Author Topic: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc  (Read 4956 times)

Steve Ainslie

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What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« on: March 23, 2017, 12:10:46 PM »
Hi all,
As a recently laid off but not yet FIRE ready man I have started a 1 man consulting business. Any recommendations for accounting software? I'd like something cloud based. Ideally I'd like it to cover both billing and expense tracking. If I could also take credit cards through it, that would be fantastic. I'll be looking into the Intuit products later this week but figured I'd check here too. 

SeattleCPA

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2017, 06:01:01 PM »
The Quicken Home and Business product works pretty darn well.

BTW the online version of QuickBooks works well, too, though it gets expensive. There is in QuickBooks Online an easy to implement credit card option...

Steve Ainslie

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2017, 08:23:51 PM »
Awesome. I'll check it out. Thanks



The Quicken Home and Business product works pretty darn well.

BTW the online version of QuickBooks works well, too, though it gets expensive. There is in QuickBooks Online an easy to implement credit card option...

Freedom2016

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2017, 08:33:01 AM »
I use Quickbooks Plus and pay $40/mo. I also use their Payroll feature (extra $) and have credit card pay enabled (only $ when customers use it).

I think QB Essentials is cheaper but it doesn't allow you to bill expenses directly to clients, which is critical for me.

Slinky

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2017, 05:30:24 PM »
We just need expense tracking so we switched over to Quickbooks self employed which is simple and cheaper than whatever other Quickbooks product we had been using. It does do invoicing though we haven't tried that out. We use Paypal for credit cards and that syncs over automatically.

VeggieGirl

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2017, 10:06:31 AM »
I use freshbooks.com, cloud based, tracks time and expenses, invoices and credit card payments. Pretty easy to use. They also have a 30 day free trial to see if it works for you.

Joel

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #6 on: March 26, 2017, 11:29:25 AM »
I've used YNAB for 9+ years. Great tool. Currently using YNAB4- not the new subscription based service.

jade

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #7 on: March 28, 2017, 03:15:20 AM »
Hiya

I have a small side business and just use google drives spreadsheet with a simple table which works fine for my size biz.


wearfannypacks

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #8 on: March 29, 2017, 09:17:41 PM »
I use Wave Accounting. It's free. Cloud based and you can send invoices and collect payments easily. You can pay for addons like they doing your payroll, but if you are a one man show, it's the ultimate mustachian thing because it's free. I really didn't like the idea of paying for Quickbooks. Using it for 2 years now.

SeattleCPA

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2017, 04:50:53 PM »
I use Wave Accounting. It's free. Cloud based and you can send invoices and collect payments easily. You can pay for addons like they doing your payroll, but if you are a one man show, it's the ultimate mustachian thing because it's free. I really didn't like the idea of paying for Quickbooks. Using it for 2 years now.

I think it's really good to be alert to the costs of the subscription based accounting software. Further, I am annoyed by the cost of QuickBooks Online.

http://evergreensmallbusiness.com/diseconomy-of-subscription-style-services/

However, I'd be really nervous about using a VC funded SAAS product:

https://www.waveapps.com/investors/

Heaven help you if the VCs don't fund the next round.

Remember you'll need to have access to accounting software not just for the years you operate the business but for the 3 to 6 years you burn off the statute of limitations.


AdrianC

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #10 on: March 31, 2017, 07:53:39 PM »
I've used Quickbooks for 15 years. It does my time tracking and bills time to invoices directly. I'm still using the 2007 version and it still works just fine. I like it.

wearfannypacks

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #11 on: March 31, 2017, 09:52:27 PM »
Something I never considered. I've been impressed with their customer service. If funding was going away, I'd imagine they would let us all know so we could download our various reports and data. Wouldn't that count for statute of limiations?

Hassle, and super annoying to migrate to another system, yes. But worth it to reduce my overhead, especially when I was first starting out.

PS your website has some stellar detailed articles on topics that apply to our situation! I see a binge read session coming up soon.

 
I use Wave Accounting. It's free. Cloud based and you can send invoices and collect payments easily. You can pay for addons like they doing your payroll, but if you are a one man show, it's the ultimate mustachian thing because it's free. I really didn't like the idea of paying for Quickbooks. Using it for 2 years now.

I think it's really good to be alert to the costs of the subscription based accounting software. Further, I am annoyed by the cost of QuickBooks Online.

http://evergreensmallbusiness.com/diseconomy-of-subscription-style-services/

However, I'd be really nervous about using a VC funded SAAS product:

https://www.waveapps.com/investors/

Heaven help you if the VCs don't fund the next round.

Remember you'll need to have access to accounting software not just for the years you operate the business but for the 3 to 6 years you burn off the statute of limitations.

NorCal

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #12 on: March 31, 2017, 10:01:10 PM »
When I ran a small business about 7 years back, the desktop version of Quickbooks was considered far superior to the cloud version.  It had more features, was easier to use, and less error prone.

This may have changed in the meantime, but it is something to consider.

Doubleh

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #13 on: April 01, 2017, 01:01:08 AM »
I've used both xero and freeagent for my own businesses and as an accountant have used lots of big company accountibg systems also. Never actually used quickbooks myself but every comparison I've read is that xero is far more usable.

I can strongly recommend either of these two, although for your purposes freeagent would be more suitable. xero is more fully featured and will scale for large companies, and cover all kinds of business models eg carrying stock etc. Freeagent is designed specifically for small services businesses like consultants and contractors, is very easy to use and has everything you need built it. For example it can automatically import and reconcile your bank statements, prepare estimates, track time and vehicle mileage, run payroll and prepare & submit taxes. Also has good mobile apps.

I can't see the prices on US website as it takes me back to UK site, but here in UK it's £30 per month. Many accountants also provide it for free as part of their package which is how I get mine, and I don't pay any more than I would have for an accountant who just gave me a spreadsheet to fill. So it could well cost you nothing assuming you would have a cpa for your business.

Happy to answer any questions

AK

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #14 on: April 01, 2017, 04:27:38 AM »
I use QuickBooks Online and like it a lot because:

- it is easy to attach receipts and invoices directly to records
- my accountant can login and review things without me which saves a lot of time.
- it can integrate with a lot of other services as needed through their ecosystem.
- when new features come out, you get them for free and usually notified about them first.

joonifloofeefloo

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #15 on: April 01, 2017, 06:57:55 AM »
Like Joel, I use YNAB for my homebased business and love it.

Helpful to me in the following ways:
*I also use YNAB for personal, so everything is in one screen/system
*When I enter personal items like rent and phone, I can allocate a percentage to Corporate
*I can keep my vehicle travel log in it
*It matches up where I've paid myself

tralfamadorian

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #16 on: April 01, 2017, 08:02:28 AM »
I also use Wave Accounting- going on three(ish?) years now.  There were a couple of growing pains in the beginning but I've had no issues for over a year. 

JohnJohnson

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #17 on: April 06, 2017, 12:34:27 PM »
Wave is all most service based businesses need. I use wave, and the few businesses that I helped get of the ground also use wave.

SilveradoBojangles

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #18 on: April 06, 2017, 01:36:35 PM »
I use YNAB because I was familiar with it (due to our home budgeting). I read an article about how YNAB uses YNAB to handle their finances for the company, and it made sense. I do my own payroll (it's just me, so really not terribly difficult - I have an excel spreadsheet that I do the calculations in). My business budget is completely separate from my personal budget.

https://www.youneedabudget.com/goodbye-quickbooks-you-need-a-separate-business-budget/

SeattleCPA

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #19 on: April 07, 2017, 06:58:57 AM »
Something I never considered. I've been impressed with their customer service. If funding was going away, I'd imagine they would let us all know so we could download our various reports and data. Wouldn't that count for statute of limiations?

Hassle, and super annoying to migrate to another system, yes. But worth it to reduce my overhead, especially when I was first starting out.

PS your website has some stellar detailed articles on topics that apply to our situation! I see a binge read session coming up soon.

 
I use Wave Accounting. It's free. Cloud based and you can send invoices and collect payments easily. You can pay for addons like they doing your payroll, but if you are a one man show, it's the ultimate mustachian thing because it's free. I really didn't like the idea of paying for Quickbooks. Using it for 2 years now.

I think it's really good to be alert to the costs of the subscription based accounting software. Further, I am annoyed by the cost of QuickBooks Online.

http://evergreensmallbusiness.com/diseconomy-of-subscription-style-services/

However, I'd be really nervous about using a VC funded SAAS product:

https://www.waveapps.com/investors/

Heaven help you if the VCs don't fund the next round.

Remember you'll need to have access to accounting software not just for the years you operate the business but for the 3 to 6 years you burn off the statute of limitations.

To address the VC risk thing... Yes, if you could get your data (you'd want the financial statements for each year and then something like a general ledger), you'd be in a good shape with regard to the statute of limitations issue.

BTW, thank you for compliment re blog. :-)


Steve Ainslie

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #20 on: April 13, 2017, 03:41:16 PM »
Thanks for all the feedback. I looked at all the recommendations and decided to use Wave for now.   I like that it is cloud based and free.  It also has a credit card payment option that I may use on an as needed basis.


kurtnyc

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Re: What do you use to track billing, expenses etc
« Reply #21 on: April 25, 2017, 01:25:49 PM »
for anyone else reading. I use Xero and really recommend it. It's a superior tool, great app. true bookkeeping can integrate with our CPA. does payroll, online payments, bank feeds, etc. integrates with everything (like expensify) so I don't keep paper receipts, it saves me money with captured expenses. company is based in NZ, huge in Australia. less known here but fully compliant.