the software we had did not support the Windows 7 that we were upgrading to. We needed a fully integrated inventory software program that not only supported our classrooms, but would provide the Finance dept. with the information they needed. One of the features I like about FishBowl is that as soon as Purchasing processes the classroom/dept. request, an email is sent to the requestor letting them know Purchasing has received their order and it is in the process of being filled. When the order has been shipped, another e-mail is sent to let the requestor know the order is on it's way. This email feature has greatly reduced the number of calls received from our classrooms requesting status on their order and when it will be sent to them (I really, really like it). We have set up reorder points and default vendors, which makes placing orders to replenish warehouse stock easy and nearly effortless. Each vendor has their own part unit of measure and unit of measure conversion, which makes processing receipts magic (well almost). The tracking feature on a warehouse part has helped to track expiration dates on food (milk, yogurt, cheese, etc.). The expiration dates are printed on the packing slip that goes out with each order and helps us resolve expiration date issues. FishBowl will also let us know an item is nearing its expiration date prior to processing the shipment. Another feature of FishBowl that has come in handy is the ability to monitor specific warehouse stock. I use the feature to monitor our milk products (Soy, Lactaid, Rice Milk, Goats Milk, etc.) to make sure we have enough on hand at all times to ensure we receive Federal reimbursement for meals served. These items are monitored on a daily basis due to their sensitive nature. The Dashboard tab provides a quick synopsis of sales, purchase orders, RMA,s etc. The first two FishBowl tabls I look at are the Monitor and DashBoard tab that will let me know the health of our inventory and status of orders. Thumbs up to the programmers that wrote these features into the system. Sales orders and back orders are easily maintained and monitored. I can process order requests, and hold them until such time as I need them to be processes for shipment. FishBowl provides us with reports on classroom expenditures (food/supplies or combination). We maintain two warehouse identifyiers to identify our supply items from our food items. There are custom fields that can be added to input processing that can further help in processing specific types of reports and tracking data. Prior to using FishBowl we had trainers from FishBowl give us module by module training and help us set up and transfer data from our old inventory system to FishBowl. I cannot say enough good things about the help we received. Note: The online help and training is a great resource also. FishBowl provideds many features which we are utilizing and others that we will grow into. FishBowl has a different look and feel from the software we were using, but once we started FishBowl, it has become second nature. There is so much more about FishBowl than there is space to write this review. If you need more information please contact me.

Review Source

HW

Howard W.  
Inventory and Logistics Specialist  
Health, Wellness and Fitness  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Fishbowl Inventory Management is Great!"

May 5, 2022

5.0

Fishbowl allows us to control our inventory and is very easy to use.

Pros

The dashboard which makes navigation through the modules easy.

Cons

Fishbowl is a great package. At this time I cannot find anything I do not like in the software.

Reason for choosing Fishbowl

I was not involved in the purchasing so I cannot answer this question.

Review Source

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