invoicing - what do you use?

[cmalana]

Quickbooks Simple Start

[BobbyC]

Microsoft Access

[Trey Neal]

Originally Posted by andylaiphoto

anybody use fotobiz?

Yep and have been for some time. I've tried other software but this one seems to work nicely for tracking your photo business.

[bullsparade]

OK....I have utilized Excel, Access and Word for invoicing and bookkeeping before. I created it and customized it to fit a variaty of uses. I will say it was a sweet set up, but now after working at a few small businesses that utilized Quickbooks and since most CPA's prefer it from small business...seems the best solution. It is much more intuitive than the MSOffice solution and it is tax ready.

Its the best solution out there for invoicing and just flat out running your business.

Janteg, why are you not interested in Quickbooks!?

[BobbyC]

Couldn't disagree more. I am an accountant and have never been happy with canned software. It can work, but a custom system properly designed will blow any of them away. I'm not talking about making invoices with word or excel, I'm talking about a complete database system using Access or another legetimate database program. It takes some work to set up but in the long run is well worth the effort.

Designing yur own system is not for everyone, but Quickbooks is far, far from the end all of accounting programs, it's a very basic system that has to be adapted to instead of adapting to your business. CPA's like it because there are so many people that don't take proper care of thier books and it will at least get them to conform to some sort of organization. That's what CPA's prefer, not a particular program.

[texaswolflady]

I also working in accounting....AP and Payroll Administrator plus have trained others in accounting software MAS 90/200/500. That software is really geared for big companies.....From the accounts payable (AP) point of view please be sure your invoices have an invoice number, detail of work done, a date on the invoice and where the work was done....plus the amount of course. I like to know who, what, where, when and why. Who ... within the company I worked for, what ... was done for them, where .... was it done and why, when....when was the work done, that may not coinside with the date of your invoice. Most systems use the current date for your invoice date and if your invoice is dated Feb 1 but the work was most likely done in the previous month. Helps me to know how to code the invoice and what general ledger account I need to code it do. The more detail you can provide on any invoice, the better.

You may need to provide the company you are billing with a W9 also. Based on how you fill out the W9 for your company, corp, individual, etc. will determine if the company you are billing sends you a 1099 form at the end of each year with that same info going to the IRS. If your total yearly invoices for any company are under $600.00 then the company is not required to issue a 1099 but will most likely still require a W9 form from you. When 1099s are issued, most accounting software programs allow us to put a dollar amount for 1099s and won't print 1099s for any amount under $600.00.

I really love it when my vendors put their tax id info on their invoices not to mention if they are a corp, individual, etc.......saves me from having to contact them and getting a W9 from them. Plus allows me to process their invoices faster.

Also indicate when you want your invoice paid....net 10, net 30, due upon receipt, etc.....The net 10, net 20 and net 30, etc... are calculated from the date of your invoice and that is when you would expect payment....net 10 payment would be 10 days from the date of your invoice, etc.... If you don't indicate a due date, then standard practice is 30 days from the date of an invoice.

It is rare for a company to pay an invoice in a few days......there are steps that normally have to be done....the most time consuming can be sending an invoice within a company for approvals. Based on the company, more than one approval could be required.

Hope this helps some........

[bullsparade]

See you bean counters have great info...but for us regular folks it a bit much. Debby all the above mentioned information can be captured in Quickbooks. BobbyC can disagree with me all he wants but he has to remember that us "non accountants" wanting to invoice properly need a program to just plug in the numbers. We are photogs not accountants.

With all the important info you stated its obvious a non MS Office user could never set all that up. In quickbooks you set all that info up ahead of time and then just plug in your numbers as you do business. Keep in mind this is small business and we need quick solutions.

Great advice though as far as info needed for taxes and invoicing, etc!

[ndsimm]

been using Excel for invoicing, but I promised myself I would do it right this year and I just started using Quickbooks Pro...I got it last year and installed itm but never did anything with it.....

[lscottpht]

I just tried out KBilling for a recent invoice and really liked it. Very easy to use.

[Al Buckner]

Is anyone using PhotoByte?

I just downloaded the free version (from links on the forum) and found it does a lot more than I really need... at this point.

[janetg]

i think i demo'd kbilling - nice program - photobyte has been added to my favorites - i'll give that a try next week.

janetg