suzuki98 14 Report post Posted January 3, 2007 What business software do you guys recommend? What do you use? Looking for a computer program to keep track of bills, estimates, customers, etc.... thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Celeste 341 Report post Posted January 3, 2007 Quick Books Pro and Customer Manager - lifesavers! Don't fall into the cardboard box hole!!!!!!!! Celeste Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
R L S 14 Report post Posted January 3, 2007 Celeste, Tell us more about the Customer Manager Please Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
suzuki98 14 Report post Posted January 3, 2007 Quick Books Pro and Customer Manager - lifesavers! Don't fall into the cardboard box hole!!!!!!!!Celeste thanks Celeste, yeah I'm trying to avoid the cardboard box thingy!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Celeste 341 Report post Posted January 3, 2007 Seriously - if you don't have a program, at least make CERTAIN to file your receipts with each bank statement and keep a ledger of what you spent what on and for why. I'm having to do some heavy duty re-doing of stuff because I didn't do it right the first time!!!!!!!!! Celeste Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Celeste 341 Report post Posted January 3, 2007 OH Customer Manager - I am having soooo much fun with that! It interfaces with QuickBooks Pro - moves over all contact information, their financial history, there's places to put projects that relate to each job. You can separate the customers into multiple groups - customers > wood > deck or customers>wood>house It lets you do mass mailings or mailings to just certain customers. Anyone you do an estimate for gets plopped over there (I put the ones we DON'T get in a group called Lost Bids. They'll get a mailing in the spring asking how that deck looks after a year :) It works with Microsoft Outlook so your calendar / appointments, etc... all sync. It's just a very cool program :) Celeste Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jack Kramer 15 Report post Posted January 3, 2007 QuickBooks Pro will do a great job for estimating, invoicing and payments. Contact Manager is used for follow up with customers which is very important. If you have any questions please feel free to call me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
suzuki98 14 Report post Posted January 3, 2007 wow thanks alot for the fast responses :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chilibob 14 Report post Posted January 3, 2007 I also use Quickbooks Pro. Barry Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RyanH 14 Report post Posted January 3, 2007 Do any of them have a provision to scan receipts and attach the images to the records? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Celeste 341 Report post Posted January 3, 2007 I know that I can save any/all of my estimates or invoices as a PDF - which I usually do and keep in my customer's computer file - don't see why just scanning the receipt in the computer and filing it with it wouldn't work..... although, Ryan, I'm sure you have something much more "technical" in mind? Celeste Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RyanH 14 Report post Posted January 3, 2007 although, Ryan, I'm sure you have something much more "technical" in mind? Celeste No, I was just wondering if you could just throw a receit on a scanner and save it to your computer and keep track of it in the program. For example, if you buy a drum of stain and show it as a purchase for a job, can you take the invoice or receit from the sale and link it to that as "proof of purchase." I did this before when I had to keep track of purchases and expenses. I used a numbering system for every receipt and write it on the paper itself, then scanned it and saved it as a PDF with the number as the file name. In an excel workbook (didn't have Quicken or Money, etc.) I linked each purchase to a job and had a hyperlink to that picture so I could pull it up in the event I was ever audited. Of course I kept hard copies and had them in a box sequentially, but after awhile it got to be a pain keeping up with various sizes and types of receipts. If one of the financial programs provided that same flexibility that'd be pretty cool. Maybe you could even tie in before / after pics to the same job...but all of this may be getting into a database type use rather than cost tracking (I've never actually used one of these programs, just Excel and wrote macros for things). ---in all cases where I wrote receit, receipt, reseet, and any other spellings where I meant "receipt" I hereby substitute the proper spelling. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squirtgun 122 Report post Posted January 3, 2007 Ryan, Quicken apparently offers this feature. this is a reveiw froma cutomer. " Having attached an electronic document in Quicken 2007, I'm impressed with how immensely useful this tool is. Documents can be attached to transactions easily using a scanner, saving valuable time and keeping everything together in a place that's easy to find. I will be using this feature heavily in the future." Robert S. Marietta, GA Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
