Need a cloud based invoicing / accounting program that is not Quickbooks
April 17, 2013 7:50 AM Subscribe
Before I begin, I know the most popular and reasonable answer will be to learn and use Quickbooks. There is some sort of 'block' in my brain that will not allow me to learn quickbooks and I am content in using a different software to do the simple things I am needing to do...
I run a promotional merchandise business. I am basically a broker. You need t-shirts for your band. I get them for you at my prices. I mark them up, and sell them to you. I pay off my sales people (if I didn't do the sale) and vendors. The remainder is profit. My company works as simple as that. 90% of the time, I will be paid in advance for services, so there won't be much net terms given to customers.
I am looking for a cloud based software program to help me run my business. Would love for it to generate estimates and invoices, that I can email directly to clients.
I use the company, Square to receive credit card payments, so hopefully the program can work together somewhat seamlessly.
The at the same time, for each order that comes in, I'd like to be able to enter my vendor info for each order, who with the same idea, I normally pay for via credit card at the time of my purchase as well....
My sales people are independent, so they would be treated as vendors and get paid on commission ...
I would love to be able to view each order via their own Invoice #...
example:
Order #11001
Customer - Joe Blow - 100 T-Shirts - Total $500
Vendor - JJ Shirts & Printing - Total $350
Vendor - Michelle (Sales Rep Commission) $50
My Profit at the end - $100
I would love to be able to enter an order # and see or access the complete transaction from customer, to paying off my vendors and sales rep, and seeing the profit at the end of the transaction....
That's all I need...I don't carry any inventory as each order is shipped directly to customer based on quantities they order...
When I try and tackle Quickbooks, it just seems that I wouldn't need to utilize 95% of what the program is capable of, and I just get overwhelmed so quickly when trying to set it up based around the small parameters my situation calls for...
I found an online service called InvoiceASAP that is simple to use, has a great mobile APP so i can do invoices on the road, and is only $7.99 a month..... However it lacks the other half of what I need which is the Vendor & Payment side of things.... I am looking for something that does both....And I'd love to keep it at less than $10-11 a month for the privlige.
Does this exist? Or do i just goto therapy and get over my fear of Quickbooks? I do have Quickbooks 2012 for my MacPro.....Their online version is more expensive then I can afford at the moment.....
Thanks
I run a promotional merchandise business. I am basically a broker. You need t-shirts for your band. I get them for you at my prices. I mark them up, and sell them to you. I pay off my sales people (if I didn't do the sale) and vendors. The remainder is profit. My company works as simple as that. 90% of the time, I will be paid in advance for services, so there won't be much net terms given to customers.
I am looking for a cloud based software program to help me run my business. Would love for it to generate estimates and invoices, that I can email directly to clients.
I use the company, Square to receive credit card payments, so hopefully the program can work together somewhat seamlessly.
The at the same time, for each order that comes in, I'd like to be able to enter my vendor info for each order, who with the same idea, I normally pay for via credit card at the time of my purchase as well....
My sales people are independent, so they would be treated as vendors and get paid on commission ...
I would love to be able to view each order via their own Invoice #...
example:
Order #11001
Customer - Joe Blow - 100 T-Shirts - Total $500
Vendor - JJ Shirts & Printing - Total $350
Vendor - Michelle (Sales Rep Commission) $50
My Profit at the end - $100
I would love to be able to enter an order # and see or access the complete transaction from customer, to paying off my vendors and sales rep, and seeing the profit at the end of the transaction....
That's all I need...I don't carry any inventory as each order is shipped directly to customer based on quantities they order...
When I try and tackle Quickbooks, it just seems that I wouldn't need to utilize 95% of what the program is capable of, and I just get overwhelmed so quickly when trying to set it up based around the small parameters my situation calls for...
I found an online service called InvoiceASAP that is simple to use, has a great mobile APP so i can do invoices on the road, and is only $7.99 a month..... However it lacks the other half of what I need which is the Vendor & Payment side of things.... I am looking for something that does both....And I'd love to keep it at less than $10-11 a month for the privlige.
Does this exist? Or do i just goto therapy and get over my fear of Quickbooks? I do have Quickbooks 2012 for my MacPro.....Their online version is more expensive then I can afford at the moment.....
Thanks
Response by poster: @dfriedman
Thanks. I have checked out Xero before and it does seem to be virtually what I am looking for, except the basic service is still $19.95 per month and only allows me to do 5 invoices per month, while the next step up is $29.95 per month for '100's of invoice's'. At this stage of the game, my business is a part time venture as I have a full time gig and a part time job....
One day, I hope to make this my everything, but at the moment, I have to keep overhead as close to zero as possible, while we grow...We are averaging 8-12 orders a month right now. Using what is coming in right now, profit wise, to supplement the bills.... With 50% more business a month (12-16 orders), I will be able to start considering spending and putting back into the company via accounting online services and such...
but this is the right idea......any cheaper options of Xero out there?
thx
posted by TwilightKid at 8:16 AM on April 17, 2013
Thanks. I have checked out Xero before and it does seem to be virtually what I am looking for, except the basic service is still $19.95 per month and only allows me to do 5 invoices per month, while the next step up is $29.95 per month for '100's of invoice's'. At this stage of the game, my business is a part time venture as I have a full time gig and a part time job....
One day, I hope to make this my everything, but at the moment, I have to keep overhead as close to zero as possible, while we grow...We are averaging 8-12 orders a month right now. Using what is coming in right now, profit wise, to supplement the bills.... With 50% more business a month (12-16 orders), I will be able to start considering spending and putting back into the company via accounting online services and such...
but this is the right idea......any cheaper options of Xero out there?
thx
posted by TwilightKid at 8:16 AM on April 17, 2013
I have no personal experience with them, but I've heard of Kashoo and Wave. Looks like they would be worth checking out to see if they do what you need.
posted by Dansaman at 8:37 AM on April 17, 2013
posted by Dansaman at 8:37 AM on April 17, 2013
What's your profit margin and expected growth rate? You may find that Xero's $19 (or $29.95 at its next level) monthly charge is a relatively small expense to incur on a monthly basis.
It's also important to remember that you can expense Xero's charges to your business as an operating expense.
posted by dfriedman at 9:22 AM on April 17, 2013
It's also important to remember that you can expense Xero's charges to your business as an operating expense.
posted by dfriedman at 9:22 AM on April 17, 2013
I've heard good things about Harvest, for both time tracking and invoicing.
posted by Sleddog_Afterburn at 9:43 AM on April 17, 2013
posted by Sleddog_Afterburn at 9:43 AM on April 17, 2013
One of my vendors just started using Freshbooks. I like the emailed/web-based invoices.
posted by mon-ma-tron at 11:52 AM on April 17, 2013
posted by mon-ma-tron at 11:52 AM on April 17, 2013
Have you looked into QuickBooks Online? It's simpler, web-based app that might be easier for you to tackle.
posted by radioamy at 12:35 PM on April 17, 2013
posted by radioamy at 12:35 PM on April 17, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by dfriedman at 8:10 AM on April 17, 2013