Good software for doing invoices

[openspaceman]

I am a numpty with these things and at the moment we are using Excel to do invoices.

 

Each time I do a new invoice I have to change the invoice number but it would be nice if it was like a book where each one was automatically numbered. I have been known to balls up and have multiple customers on the same invoice number

 

Also it would be nice to be able to search a customer name and instantly access previous orders from them.

 

This is for a Mac desktop. No need for phone compatibility.

 

This is why it is better done in a database rather than excel.

 

I have not used a mac but I do have to use XP at work and what you want can be done in excel. Basically you need to create an invoice template with a VBA macro. It loads as a template which you enter all the normal details in. You then save the output as a standard excel XLSX in read only form. If you need to edit it you have to override the read only attribute when you open it.

 

You can have the template also store salient bits of the invoice like:

 

Invoice number, Date,customer,amount,VAT, Total

 

as a record in another excel file .

 

In W98 the file was invdb.xls and the template was supplied.

 

As I only write 3 or 4 invoices a year as work dries up I do it manually nowadays.

[NFG]

This is why it is better done in a database rather than excel.

 

I have not used a mac but I do have to use XP at work and what you want can be done in excel. Basically you need to create an invoice template with a VBA macro. It loads as a template which you enter all the normal details in. You then save the output as a standard excel XLSX in read only form. If you need to edit it you have to override the read only attribute when you open it.

 

You can have the template also store salient bits of the invoice like:

 

Invoice number, Date,customer,amount,VAT, Total

 

as a record in another excel file .

 

In W98 the file was invdb.xls and the template was supplied.

 

As I only write 3 or 4 invoices a year as work dries up I do it manually nowadays.

 

Agreed,

 

Although some my find it daunting to write their own Access Db, you can probably obtain shareware invoicing based on Access or other Dbs and change to suit requirements.

 

I wrote my own some 20 years ago & it does provide complete control, back then there was Sage which was expensive & very proprietory.

 

 

N

[Paul Barton]

I use online accounting software called FreeAgent, once you have put customer contact details in and written up and emailed quote to customer it is just a few clicks to convert that estimate to an invoice with payment period of your choice, also can set up to do automatic overdue reminders. You still have to get your invoice numbers right though! It also does many other things like your tax return and auto imports business bank account transactions if you link it.

About £20/- per month, 10% off if you get a user discount code from an existing user, pm me if interested.

 

 

Also use FreeAgent. It's brill.

[openspaceman]

Agreed,

 

Although some my find it daunting to write their own Access Db, you can probably obtain shareware invoicing based on Access or other Dbs and change to suit requirements.

 

I wrote my own some 20 years ago & it does provide complete control, back then there was Sage which was expensive & very proprietory.

 

 

N

 

I can manage the basics of an access db but the firm I do work for won't consider it, sticking to spreadsheets. I made one to track competences and expiry dates on 150 personnel and it worked okay but I was pants at building queries and reports so once they failed to get on board I didn't have the enthusiasm to pursue it. I would have liked to do more with it, like logging kit and consumables issued to get better cost attribution for larger projects.

 

I do have to run it in a VM as I don't have a windows desktop.

[Steve Bullman]

i'm still on good old quickbooks 2005 edition here. I suppose I will have to change it at some point

[gensetsteve]

I think we have a simple version of, quick books I hate integrated accounts software so never use it but their invoice will do everything you need and more without getting over complicated. Think I paid £30 for it and includes 3 months support but it's so easy we never used it. For accounts I use a street sheet I created 20 years ago.

[gensetsteve]

i'm still on good old quickbooks 2005 edition here. I suppose I will have to change it at some point

 

I think we have the new version. Currys sell it still a great package improved without over complication and probably runs better on latter computers we upgraded fron quicken invoice we bought mid 90's

[Steve Bullman]

I don't really want to upgrade quick books as I really want to get away from using windows. I currently run it through parallels on the Mac but it would be nice to find an alternative solution so I can bin parallels once and for all. I'm very comfortable with quick books though so am reluctant to move away from it. I might give easy books a look though

[Peter]

I think you would be ok with easy books, I moved from quick books and didn't find it too much of a problem.

[Steve Bullman]

i'll download it and run a trial months books and see what I think. Cheers