Research we couldn't let go.
Every so often a problem pulls us in deeper than the billable hours justify. When that happens, we write it up.
All deep dives
Receiving Right in Fishbowl: PO Cost, Over-Receiving, and the Vendor-Bill Mismatch
Most Fishbowl receiving problems aren't software bugs, they're the gap between what the PO says, what the truck brought, and what the vendor billed. Here's where that gap opens and how to keep it from turning into a cash-and-inventory mess.
July 12, 2026 →Where a Fishbowl Work Order Gets Its Cost, and Where That Cost Goes
A finished good's cost is assembled at the moment you finish the work order, from materials, labor, and overhead, and it doesn't become COGS until the item sells. Here's the whole path, plus the labor, overhead, and WIP setups that trip people up.
July 12, 2026 →On Hand, Available, Committed: What Fishbowl's Inventory Numbers Actually Mean
Fishbowl shows you a handful of inventory numbers that disagree with each other on purpose. Here's what each one counts, why Available can go negative while stock sits on the shelf, and the one number you should actually put in front of a salesperson.
July 11, 2026 →Fishbowl Standard Costing: Why Your Inventory Looks Right While the Variance Account Bleeds
Under standard costing, Fishbowl values inventory at a fixed number by design, so every real cost difference gets pushed into one variance account most people only glance at once a month. Here is where it goes and how to read it.
July 11, 2026 →How Fishbowl Actually Handles Units of Measure (and What Manufacturing Does to Them)
What years of Fishbowl work taught us about UOM conversions: where they happen, where they quietly don't, why manufacturing rounds up on you, and the setup mistakes that cost people months.
July 11, 2026 →How does Fishbowl cost a cycle count under FIFO?
On FIFO, a cycle count of 'found' inventory doesn't restore the original receipt cost. Here's what Fishbowl actually does, why cycle-up and cycle-down post at different amounts, and a read-only query to check your own data.
May 20, 2026 · 6 min read →