Invoice / Finance Software for SME

cut309

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I am self employed and up to now have been doing my invoicing and finances via excel. I'm considering looking at a more robust system which would particularly give me analytics on things like monthly profit/loss, biggest clients, monthly expanses etc... I don't think there's anything wrong with doing it the way I am today, but working these stats can take me quite a bit of time when I'd think most finance / invoicing softwares probably works that out for you!

Thanks in advance for any tips!
 

MyAccountantOnline

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I am self employed and up to now have been doing my invoicing and finances via excel. I'm considering looking at a more robust system which would particularly give me analytics on things like monthly profit/loss, biggest clients, monthly expanses etc... I don't think there's anything wrong with doing it the way I am today, but working these stats can take me quite a bit of time when I'd think most finance / invoicing softwares probably works that out for you!

Thanks in advance for any tips!

In fairness probably all accounting software on the market will do that for you and most people, me included, will recommend the one they like best, mines Accounts Portal. :)

Accounts Portal is an online system and is probably one of the cheaper online packages but works very well. I use it personally and have a lot of clients who use it.

You'll save so much time using a decent package compared to Excel once you get used to it.
 
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MyAccountantOnline

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Brilliant thanks for both suggestions, spot on what I'm after! After a quick initial look QuickFile has the edge, purely on on the attractive sub 1000 offer and graphics (I'm a web designer who enjoys well built sites!).

Just a thought do make sure you can run a full detailed nominal ledger from the system now. I used it sometime ago and you couldn't - the only way you could see how expenses were comprised was to go into the system and drill back down to each invoice.
 
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Just a thought do make sure you can run a full detailed nominal ledger from the system now. I used it sometime ago and you couldn't - the only way you could see how expenses were comprised was to go into the system and drill back down to each invoice.
Yes you can - Glen has developed the software quite a lot over the last couple of years. Full nominal ledger and detailed TB can now be generated.
 
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MyAccountantOnline

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Yes you can - Glen has developed the software quite a lot over the last couple of years. Full nominal ledger and detailed TB can now be generated.

That's great to hear as I thought it was quite good apart from that.
 
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You should also look at Quickbooks on line it probably has all the bells and whistles of Xero but loads of discounts knocking around for it at the minute. For me don't just get the cheapest it's worth maybe spending £10 per month on QBO or similar. Things like Capium are free and quite decent but don't have bank feeds, which are a big time saver.

Don't just get the cheapest think about the time savings the mid priced products would bring and the extra add ins they have as you grow.

If you are a web designer have you not looked at Freeagent as built for your type of operation and can allow you bill by the hour from it if you record project costs that way.

Also if you are putting in the time into setting up systems now you need to have on eye on the future and MTD some of the cheap or free products will not be up to the job so there is some comfort in going with one of the bigger software houses.

It's all very competitive at present and plenty of deal around, even Xero are discounting.
 
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They have added a £1 or so to subscriptions but currently offering 75% discount for 3 months to new subscribers

£1 doesn't sound much, but that's per month on the most basic plan and represents a 10% increase.
There was a lengthy thread on AWeb a while back and many users were frustrated with the increases. Mainly due to the fact that it seems to be that the increases appear to be to pay for their marketing spend more than anything else.
 
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Energise Accounting

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I do believe that capium are adding bank feeds this year. The only reason we are not using them is because it cannot integrate with our till software. And to be honest i have not seen a software that can compete with exacts digital inbox system.

As for xero i do believe you can get quite good discounts via a certified xero partner although i think even then it is still the most expensive offering on the block.

As for making tax digital i think all the players will be able to deal with this when the time comes even VT cashbook i dont really see this as a reason for choosing book-keeping software.
 
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Krystsina

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Jun 21, 2016
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Hey! You might be interested in knowing an online invoicing software InvoiceBerry. It is pretty simple and convenient to use that saves lots of your time.
InvoiceBerry has a lot of features that suit for you as I got from your question. For example, you will be able to track your expenses, send reminders to late-payers, recur invoices to your regular clients and many more. Apart from it, you can create professionally looking invoices as this software offers 15 well designed templates.
It also provides you with statistics on your expanses and monthly profits.
Check it out if you think this software will be suitable for you. Especially because it is absolutely free to try, and there is also a Forever Free plan that doesn't cost you anything.
 
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MyAccountantOnline

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Hey! You might be interested in knowing an online invoicing software InvoiceBerry. It is pretty simple and convenient to use that saves lots of your time.
InvoiceBerry has a lot of features that suit for you as I got from your question. For example, you will be able to track your expenses, send reminders to late-payers, recur invoices to your regular clients and many more. Apart from it, you can create professionally looking invoices as this software offers 15 well designed templates.
It also provides you with statistics on your expanses and monthly profits.
Check it out if you think this software will be suitable for you. Especially because it is absolutely free to try, and there is also a Forever Free plan that doesn't cost you anything.

I see two disadvantages with that -

1. If you use invoice only software you duplicate work in that you use one package to create invoices and another to record them and maintain full accounting records, and

2. In the case of InvoiceBerry looking at pricing the unlimited clients, which I suspect most small business will need, is more expensive that really good full accounting software.
 
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Krystsina

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I think that I have to reply you here again as you wrote the same under my other posts. So, here are my replies:

1) I completely agree with what you say but here is one thing I would like to say. InvoiceBerry or many other invoicing softwares are for those who don't want to work with accounting software or find it too complicated. There are many cases when a business owner prefers to keep a track on invoices through the year and then keep the accountancy part for his accountant.

2) Well, I believe that every business owner can decide by himself/herself how valuable it is. Someone may find it expensive, but we have some clients who say that they could pay more for the product they get. So it is very subjective, but of course, your opinion has the right to exist, and I don't have anything against it.
 
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MyAccountantOnline

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..... I believe that every business owner can decide by himself/herself how valuable it is. Someone may find it expensive, but we have some clients who say that they could pay more for the product they get. So it is very subjective, but of course, your opinion has the right to exist, and I don't have anything against it.

@Krystsina what advantage(s) does an invoice only system charged at $30 per month have over a complete accounting system, most of which cost less per month, for a user who needs to issue invoices to more than 35 clients a year?
 
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Krystsina

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@Krystsina what advantage(s) does an invoice only system charged at $30 per month have over a complete accounting system, most of which cost less per month, for a user who needs to issue invoices to more than 35 clients a year?

I believe that different companies have different needs. I also believe that simplicity and ease of use of an invoicing software can be exactly what some businesses are looking for. I've never said that it is suitable for everyone, but I keep saying that someone can find it the most suitable for his/her needs. A complete accounting system (at least, systems that I know) are quite complicated in comparison with an invoicing software, and I think it is one of the most important things the company should know before choosing it.
I see that you are trying to stand by an accounting system as an accountant, so I don't see much sense in this conversation, sorry.
 
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MyAccountantOnline

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I believe that different companies have different needs. I also believe that simplicity and ease of use of an invoicing software can be exactly what some businesses are looking for. I've never said that it is suitable for everyone, but I keep saying that someone can find it the most suitable for his/her needs. A complete accounting system (at least, systems that I know) are quite complicated in comparison with an invoicing software, and I think it is one of the most important things the company should know before choosing it.
I see that you are trying to stand by an accounting system as an accountant, so I don't see much sense in this conversation, sorry.

What a shame you've chosen not to engage with myself and the forum members and explain the full benefits as you see them to the system you've recommended here so often. That's actually a real shame it spoils a good forum when all people try to do is sell. My question was a genuine one.

I work with lots of new and small businesses and have no ties whatsoever to any accounting, bookkeeping or invoicing system I do not take commissions so do believe I can be entirely impartial when I suggest a system to anyone.

The reason I generally recommend a full accounting system is because I see no advantage to an invoice only system, to me it seems a duplication of work to enter invoices in one system and then record income and expenditure in another. If a client is struggling with a full system and wants to use an online system for invoicing using most of the complete systems are cheaper than Invoiceberry so I just dont see any advantages. That was why I asked the question.
 
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Krystsina

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What a shame you've chosen not to engage with myself and the forum members and explain the full benefits as you see them to the system you've recommended here so often. That's actually a real shame it spoils a good forum when all people try to do is sell. My question was a genuine one.

I work with lots of new and small businesses and have no ties whatsoever to any accounting, bookkeeping or invoicing system I do not take commissions so do believe I can be entirely impartial when I suggest a system to anyone.

The reason I generally recommend a full accounting system is because I see no advantage to an invoice only system, to me it seems a duplication of work to enter invoices in one system and then record income and expenditure in another. If a client is struggling with a full system and wants to use an online system for invoicing using most of the complete systems are cheaper than Invoiceberry so I just dont see any advantages. That was why I asked the question.

Well, what do you call a shame? That I don't want to waste my time on useless conversation when the person is trying to impose his/her opinion to me and other people who will read this thread?

If you want to call yourself as the winner of this conversation, you are more than welcome to do it if it will make your life better. As I said previously a few times, you have your opinion, I don't have anything against it, so why to continue pushing your opinion as the only truth that have the right to exist?

It is a shame that you are coming to wrong conclusions. I'm not trying to sell anything, if you mean it. Again, as I wrote previously, I don't see anything bad in letting people know about the existence of different options.

Saying that your opinion is so independent as you are not engaged into any of softwares still seems quite wrong to me too. You might be not engaged into any softwares, but common, it is pretty clear that it is better for you to stand by the need of the accountancy services more than the opportunity for people to make their decisions what is better for them by themselves.

All you are talking about the price, and as I said previously again, it should be a choice of any business to decide how expensive it is. About duplication - I replied to you previously, but seems like you will repeat it even more times than I think :)

So, to keep it short, if you want to leave a final word after yourself, you are welcome to do so. Again, as I said previously, I don't see much sense in such type of a conversation. You are trying to build an image of an independent adviser (to me it is pretty clear that there is no way to stay objective as everything around us is subjective), so good luck with that, thank you very much for your time and have a good day!
 
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MyAccountantOnline

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Well, what do you call a shame? That I don't want to waste my time on useless conversation when the person is trying to impose his/her opinion to me and other people who will read this thread?....

As I see it this forum is a great place for people to share views and gain information. I've used it for a very long time now and get a great deal out of it.

What is a shame is if people come here, try to hard sell a service or product, dig up old posts just to promote one product or service, and then disappear.

I asked about the features of InvoiceBerry as I was genuinely interested but couldnt see any benefit to it compared to a full accounting system and I told you why.

I like to learn about products that may be of interest to my clients or which clients may use. I also like to be able to recommend good products to clients. You've recommended the system on lots of posts and I was hoping you'd give me a list of features that make InvoiceBerry so great.
 
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