you can 'catalog' files with ACDSee but you may not immediately spot the option as it's under the 'database' menu.
i've not got anything i can really test it on at the moment as all my files are already in the database (i suppose i could delete it and make another).
there appears to be quite a good choice of what you can do when selecting how you want to catalog folders but, to be honest, i can't remember if i've ever done it through this manual setup method - i've always pretty much just let ACDSee extend it's database automatically when it encounters new images (maybe if i had a folder with thousands of image files inside i would be able to tell you if this auto method is time consuming or annoying. i don't think it will work as a background process).
if you want to try it for yourself then here's what to do:
from the 'Database' menu, select 'Catalog files...'
choose which folders you want to scan through
there are a few 'advanced options' you can select: import Exi data, build and include thumbnails, catalog only image files and also, include contents of archive files.
after this you can also automatically add a few details such as the a caption, author, various dates and notes. these will be applied to all the images in the current scan.
i hope this helps.