Dec 11, 2008
TO3000 update: first invoices issued
The process of migrating to the new project administration and billing platform has been a slow one due to a lack of time. Nonetheless, with the help of the quick start information in the help file and a bit of fiddling, I was able to set up several clients manually (I plan to try a mass import later), configure their price lists and locale info and issue a few invoices for completed jobs. Everything has been much easier than expected so far, though it's also very clear to me that I could be doing all this much more efficiently. Still, it's already working better for me than LTC. Being able to adjust the RTF invoice template in a word processor is so much nicer than messing around with Crystal Reports. If I can just find a way of cloning the locale information so I don't have to individually customize the decimal, thousand separator settings and date formats for every German and Swiss client, I'll be in Heaven.
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Ah, yes, TO 3000 is still sitting on my desktop, and I have to admit I haven't done much with it. I really must try to start playing around with it, because my twin swears by it and I have heard great things about it. Glad to hear that has been your experience, too.
ReplyDeleteMy current system is super easy, though. I have Excel and Word quote and invoice templates and just plug a few things in. However, then I have separate spreadsheets for accounts receivable, etc., so TO will definitely be easier.
There are a few features of these systems which I find a lot more convenient than working in Word/Excel:
ReplyDelete- Easy price list management for individual customers, with rates being incorporated automatically in quotes. Of course you can do this in Excel, but it requires more sophistication.
- Reports. These are incredibly valuable for getting an overview of your business. Again, Excel can do this, but you have to work harder at it.
- Contact management, project notes, etc.
... and a bunch of other stuff. I used to have a great system in Excel+Word which I adopted from a mentor, but in the amount of time I spent fiddling with it to add features, I could have earned the money to buy twenty licenses to a package like TO3000.