Reply With QuoteHave a look at Uniform Invoice Manager. Excel front end with access/ msde db back end.
TopicToaster
SubscriberThe time has come for me to sharpen up my partner's invoice for her small business.
My goal is to make the 'businessy' invoicing (and eventually her other financial reports) as easy to manage as possible. To this end, I've had my first foray into excel macros.
Hoping to get some ideas if others are using similar for their own businesses, or whether you have gone for a commercially available package (MYOB, Xero, Quickbooks etc)? We tried Xero, and it was easy, but we cancelled it due to the fledgling business not requiring that level of expense, and having something a bit more basic for now.
The current invoice I've created has a macro for calculating the next invoice number, it will save a copy of the workbook to a new folder (invoices) drawing together the invoice number and client name. The 3rd macro then clears the data population fields, then over-writes (saves) the template to reflect the latest invoice number.
I've also created a macro for clearing the form, and printing the invoice, accessible by a button on the spreadsheet. All non critical parts of the form are protected, and most data entry can be done with drop down menus and free text areas.
Future functionality might involve populating a 3rd spreadsheet for the income portion of the balance sheet. I could also do the same for expenses, and even go so far as to some kind of client management system (to track clients progress thru their client lifecycle for the service she offers (allied health, private practice).
I must say, I'm enjoying learning a bit of Visual Basic- I've never done any coding before, so still pretty green.
Open to ideas what's worked for anyone out there who has done similar in the past.
Also interested if anyone who does this kind of work often has any good resources to get a newb up to speed with the code side of things.
It's much easier to stand on the shoulders of giants rather than trailblazing a path myself.
-Mitch
'El Burro' 2012 Defender 90.
Wizard
Have a look at Uniform Invoice Manager. Excel front end with access/ msde db back end.
TopicToaster
SubscriberLooks good from what I've seen so far.
Do you use it?
Cost seems reasonable. But I've never used Microsoft Access, so might need to do some work on that, if I go down the database side of it.
-Mitch
'El Burro' 2012 Defender 90.
SysAdmin (Owner)
Retailman
Costs about 300 and does everything from pos to payroll
Isn't an accounting package per see.
Very popular and easy to manage
Last edited by incisor; 7th August 2017 at 02:48 PM.
2007 Discovery 3 SE7 TDV6 2.7
2012 SZ Territory TX 2.7 TDCi
"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." -- a warning from Adolf Hitler
"If you don't have a sense of humour, you probably don't have any sense at all!" -- a wise observation by someone else
'If everyone colludes in believing that war is the norm, nobody will recognize the imperative of peace." -- Anne Deveson
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” - Pericles
"We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.” – Ayn Rand
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." Marcus Aurelius
Wizard
My bil has been using it for quite a few years. I've developed a couple of queries/ reports to assist in easily getting last quarter's transactions for GST.Originally Posted by Toxic_Avenger
TopicToaster
SubscriberMight be a bit too feature-packed. As she offers an allied health service, there is not much in the way of SKU's, and no payroll as a sole trader. No need for POS. Pretty much just invoice for the service (which is about 4 different charges and a wildcard item for oddball things) and record it for her income tax later on.
Keep in mind I'm still very new to this! So might 'need' some things I don't yet know about.
As it stands, her service is classified by the ATO as a GST exempt service. And for now, she's under the GST threshold. Hopefully she smashes it in future years (Might hit her up for some landy parts), but for now, it's still a very young business, hence keeping things as simple as possible.
-Mitch
'El Burro' 2012 Defender 90.
Wizard
I haven't done any accounting macros but have written a few in both Excel and word. If you're keen to stick to that I'd sign up to Stack Overflow. Any question I've had I've either found an answer there (or mrexcel) or ive posted a question and been led in the right direction.
Have fun!
Dan
Fossicker
I use Reckon One and it is very good. Includes invoicing and all the bells and whistles if you want them. You pay as you add the features you want but it is cheap. I am paying about $11 per month which include invoices, bank connection to auto download and reconcile transations and some reporting.
The other thing to consider is that even though you are below the GST treshold it doesn't mean you cant register. The good thing is that as you pay expenses especially as you get started in a business you can claim the GST paid back to help with cashflow. They have also simplified the gst process so it is pretty basic to report quarterly and pay or get a refund on the gst depending on how the quarter has gone. Worth checking with an accountant.
SysAdmin (Owner)
The biggest mistake many make when starting out is they don't go with a solution that can grow with them..Might be a bit too feature-packed. As she offers an allied health service, there is not much in the way of SKU's, and no payroll as a sole trader. No need for POS. Pretty much just invoice for the service (which is about 4 different charges and a wildcard item for oddball things) and record it for her income tax later on.
Keep in mind I'm still very new to this! So might 'need' some things I don't yet know about.
As it stands, her service is classified by the ATO as a GST exempt service. And for now, she's under the GST threshold. Hopefully she smashes it in future years (Might hit her up for some landy parts
What seems useless now doesn't always remain so
Of the online solutions reckon is up there with the best...
2007 Discovery 3 SE7 TDV6 2.7
2012 SZ Territory TX 2.7 TDCi
"Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it." -- a warning from Adolf Hitler
"If you don't have a sense of humour, you probably don't have any sense at all!" -- a wise observation by someone else
'If everyone colludes in believing that war is the norm, nobody will recognize the imperative of peace." -- Anne Deveson
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” - Pericles
"We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.” – Ayn Rand
"The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts." Marcus Aurelius
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