Fishbowl values your Derry stock in one currency, but it was bought in euro and sells in sterling, so the margin is fiction
Custom inventory management software for a Derry firm costs $40k to $100k over 3 to 6 months. You build it when Fishbowl, Cin7 or spreadsheets can't hold stock that's purchased in euro and sold in sterling, or trace medical-device lots across a border. For a North West manufacturer or device firm, getting inventory margin and traceability right across two currencies is exactly what off-the-shelf tools fudge.
Fishbowl and Cin7 value inventory in one currency. A Derry manufacturer buying materials from a supplier in the Republic pays in euro, then sells finished goods in sterling, and the tool either converts at some average rate that hides the real landed cost, or it forces you to pretend everything was always in pounds. Either way the stock margin you're reporting isn't the margin you're actually making.
Then there's traceability. Medical-device and regulated manufacturing in the North West needs lot and batch tracking that survives a product crossing the border, with the customs and origin data attached. Spreadsheets can't enforce that, and generic inventory tools treat the border as if it doesn't exist, so the one time you need a full lot trace, for a recall or an audit, the data is scattered and incomplete.
Why the usual tools struggle in Derry
- Stock bought in euro and sold in sterling valued at an average rate that hides true landed cost and margin
- Lot and batch traceability that breaks down when a product crosses the border
- Customs and origin data not attached to stock, so cross-border movements lack the paperwork trail
- Reorder decisions made on stale conversions, so you buy at the wrong time or the wrong quantity
What a custom inventory management build changes
Custom inventory software holds the real cost: stock carries the euro you paid and the sterling you sold for, so landed cost and margin are honest. Lot and batch traceability is enforced and survives a border crossing, with customs and origin data attached. For a North West device or manufacturing firm, that turns inventory from a source of fictional margins and audit anxiety into a system you can trust when a recall or a customs check actually happens.
The features that matter for Derry
Derry inventory management: the full scope
The engagements Derry teams bring us most often: multi-location inventory, inventory tracking, Fishbowl alternative, Cin7 alternative, real-time inventory, purchase order management and demand forecasting.
- You buy in euro and sell in sterling and your reported stock margin is fiction
- You need lot or batch traceability that survives a product crossing the border
- Customs and origin data must travel with stock and currently doesn't
- Reorder decisions are going wrong because they run on stale average conversions
- Your stock is single-currency and a tool like Cin7 fits
- You don't need regulated traceability across a border
- You want mature barcode hardware and warehouse-app support out of the box
- You need to be live quickly and can adapt to the tool's model
Inventory Management pricing in Derry: the real numbers
| Project scope | Typical cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Dual-currency inventory core | $40k to $65k | 3 to 4 months |
| Full inventory with cross-border traceability | $70k to $100k | 5 to 6 months |
| Traceability module for an existing inventory tool | $20k to $35k | 6 to 10 weeks |
From kickoff to launch: the schedule
Exactly what you get
You get inventory you can trust. Stock carries the euro you paid and the sterling you sold for, so landed cost and margin are real, not an averaged fiction. Lot and batch traceability is enforced and survives the border, with customs and origin data attached, so a recall or audit is a query rather than a scramble. It stays in sync with your ERP, accounting software, POS and warehouse management software so the stock truth is the same everywhere.
How to choose a developer in Derry
Ask how they'd value a batch of material bought in euro and sold as finished goods in sterling, and how they'd trace that batch if it had to be recalled after crossing the border. Those two answers separate developers who understand North West manufacturing from those who don't. Ask for an inventory or traceability system they've shipped, ideally for a regulated or cross-border business.
- Dual-currency stock valuation holding euro purchase cost and sterling sale value for honest margins
- Enforced lot and batch traceability that survives cross-border movement, ready for recalls and audits
- Customs and origin data attached to stock so cross-border movements carry the right trail
- Reorder logic based on real landed cost and demand, not stale average conversions
- Integration with your ERP, accounting software and POS so stock truth is consistent everywhere
- Dual-currency valuation and full traceability are genuinely complex, so this isn't the cheapest build
- You own keeping customs and regulatory data requirements current as rules change
- You lose the barcode-hardware and warehouse-app ecosystem mature tools like Cin7 ship with
- For single-currency stock with no traceability needs, Fishbowl or Cin7 is perfectly adequate
- !They value stock in one currency. Ask how euro landed cost and sterling sale value are both held
- !No real traceability plan. Ask how a lot is traced when the product crosses the border
- !They ignore customs data. Ask how origin and commodity codes travel with stock
- !Reorder logic uses average rates. Ask how reordering reflects true landed cost
- !No integration with ERP and accounting. Ask how stock margin stays consistent with the accounts
Most Derry teams pricing inventory management end up comparing notes on accounting, project management, lms too; the systems share one data spine.
Rohan advises mid-market and enterprise teams on ERP, CRM and custom software, and has led delivery on dozens of business-software builds.
Writes for Digital Heroes, shipping business software for 2,000+ brands across 55+ countries since 2017.
Frequently asked questions
Why can't Fishbowl or Cin7 handle our stock?
They value inventory in one currency. A Derry manufacturer buying in euro and selling in sterling gets an averaged valuation that hides true landed cost and real margin. They also don't treat the border as real, so traceability and customs data break exactly where you need them.
How does dual-currency stock valuation work?
Each stock line carries the euro you actually paid as landed cost and the sterling you sold for, rather than converting everything to one currency at an average rate. That makes inventory margin honest and lets you reorder based on real cost rather than a stale conversion.
Can it handle medical-device traceability across the border?
Yes, that's a core reason to build custom. Lot, batch and serial traceability is enforced through the full cross-border movement, with customs and origin data attached, so a recall or audit can produce a complete trace instead of scattered records.
What does custom inventory software cost?
A dual-currency inventory core runs $40k to $65k over 3 to 4 months. A full system with cross-border traceability runs $70k to $100k over 5 to 6 months. A traceability module for an existing tool is $20k to $35k.
Will it work with our ERP and accounting?
It should. The stock truth needs to be consistent with your ERP, accounting software, POS and warehouse management software, so dual-currency valuations and traceability flow through to the accounts and the shop floor without re-keying.