Free Business Software/Services

[Steelsun]

A little bit about setting up your office software needs for free!

I'm talking about the business aspects of software here, not the creative.

There are Four main types of business software that most companies (from small one person shops to big corporations) use to run their offices and businesses:

1) Contact & Information Management
2) Production (i.e. Word Processors, Spreadsheets, etc)
3) Financial (bookkeeping & invoicing)
4) Project Management

Yes, you can go all out and spend tons of money on software licenses for the "standards" in all of these (like MS Office, QuickBooks, etc), or you can go Open Source or use free online equivalents,

Since I don't use much of #1 (I use a cut down version in my email) or #4 (I don't often do complex projects that require PM software), I'll focus on #2 & 3, which happen to be the 2 types that every office needs. I have seen both Open Source & Freeware solutions for 1&4 though, so they are out there.

#2 - Production Software

The big boy in this is Microsoft Office. But at over $300 for the software, it's a big, and in my opinion unneeded expense. In addition it is bloated with a ton of stuff most people will never need or use.
My choice is Open Office (openoffice.org), a free suite of programs including a word processor, spreadsheet, database, and more. And it opens and saves in MS formats also. The layout is similar to MS Office, so if you are used to that, the transition is relatively easy. There is a bit of learning involved, but not too much. They also have a populous online community for help, tips, templates, etc.

#3 - Financial Software

You need to be able to make invoices, track your expenses, etc. You can use a one stop shop like Quickbooks to do all of it for you, but it's pricey and almost requires an accounting degree to use correctly. You can make your invoices in your spreadsheet or word processor program also, and that is fine if you have few to do and track. But there are alternatives.

I use a 2 prong approach, one service for invoices (creating & tracking) and another for bookkeeping (expense tracking, taxes, reports, etc.).

Invoices: Oddly enough the free service I use for invoices is provided by intuit, the makers of Quickbooks. It's called Billing Manager (billingmanager.com) and allows you to easily create and send or print invoices, and track their status (and if you pay extra, accept credit cards and echecks online). I've tried several different invoice programs over the past 3 years, and like this one the best. It will integrate with Quickbooks if you decide to upgrade. They have some iPhone integration, but it is not much to crow about. Hopefully they will make it able to write an invoice from the iPhone soon, so you can create one right there in the field.

Bookkeeping: For this I use a super simple online service called Outright (outright.com). Here you enter your expenses and income, and it compiles the reports you need: income by customer, taxes due (including estimated Federal income, self employment & quaterly), balances, etc. It'll even integrate with most banks online so you can have your bank accounts reconciled on the site (caveat: I use a small 6 branch credit union for all my business banking needs, and they do not integrate yet, so I have no experience using this). They have a nice community for help and tips.


I use these financial services for 5 different companies I either own or manage (2 photography, 1 consulting partnership, 1 consulting freelance, and an investigations company), and have not had a problem yet.

Hope it helps some of y'all!

[kayumangi]

Supa dupa indeed Brian.

Just to add for number 1, I use a free web app from Millers it's called book{m} - Simple appointment management. it might come in handy for folks who can't afford ShootQ just yet =)

[texkam]

My choice is Open Office (openoffice.org)

Looks like we're going to have to learn a new name.
LibreOffice - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's amazing how many people don't know about these fine alternatives.

[cfortner]

In regard to #1, firebird with it's plethora of extensions can be just as useful as Outlook.

For #4 there are all kinds of Open Source options if you have hosting, SugarCRM I have used has lots of room to keep track of accounts, customers, and projects.