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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.
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.