Spruce

Score8.3 out of 10

12 Reviews and Ratings

What is Spruce?

Spruce is an end-to-end business management software that allows lumber, home, and building supply businesses to manage purchasing, inventory, ecommerce, documentation, delivery, accounting, and sales analytics all within a single system for increased efficiency and profitability.

Categories & Use Cases

Order Orchestration
Define and execute order fulfillment processes for products as well as services on the same order.
Category average: 8
Role-based user permissions
Permissions to perform actions or access or modify data are assigned to roles, which are then assigned to users, reducing complexity of administration.
Category average: 8
Configurable Accounting
Configure accounting rules and segments for each chart of accounts
Category average: 8

Location management
The software can track multiple goods across multiple locations.
Category average: 7.7
Automatic reordering
The software can be set up to automatically reorder a good when it falls below a certain threshold.
Category average: 7.6
Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated
Create touchless purchases using purchase orders generated automatically per rules from approved requisitions
Category average: 7.1

Eric Castaneda View profile

Accounts Receivable in Finance and Accounting at Sack Lumber (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Spruce in order to take count of inventory, process our accounts receivable and payable while also being able to access account information and history. It allows us to access accounts if there are any questions concerning statements or invoices which tend to be very useful when dealing with 11 different locations across Nebraska. I use the accounts receivable mainly to post payments to accounts and process any credits available on a daily basis.

Pros

Easily able to access account history
Being able to print/email invoices and statements on demand
Able to change account information such as addresses or emails that are on file

Cons

Spruce always logs out and we have to input the work resource password at least once a day
Home branches often switch if there was another branch on the computer before
One of our locations is not able to print through the cloud and can only print through local printers and we aren't sure why

Return on Investment

It has helped decrease time spent on account history and questions since everything is recorded and we are able to see exactly when purchases or payments were made.
Allows us to get access to monthly reports that can help us determine how to improve or what needs improvement.
Year-end reports allows us to understand our customer base and purchasing trends.

Amy Garland

Office Manager in Professional Services at Framing Specialists, Inc. (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Spruce daily for orders, quotes, inventory, etc. A couple months ago, I would give Spruce a 1 star rating. And it was all customer service. When we had issues (and some were pretty big), it would take weeks and months to even get a call back let alone resolved. I do say now that they've upped their phone system. Now we are getting faster responses. Time will tell if this stays the way it is. All in all, Spruce is pretty user-friendly. I would not give 10 stars because it's not 100% friendly. It's not all that forgiving @ times.

Pros

Reports seem to be easy to use
Their customer service is getting better
How to read orders and quotes is easy

Cons

Customer service and getting back to the customer
making certain areas more user friendly
let us change defaults easier

Return on Investment

had a terrible impact for several months since we were down with open ticketing
now that they have made changes, i am hoping it will be easier to get help resolved

Verified User

Professional (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

SPRUCE is our complete business operating software. It is our company's lumber management, ordering, purchasing, accounting, billing, and tracking software. We use it for all aspects of our business and rely on its operation to run. The most significant issue we face is when there is a glitch, error, or something that needs attention and getting help or assistance from SPRUCE. In the past, when we would call, it would be very difficult to get a technician on the line. If we needed to have just a quick assist, it would be very challenging to get support. With the newer online system, we still saw no improvement in the lead time on getting a SPRUCE technician to follow back up.

Pros

lumber management.
purchasing and receiving.
Cloud based.

Cons

Quick response to support tickets.
Access to a SPRUCE support technician when calling.
More support personal so you are not waiting days for a response.
Available support customer service when you call, even for small items.

Return on Investment

Solid operations.
Handles inventory.
Cloud based.

Alternatives Considered

Agility

Other Software Used

Google Business Profile

Todd Doom View profile

Treasurer in Finance and Accounting at Wagner Building & Supply Co. Inc. (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

While converting our business from a 'True Value' franchise to 'Ace Hardware' we saw the opportunity to upgrade our POS accounting software at the same time. We did a rather in-depth analysis of the products available and settled on ECI's RockSolid Maxx product. Part of the reason we chose it was that if offered an easy and straightforward upgrade path to ECI Spruce and its more complete suite of accounting solutions. After four years using the RockSolid Maxx we implemented the full Spruce product and we were delighted with the ease of the upgrade path. Our business is one that touches multiple areas of the construction trade and Spruce addresses our needs in each of them.

Pros

We have particularly pleased with the 'Payables' part of the Spruce suite. It's easy to use and functionality is light years better than our previous software.
Shortly after making the switch to Spruce our business underwent a detailed sales tax audit. Spruce's reporting functions were a godsend to us as we were able to easily address the questions posed us by our auditors.
Our sales force is staffed by multiple people with years of construction experience but little familiarity with computer. The ease with which they mastered the POS system surprised me.

Cons

Spruce offers a method for doing repetitive and reoccurring billing but it is not as intuitive and easy to use as it might be.
In my 30+ years of experience as CFO/CTO I've always found printing to be problematic. Though it is a problem with roots in hardware and thus somewhat beyond being fully addressable by software I'd like to see Spruce's solutions become a little more transparent. This said, my experience is that Spruce does a much better job of it than the Rocksolid Maxx product.
Though this may be a niche problem for a business with large construction and service components, the ability to track labor with greater detail would be nice.

Return on Investment

With $13 million in gross and 40 employees I'm able to run a full back office with a staff of two. In today's tight labor market that is invaluable.
Being able to implement Spruce with almost no upgrading or replacement of existing computer hardware represented a huge cost savings to us. I'm not even sure what dollar amount I could attach to that.
Dealing with both a wholesale and retail customers requires that we provide different levels and kinds of reporting and documentation. Spruce has made it easy to respond to the different demands that those customers place upon us.

Other Software Used

Microsoft Teams

Verified User

General Manager in Sales (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We rely on Spruce for all POS, AR/AP, Inventory, and CRM solutions.

Pros

Inventory management
Multi-branch management
Purchase order generation and tracking

Cons

Point of sales
P&L usability

Return on Investment

Overall time savings

Other Software Used

Microsoft 365, Google Sheets

Epicor BisTrack

Kerridge K8

Intact iQ

Spruce

What is Spruce?

Categories & Use Cases

Key Features

Top Performing Features

Order Orchestration

Role-based user permissions

Configurable Accounting

Areas for Improvement

Location management

Automatic reordering

Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated

Reviews

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

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Cons

Return on Investment

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

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Cons

Return on Investment

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

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Return on Investment

Alternatives Considered

Other Software Used

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

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Return on Investment

Other Software Used

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Cons

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Other Software Used

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