Looking for a simple invoicing package which I can add our part no.'s to so I'm not typing stuff out all the time, doesn't need to do
stock control as I sell in multiple places so would never be correct anyway, doesn't need to have supplier prices as I'm not looking at it
for anything analytical & the less info I have to put in to get it working the better.
Needs to be able to cope both with & without Vat (quite a lot of what I sell goes overseas & is sometimes Vat free) & I would want to be
able to change the Vat rate myself without having to get into anything complicated or paying for support, if I can duplicate the programme to work for
2 different companies so much the better. I would want it to be able to produce a monthly report with totals of sales, Vat totals etc. to save the
faffing I currently do with adding up etc
If it's free or very cheap so much the better, certainly don't want to be paying out for expensive updates & stuff over & over, but
would rather pay a little more for something that's simple & intuitive to use than get something free or dirt cheap that's clunky &
hard to use
Must be able to run under both Windows 7 & Vista
Any ideas?
We use Sage, but it's not the friendliest.
How many sku's do you have?
I've heard a lot of good things about this online invoicing service: http://www.freshbooks.com/uk/
It's got lots of features which will probably do what you need. Totally free to try for up to 3 clients and something like $19.95 per month
thereafter (~ £12-13). Obviously in the long run that might appear to be more expensive than buying a software package outright but before you dismiss
the idea, consider that you get support and free upgrades with the subscription which you don't normally get with a retail package. You can also
run this software from any web connected device whether PC/Mac/phone/tablet.
I run my own IT consultancy business just using invoice templates I created in Pages on my Mac plus my accountant (SJD Accountancy) gives me a
spreadsheet to fill in with expenses and bankings etc. My needs are really simple but I would definitely consider FreshBooks if I needed to manage
multiple clients or if I had any amount of complexity at all.
HTH,
Craig.
[Edited on 15/8/2013 by craig1410]
if you had a little time you could set something up in excel that would do most of that for nowt
quote:
Originally posted by mcerd1
if you had a little time you could set something up in excel that would do most of that for nowt
Mine's all done through the ecommerce package I run my site through. The back end is very good and easy to set up.
Think it's about £20 a month including the actual site. It's run by 123reg.
I do have Excel but have zero experience of using it! :s
SKU's (I had to look it up - stock keeping units for anyone as confused as I was) - I have, guessing a little, probs several hundred, but not
as many as a 1000
I've used Sage b4 & thought it was absolutely dire - it was a long time ago so may have improved, I don't need anything to keep my books
as such (I have a wife for that!), just do simple invoicing & monthly reports of £££'s sold, certainly don't want to be parting with
£12 a month - would be cheaper to pay £200 up front, but was hoping to do it more cheaply than that.
Perhaps I should employ one of my kids to write something in Excel?
Excel would still be quite manual - but could easily do your VAT and totals for you... your part no's and that should work too (but it depends
how complex you want to make it)
[Edited on 15/8/2013 by mcerd1]
Using forms in a relational database such as MS Access would be the way to go but that will take some setting up unless you can find a database with
standard invoicing templates - there might be templates in Excel as well .
Just had a look in Open Office and there seems to templates here
http://templates.services.openoffice.org/en/taxonomy/term/
Am sure there are many others to be found
Link doesn't work but a quick Google search will find many free invoicing templates for excel etc.
[Edited on 15/8/13 by Ivan]
quote:
Originally posted by Ivan
Using forms in a relational database such as MS Access would be the way to go but that will take some setting up unless you can find a database with standard invoicing templates
This is the main issue.
Free means getting your hands dirty and setting it up yourself.
Paid for (a small fee) makes it a lot easier as someone has done the hard work.
"Paid for (a small fee) makes it a lot easier as someone has done the hard work"
Is exactly what I was looking for, but I'm out of touch with what's available & was hoping someone could point me in the right direction
Who hosts your website and ecommerce package? This might be a good place to start.
I'm an IT consultant and have used MS Access on and off for 15+ years and I definitely wouldn't recommend developing a bespoke invoicing
system using it. The only time it makes sense to develop your own bespoke "insert name here" solution is if you have spare time on your
hands or if you intend to sell that solution to recover the cost of development. If you are a professional "anything" and you can make £xxx
per day doing what you are good at then stick to that and buy an invoicing solution from someone who does that for a living. It's like the
difference between building a Locost versus building a "Kit Car".
Regarding FreshBooks at £12 or so a month, I personally think that it is a bargain. You don't need a PC, you don't need to keep backups, you
don't need to buy upgrades, you have a support number to call, you have lots of useful features plus more will be developed which you will also
be able to use and there is no up-front cost. If you don't need a PC then you don't need anti-virus or operating system upgrades and since
the solution is web based, you can access it from anywhere at any time.
Sorry, starting to go into sales mode a bit there... 
Just to confirm that I have no connection or interest in FreshBooks as a company...
Cloud computing and associated services are here to stay and PC's have been on a sharp decline which looks set to continue, so I'd think
very carefully before investing in a traditional piece of retail software (such as Sage) running on a Windows PC. Lots of overhead there which you
shouldn't have to carry any more. Any invoicing solution should be able to be run from your smartphone in my opinion. I want to be able to
generate and send the invoice within 2 minutes of completing the job regardless of where I am.
Cheers,
Craig.
quote:
Originally posted by fesycresy
We use Sage, but it's not the friendliest.
With that number of SKU's, I'd go Excel.
The problem you'll have with an off the shelf package it won't do exactly what you want. I'm 100% sure you'll want a report which
just doesn't exist. The problem is, you don't know what you want up front until you can't have it.
With Excel, just start with the basics to get you up and running - use a linked sheet for each invoice to lookup the sku numbers and then you're
away with your invoices.
The only way to learn the software is to use it - a bit of sink or swim. Get the kids to get you up and running and you'll find in a few months
time it's a great product.
You'll be able to get your P&L, do forecasts and even produce some high level mgmt accounts... easy!
Another vote for Excel. All my business stuff from invoices to accounts is done with it.
Ian
This will do all you want including the bookkeeping for your wife. If you have an accountant (afraid I am a retired one) he will be pleased too. It
will take a while to get used to it but so will any package. Go for VT Transaction+, not the VT Accounts Suite. £125 and that's it. Does any
number of businesses too. I used it for years and so did many of my clients.
http://www.vtsoftware.co.uk/index.html
That's a bonus point for Sage - if you can get to grips with the way it works then your accountant will be very happy as it speaks the same language - and a happy accountant is usually a bit cheaper! (queries cost you money, as a rule).
Thanx for all the info guys, just to throw another option in has anyone ever used a product called Easy Invoicing from easyinvoicing.co.uk they have a free trial which I thought might be worth a look?