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Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual
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Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual - 9/28/2008 5:08:51 PM
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tenmiler
Posts: 13
Joined: 2/7/2006
Status: offline
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Hey How Forum users,
It's been a while since I've been around here, but I wanted to pose a question. What is your workflow for accounting at your small firm or freelance operation?
For years now I've suffered through making Quicken work as a small freelancer and small firm with several contractors (aka 'virtual' :))
And for timesheets and invoicing, I've used iBiz (formerly iWork). This has become a huge barrier to productivity, not to mention iBiz becoming a very bloated and slow piece of software (my data file is over 500MB!!!)
Over this period of time I've explored switching to a more robust and more intelligent way of:
- monitoring/tracking cash flow, budget, expenses and income
- payables/receivables
- billing/invoice generation
- time management/tracking by client/job
- bank account/credit card statement reconciliation (.qif or similar import, etc)
- reporting abilities, including for tax accountant or general accountants
Quickbooks has had the dubious distinction of being one of the worst Mac-PC compatibility disasters ever invented, and I've waited to see how the 'promises' to get to feature parity with QB Pro PC and Mac would unfold, or consider using BootCamp to use the PC version. I've also looked into Oranged, MYOB, and iBank/iBiz (this being written off after poor support and huge data files)
What are you using for the above tasks? Is it working or do you just hand over the shoebox to an accountant every month? Are there other sites you'd recommend to ping for this kind of insight?
Many thanks!
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RE: Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual - 9/29/2008 7:55:05 PM
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metalkid
Posts: 348
Joined: 1/16/2006
Status: offline
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I use Freshbooks for day to day stuff. It exports to quickbooks for heavier duty things or to send to an accountant.
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RE: Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual - 9/30/2008 8:14:19 AM
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postcarder
Posts: 609
Joined: 3/14/2006
Status: offline
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MYOB can handle all of the items on your wish list. I've been using it for almost four years and love it. (Yes, you read that right. A designer expressing love for accounting software.)
MYOB comes in Mac and PC versions.
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RE: Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual - 10/1/2008 7:47:36 AM
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tenmiler
Posts: 13
Joined: 2/7/2006
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: postcarder
(Yes, you read that right. A designer expressing love for accounting software.)
MYOB comes in Mac and PC versions.
Haha, but better to love it than hate it! Thanks for the replies so far.
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RE: Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual - 10/1/2008 8:48:26 PM
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dl
Posts: 188
Joined: 1/21/2006
Status: offline
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Do either of these programs - Freshbooks or MYOB - prepare your data for taxes? Do you end up using two programs, either of these and Quickbooks?
I use Quickbooks for everything and don't feel like it's too much work. I actually have always liked the methodical chores of that part of my own business. I find it kind of relaxing, as long as I don't have to do any more of it!
What I find I need to improve upon, whether by the program I use or by my own dedication, is time management/tracking. I use Quickbooks' employee timekeeping features, however many times I forget to monitor myself and enter what I've done. I end up doing a lot of estimating. I know I'm cheating myself a lot of billing hours because I don't enter them.
This then relates to my billing, which also needs improvement. Quickbooks has a "billable" and "nonbillable" feature, yet I never take the time to use it. And because I'm not accurate with my time tracking, I know I'm cheating myself with my billing. This year, particularly, I feel I've worked many, many hours and my income is not proportionate to that.
I'm using Quickbooks 2006 and feel ready for an update. I'll be looking into both of the above suggestions for comparison. My goal also for 2009 is to reorganize time management as a whole.
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RE: Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual - 10/1/2008 9:00:33 PM
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dl
Posts: 188
Joined: 1/21/2006
Status: offline
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I checked out both these programs and have more questions...
The Stop/Start timer on Freshbooks looks cool. Can you open that up somehow in the corner of your screen and leave it there so you remember to use it while working?
Also, is MYOB an actual program? Or is it a company? I'm only finding a company with multiple products. Which one do you use?
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RE: Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual - 10/1/2008 9:08:27 PM
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tenmiler
Posts: 13
Joined: 2/7/2006
Status: offline
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MYOB I've been studying and am about to download a free trial. It's full-fledged (account edge, and then there is first edge but acct. is probably what I want). I worry about the comment above, though, as I've heard it elsewhere that it's not the most intuitive. So, MYOB would compete with and replace QB.
Freshbooks seems like a competitor to iBiz, which I use and have come to loathe due to it's 500MB data files, lack of archiving, and not surprisingly painfully slow behavior. This you would need to use Quickbooks, as it's limited to time tracking and invoicing (and, yipee, a community!)
The latter situation I have been doing for some time (and I totally share your 'lost billings' sentiment!), albeit with Quicken 2005 (I know!). The problem with this is you do multiple data entry, if you have a job in iBiz, you set up the Client, you set up the job, job number etc. THEN in your accounting program, I assign my expenses (cost of goods sold) to classes by job number, which I have to get from my iBiz program (go back and check). So I have to go back to iBiz, look at that total, etc. Then I have to keep payment (incoming) tracking on BOTH iBiz and Quicken.
The poster above did make it sound like there's a seamless import into QB, but I don't see this on their site. I'm sure it's better than what *I* am doing. When a software company advertises that "you get to be a part of a community!", it's a huge freakin red flag. I don't find that an asset. I find it a warning that an active community means lots of questions and issues.
But, the poster above is happy and I've not used it so this is me shutting up.
QB is coming out soon with QB for Mac for 2009. I'm equally pained that it's going to be more promises unfulfilled from Intuit.
quote:
ORIGINAL: dl
Do either of these programs - Freshbooks or MYOB - prepare your data for taxes? Do you end up using two programs, either of these and Quickbooks?
< Message edited by tenmiler -- 10/2/2008 12:10:24 AM >
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RE: Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual - 10/6/2008 8:56:45 AM
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megan
Posts: 6773
Joined: 1/17/2006
From: Idaho ---> NorCal
Status: offline
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Might want to check out Studiometry - it seems like it does it all (time tracking, client/contact management, project management, invoices, billing, expense tracking, etc). I had an easy time setting it up, but then the trial expired and I haven't paid for it yet. I've tried MYOB but it seemed a lot less intuitive, though it might have more features once you get the hang of it.
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RE: Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual - 10/6/2008 11:16:20 AM
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LGA
Posts: 40
Joined: 9/10/2007
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I'd never heard of Studiometry before. I'm definitely going to give it a try. Thanks!
Lisa
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RE: Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual - 10/9/2008 9:12:38 PM
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tenmiler
Posts: 13
Joined: 2/7/2006
Status: offline
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I sent Studiometry some questions about importing and how Accounted, their accounting application works. No answer, 7 days later. I'm not impressed, but still might download a trial to check it out. I don't like the fact you have to have two separate applications to get all the things I need, and it adds up pretty quickly to over $300.
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RE: Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual - 10/11/2008 8:04:47 PM
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megan
Posts: 6773
Joined: 1/17/2006
From: Idaho ---> NorCal
Status: offline
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I didn't know they had a separate accounting software... I guess Studiometry is more of a project & time management tool then, but with invoicing?
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RE: Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual - 10/11/2008 9:22:42 PM
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missyB
Posts: 2199
Joined: 10/24/2006
From: Mile High City
Status: offline
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I've been using Studiometry for a few months and LOVE it. Project management, client management, expense tracking, time tracking and so much more... it's SO easy to use. Worth the money if you're looking for project management.
I have to say that I still use QuickBooks, only because I started using QB a couple years ago and I didn't want to tranfer all my data over. Everyone's different and I have my own process that I like that utilizes these two programs for running this part of my business.
tenmiler - I am VERY surprised that they haven't answered your questions, they answered mine within 24 hours before I even bought the product. Did you by chance create a ticket or did you just email them? If you haven't, create an account here and submit a ticket.
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RE: Accounting for small firm/freelancer/individual - 4/8/2009 11:23:21 AM
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Huyen
Posts: 76
Joined: 10/7/2008
Status: offline
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Hey Missy,
Just curious as to whether you still love this program? I'm doing a bit of research into various programs like this and Studiometry looks like it might best suit my needs. I also use Quickbooks for accounting (hate it) but I need something that makes more sense for me when it comes to project management. I just wanted to get a report from someone who's been using Studiometry to see if there might be any problems or conflicts with the program? What do you love about it? What do you hate about? Thanks for letting me pick your brain!
Huyen
quote:
ORIGINAL: missyB
I've been using Studiometry for a few months and LOVE it. Project management, client management, expense tracking, time tracking and so much more... it's SO easy to use. Worth the money if you're looking for project management.
I have to say that I still use QuickBooks, only because I started using QB a couple years ago and I didn't want to tranfer all my data over. Everyone's different and I have my own process that I like that utilizes these two programs for running this part of my business.
tenmiler - I am VERY surprised that they haven't answered your questions, they answered mine within 24 hours before I even bought the product. Did you by chance create a ticket or did you just email them? If you haven't, create an account here and submit a ticket.
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