Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone knows any good software for keeping a record of clients, jobs, invoices, quotes, etc . . . I have tried quickbooks but do not like it very much.
Any suggestions? I recall this software that is specifically tailored to the video production business but can not recall the name. If anyone knows of it or anything else they have tried, please post.

Thanks a lot

Some discussion here:
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/taking-care-business/136905-how-do-you-keep-track-clients-invoices-etc.html

The Google search at the bottom of the page seems to turn up some good response if you enter "video invoice software"

We have just started using Billings 3 | Professional Time Billing for Anyone. (http://www.billingsapp.com/) which looks very nice. There is a companion application for the iPhone that synchronises with the application on your Mac. You can track time when you're mobile. Invoice clients straight from the iPhone plus keep track of mileage & expenses.

I don't know if you're a "Maccy" or not, but if so, I have Mac Freelancer, which is $30 and seems to do what you want. I can't quite make it do what I want exactly (starting each new invoice for a client with the number that follows the last used number for that client, and emailing invoices from directly within the software, which it says you can do), but that doesn't mean there isn't a way to.

I would strongly suggest sticking with QuickBooks. I realize it's not it may the be the best for you but it is certainly the most ubiquitous small business financial software. It is very nice to be able to simply share your QuickBooks file with your accountant, or if you're looking for any financing in the future everyone knows how to get the info they want out of QuickBooks.

For example, I work with a small business foundation in my area in areas of business coaching, financing, training, etc. When they need a specific report they can walk me right through it (i.e. "Click reports > company > balance sheet...")

If you work by yourself and you want software that will help you to track time and expenses relating to a production, and produce invoices easily and quickly, I can recommend Fanurio.
It come from Romania. The product and the after-sales service are excellent.
Fanurio - Time tracking software for freelancers (http://www.fanuriotimetracking.com/)
NB This is not an accounting system. It doesn't try to do that. It sticks to its knitting and does it well.
ps I have just noticed that, as Shaun said, this question has been answered in another thread some time ago. I made a similar contribution then.

emailing invoices from directly within the software, which it says you can do

I was using Mac Freelance until this fiscal year and then gave up. The e-mailing of invoices it would do for me but I couldn't get it to accurately number my invoices, set up my Invoice header correctly and a bunch of other piddly stuff.

I've gone back to using Excel to invoice and just hand PDFs to my accountant along with the other mounds of paperwork.

freshbooks.com

Very topical thread. I was going to post something similar. It seems that photographers have a lot of software that is specific to there needs and not just the end billing aspect, but helping create bids and pricing, IE FotoQuote, HindSight & Blinkbid to name a few. What options as Videographers do we have in the software world ? Are we really the forgotten child?!?!

I was using Mac Freelance until this fiscal year and then gave up. The e-mailing of invoices it would do for me but I couldn't get it to accurately number my invoices, set up my Invoice header correctly and a bunch of other piddly stuff.

Fanurio gives you the option of numbering your invoices sequentially or choosing your own numbers.
I got a custom template made up the way I wanted with my bank details on the bottom for the customer to use when making electronic transfers.
To raise an invoice I select the project. All the items are presented on the screen with check boxes. I can uncheck anything I don't want to invoice right now. I then press a button to create the invoice. Two more clicks save it as a pdf in my invoices folder. I write an email, attach the pdf and press send.
I hate paperwork. This is about as painless as it gets.

Quickbooks is ubiquitous, and I even use it, but it is a terrible ticking time bomb of a program.

As far as I can determine it does not use such standard accounting practices as true double entry, or the capability to "close" a year. As an example, if you inadvertently type 1/5/09 on an invoice or a payment instead of 1/5/10, Quickbooks will happily put it into the wrong year and it won't turn up again when you run your Profit and Loss statement for the year 2010. Good software forces you to close a year or explicitly re-open it if necessary and this prevents you from making this mistake because only one year can be open at a time..

Similarly I find it really user friendly - why you can change anything to your hearts content and there is no "audit trail" of what you've done after the fact.

It's a big P.O.S.

This kind of stuff cost me big bucks when I got audited by the IRS because some receipts had been posted in the wrong year after the fact and - oh well, you get the idea. The damned audit took six months and was worse than having a colonoscopy and a root canal simultaneously.

Thanks Richard. I may well download the free trial as soon as I have another computer up and running (don't want to risk corrupting anything - I'm like that...) and see if I like it any better.

FTR, my needs are simple - I JUST need invoicing - my accountant looks after everything once I give the the accordion-dividered box of semi-divided stuff at the year's end.

Thanks Richard. I may well download the free trial as soon as I have another computer up and running (don't want to risk corrupting anything - I'm like that...) and see if I like it any better.

FTR, my needs are simple - I JUST need invoicing - my accountant looks after everything once I give the the accordion-dividered box of semi-divided stuff at the year's end.Shaun if invoicing is all you need then I really urge you to take a look at Billings 3 | Professional Time Billing for Anyone. (http://www.billingsapp.com/) There is a 21-day unlimited trial & producing nice professional looking invoices is the really strong point of this application.

Thank you/Merci, Nigel. I'll watch the video tomorrow with a clear head - I've been editing for 12 straight hours and I think I'm kinda DONE for tonight...

Thanks Richard. I may well download the free trial as soon as I have another computer up and running (don't want to risk corrupting anything - I'm like that...) and see if I like it any better.
Will be interested to hear what you think Shaun.
BTW I hope that you get some relaxation this Easter weekend!

As far as I can determine it does not use such standard accounting practices

You are absolutely correct and that is the biggest problem with QuickBooks. But it's #1 because most people don't want to be bothered with "real" accounting practices.

Hey, seriously, could one of you fanurio fans send me a sample invoice you've made? The way I think of billing my services vs. the way these invoice softwares are set up makes the process confusing, and I'd like to see how someone else does it. Feel free to leave dollar amounts blank or a billion dollars in there or whatever you like. . .I'd just like to see the layout and how you name/quantify things, etc.

Hi Josh
I'll send you one later today. It utilises a template that Fanurio made up for me. I'm not sure if this is part of their regular service of if they were just being nice to me.

Josh. I sent you a message via DV Info asking for your email address. But I couldn't find any way to see if it had been sent or to check any messages back to me. I have probably missed something obvious.
For your benefit, and for any one else who is interested, here is a very simple example of one of my Fanurio invoices with the sensitive bits blacked out.
This is a template I like and use. I believe that there is a lot of flexibility in the layout. It could easily have included a breakdown of the hours worked, tasks undertaken, expenses incurred etc. In this case it was a fixed price job and I chose to keep it simple.
If you have any questions about it I am sure that Nicu at Fanurio will help. He is a fantastic communicator and a very nice guy. But do ask me too if you wish.
To raise this invoice and save it as a pdf takes about 5 mouse clicks. I then email the pdf to the client as an attachment.

I've just moved over to Sage Instant Accounts, having used Quickbooks for many years. The reason I didn't get a new version was there appeared to be problems with miscalculating the VAT (EU sales tax) in the latest version.

Sage is rather clunky compared to Quickbooks and has an extremely rigid double entry system. Very much written for accountants, however, I did get a phone call from their support people introducing themselves, which is something I wasn't expecting from a program in this price bracket. You do have to spend time working out their system, Quickbooks is an easier program to use, especially if you need to make corrections.

Another downside is you can only run one business on a single licence, if you have a couple of business names eg a production company and also a freelance crew member, you need to upgrade.

Thanks. I guess I thought members could find other members emails in their profile, or something. I don't think I've tried to hide it. Not since that last mafia boss died and they let me out of witness protection.

Most members probably can.
I figured it was something like that ;-)
BTW I found it this time. Via your homepage.

Maybe it's because I've been doing this for so long....

But I can't imagine doing business without a general purpose database software where you can learn how to design and store data in your OWN forms.

That's how I run all my invoicing.

Filemaker Pro is the core. The invoices and statements and reports are all there. (There's a very robust TEMPLATE world for FMpro out there including more accounting and invoicing templates than you can shake a stick at - and they're all CUSTOMIZABLE to what YOU need, not just what the program designer THOUGHT you'd need)

Oddly enough, over the years, I've also come to write ALL or my SCRIPTS in it.

Why? Because once the script is approved, I switch to one of the the EXTRA FIELDS view I created more than 10 years ago and all the script content and scene descriptions are right there - ready for me to add the rest of the fields like PROPS, TALENT, LIGHTING NOTES, BLOCKING, and/or whatever.

FMPro might take you a few weeks or even a few months to learn, but it will also solve a thousand production and general business problems day after day, week after week, year after year for you - AND it will keep all your data in one place, NEVER to be lost again.

I couldn't live without it.

Your mileage may vary.

Yes Sage/Peachtree is real double entry bokkeeping - which is as it should be!