Fishbowl How-to Videos

April 27, 2019

These videos will help you get started with Fishbowl and troubleshoot some common issues that may come up as you’re running the software.

HOW TO NAVIGATE THE FISHBOWL CLIENT

The first thing you see when you log into Fishbowl is the dashboard. This displays information from several modules. Each user can customize it to meet their specific needs. So if one employee is focused on placing orders and another employee is focused on shipping and receiving, they can put different modules on their dashboard to help them jump right into their jobs.

Every time they log in they’ll find the same modules they had on their dashboard from their previous login. This ensures employees don’t get inundated by needless information.

There are many ways to customize the Fishbowl dashboard. You can view open sales orders, purchase orders, work orders, RMA orders, and more. You can also see items to be picked, received, and shipped. And those are just a few examples.

Administrators can also set boundaries on user rights so that each user only has access to areas of the software that are relevant to their job.

Fishbowl’s Modules

Fishbowl has the following module groups that contain all of its modules and features:

  • General
  • Reporting
  • Materials
  • Sales
  • Purchasing
  • Manufacturing
  • Accounting
  • Setup
  • Integrations

When you click on the tabs on the left of the dashboard, it opens that module group so that you can see all of the modules contained in it. Opening a module adds a tab to the top of the dashboard so you can quickly click between modules like the tabs on a Web browser.

There are different reports and options that are part of each module, and it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with them in the modules you use on a regular basis.

HOW TO FIND WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR ON THE FISHBOWL DOCUMENTATION WIKI

Let’s talk about how to get help from the Fishbowl Documentation Wiki when you run into problems and need answers to questions. There are two main ways to do this:

1. Click the Help Button

If you are in, say, the Part module and you click the Help button, you will go right to the wiki article that’s all about the Part module. This is true of all of the modules in Fishbowl. If you have a question about them, all you have to do is click the Help button, and you’ll instantly be on the right article to hopefully find what you’re looking for.

2. Search the Fishbowl Documentation Wiki

While on the wiki, you can also type a term that you’re looking for into the text box and hit Enter. This brings up search results that can lead you to the right article. You can also check out the most-viewed articles and other links on the main page of the wiki because they might just have what you need.

Popular Wiki Articles

Some of the most popular articles people look up on the wiki include:

Advanced Reports – Information on every report in Fishbowl and how each can be modified.

QuickBooks Journal Entries – All the journal entries Fishbowl makes to QuickBooks when sales orders, purchase orders, inventory adjustments, and other things are transferred.

Access Rights – A description of every user right in Fishbowl’s modules.

HOW TO SET UP FISHBOWL’S XERO PLUGIN

Fishbowl doesn’t just integrate with QuickBooks Online and a variety of QuickBooks desktop versions; it also integrates with another online accounting solution called Xero. And it does this through a plugin.

Find out how to log into your Xero account from the Fishbowl interface and integrate the two solutions together.

By integrating Fishbowl with Xero, you can use every Xero feature without having to leave Fishbowl to open a Web browser. You can also export data between Fishbowl and Xero to ensure everything matches up in your accounting and inventory records when you fulfill sales orders, receive inventory, and perform other important tasks on a daily basis.

HOW TO CREATE SALES ORDERS IN FISHBOWL

Sales orders are a basic necessity in running a business, so knowing how to create them is foundational to effectively managing your inventory. This video shows you how to:

  • Create a new sales order.
  • Customize the SO number.
  • Change the Sales Order module options.
  • Add a customer and their billing and shipping address.
  • Add products and quantities.
  • Handle returns, credits, discounts, tax rates, and more.
  • Check inventory levels to ensure you have enough to fulfill an order.
  • Edit line items.

When you’re done watching it, you’ll be extremely knowledgeable about navigating Fishbowl’s Sales Order module and creating and issuing sales orders. There are a lot of nuances to SO creation, so pay close attention to all the details contained in this helpful tutorial.

HOW TO ADD NEW VENDORS IN FISHBOWL

Creating vendors in Fishbowl begins in the Purchasing module group. Go into the Vendor module under that group, click the New button on the top left, and insert the required information.

You can add as many vendors as you like, as well as set shipping terms and cost rules and attach default vendors to specific products to speed up the ordering process.

HOW TO CREATE PURCHASE ORDERS IN FISHBOWL

Purchase order creation is a rather straightforward process in Fishbowl. Simply open the Purchase Order module in Fishbowl’s interface and click the New button. Then add a vendor and a PO number will automatically be attached to it and the status will be set to Bid Request. You can update the Fulfillment Date and even attach a sales order to a purchase order.

Add parts to the order through a Wizard or a list of your inventory. Then save the order and issue it. You can even use a tool in the Purchase Order module to set up automatic reorder points on all of your parts. This helps you maintain a healthy equilibrium of inventory in stock.

HOW TO SET UP USERS AND USER GROUPS IN FISHBOWL

When you add a user, you can assign them access rights. So they can only open and manipulate sections of the software that are vital to their jobs. This helps you compartmentalize your operations and also keep your data secure.

SUMMARY

To review, here are all of the topics we’ve covered in these how-to videos:

  • How to navigate the Fishbowl Client
  • How to find what you’re looking for in the Fishbowl Documentation Wiki
  • How to set up Fishbowl’s Xero plugin
  • How to create sales orders in Fishbowl
  • How to add new vendors in Fishbowl
  • How to create purchase orders in Fishbowl
  • How to set up users and user groups in Fishbowl

To put all of this knowledge into practice, sign up for a free trial of Fishbowl!