What do you use to bill your clients?
I have been in business for myself in one form or another for the past 11 years. 8 of that was in the brick and mortar world with a transmission (automotive) business. There I used quickbooks, but once I started my web design business I went away from quickbooks since I felt the reporting was not needed at that level.
Fast forward 3 years and I have 30 or so clients that need to be billed monthly, quarterly or annually, along with 1 off billing of new and returning clients.
I had Microsoft Office 2007 installed, so I used Microsoft Access since it was handy. I don't like this system, I don't need all the overhead of this system, and to put it quite bluntly, don't want to 'build out' every form and report I try to access.
So, what do you guys use for billing and keeping up with your business money matters?
Thanks in advance!
Fast forward 3 years and I have 30 or so clients that need to be billed monthly, quarterly or annually, along with 1 off billing of new and returning clients.
I had Microsoft Office 2007 installed, so I used Microsoft Access since it was handy. I don't like this system, I don't need all the overhead of this system, and to put it quite bluntly, don't want to 'build out' every form and report I try to access.
So, what do you guys use for billing and keeping up with your business money matters?
Thanks in advance!
Views: 88
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rafael Diaz-Tushman on -
Robert,
Take a good, long look at http://www.LessAccounting.com. We've been using them for some time now -- they're responsive and the product has improved significantly. Think of it as hosted Quickbooks but with an infinitely better interface.
Cheers! -
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Permalink Reply by Robert Vining on -
Thanks Rafael, I will look into this a bit more... looks like it's easy to use.
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Permalink Reply by Jack Bremer on -
We joined Quickbooks as Pro Advisors, received a hefty discount and use that (Premium 2008 version) - works a treat!
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Permalink Reply by X5Creative on -
Freshbooks!
I've been using Freshbooks for billing and invoicing for about two years now. It works great, and also integrates with Basecamp.
Tons of great features. -
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Permalink Reply by Jedmarc Evangelista on -
We too use Freshbooks!, used it for about two years, and have it integrated with our Basecamp too.
It's been a godsend not only for our A/R but also for sending out estimates. The estimate and approval process is worth the monthly service for us alone. It also provides you with easy reporting such as Profit and Loss, Tax Summary, etc.
Our clients love the convenience that they can pay by credit card using PayPal when an invoice is sent. It also has the capability to send out auto-reminders to our clients who forget (or are too busy) to pay.
It's definitely the main reason why our aging A/R has decreased dramatically.
We HIGHLY recommend it!
ps. i don't work for freshbooks, nor was I given any compensation to provide the feedback above. i just really REALLY love 'em :D -
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Permalink Reply by Robert Vining on
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Thanks for the info guys! I will give them a look.
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Permalink Reply by Jack Bremer on
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Do you charge a 3.4% fee on top for PayPal or just suffer the loss for ease of receiving timely payments?
Jedmarc Evangelista said:We too use Freshbooks!, used it for about two years, and have it integrated with our Basecamp too.
It's been a godsend not only for our A/R but also for sending out estimates. The estimate and approval process is worth the monthly service for us alone. It also provides you with easy reporting such as Profit and Loss, Tax Summary, etc.
Our clients love the convenience that they can pay by credit card using PayPal when an invoice is sent. It also has the capability to send out auto-reminders to our clients who forget (or are too busy) to pay.
It's definitely the main reason why our aging A/R has decreased dramatically.
We HIGHLY recommend it!
ps. i don't work for freshbooks, nor was I given any compensation to provide the feedback above. i just really REALLY love 'em :D -
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Permalink Reply by Robert Vining on
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Jack Bremer said:Do you charge a 3.4% fee on top for PayPal or just suffer the loss for ease of receiving timely payments?
This question wasn't posed to me, but in my case, I look at the 3.4 % fee the same as I do my merchant charging me 2% for a credit card charge. It's just a cost of doing business.
The flip side is, fuel is $2.50 a gallon here ($3.50 at times) and the hour I spend driving to the bank to deposit 2 checks, as well as fuel wasted costs a lot more than the 3.4% paypal charges me for a $20 hosting payment from a client. -
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Permalink Reply by Robert Vining on
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Has anyone ever tried WHMCS or Client Exec? Seems the monthly cost is fairly cheap compared to online SaaS billing solutions mentioned above at only $18.95 per month.
The bonus is, it will automate my hosting accounts and monthly/quarterly/annual payments as well since I have a dedicated server that I host client websites on.
I'm heavily leaning toward one of these two options after doing initial research into the above mentioned solutions. -
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Permalink Reply by John Coonen on
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I love QuickBooks. Shoot me now, but it's great for invoicing and tying into our CPA's accounting practice. You may pay a little more for QB than others, but it's what most CPA's use, which can save you a ton of trouble when trying to find the best professional accounting firm.
We've gone through four firms before finally landing the one we've got, and they've saved us tens of thousands of dollars, and NEVER been late, or needed to file an extension on our taxes due to their lax practices.
That said, I'm sure there are decent firms who can work with whatever you bring their way, but we found QuickBooks to work well for online as well as on-location and call-in receivables, etc. -
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Permalink Reply by Jedmarc Evangelista on
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We bite this cost. It's definitely just a cost of doing business. Nothing turns off clients more than dinging them with fees. Especially if they are conveniently paying through PayPal. We want to make it as easy as possible for our clients to pay us by offering the most easiest and convenient channels for them. Cash? Perfect! Cheque? No problem. Paypal? Even better.
Robert Vining said:Jack Bremer said:Do you charge a 3.4% fee on top for PayPal or just suffer the loss for ease of receiving timely payments?
This question wasn't posed to me, but in my case, I look at the 3.4 % fee the same as I do my merchant charging me 2% for a credit card charge. It's just a cost of doing business.
The flip side is, fuel is $2.50 a gallon here ($3.50 at times) and the hour I spend driving to the bank to deposit 2 checks, as well as fuel wasted costs a lot more than the 3.4% paypal charges me for a $20 hosting payment from a client. -
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Permalink Reply by David-Andrew on -
At the moment I use Wefact Pro (dutch: www.wefact.nl) for normal invoices and hosting. Its build specifically for hosting, so it automates a part of that process. Really makes life easier.
For extensions: I use Virtuemart to sell cciDEAL. These or not official invoices according to Dutch standards, but if a client wants one Ill create it in Wefact again. For other extensions I want to find something else, maybe moneybird.com or build our own invoicing extensions for Joomla!. -
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