How do I do billing for a small consulting firm?

December 17, 2007 7:00 PM

Can a total newbie very quickly teach himself to do (all of the) Billing for a small consulting firm?

Easy, right? I don't know what system they use. I've never used Oracle, but I've done everything except Billing on SAP. Do I need to know things about sales taxes and such? Or link my data to Financial concerns? Can you point me to reliable tutorials online or elsewhere?

I'm asking for a friend, so don't be surprised if he chimes in with more details, answers your questions, etc.

posted by GeckoDundee to work & money (4 comments total)

Honestly, yes, you can, but it'd be well worth your time to pay a bookkeeper a couple bucks a week to sort things out.

I used Quickbooks, but there's great packages like Freshbooks.com that will help you do it. (If you go sign up at Freshbooks, tell 'em Karl Katzke Consulting sent you.) Unfortunately, I also royally screwed things up, but that was on the expenses side of the business, which is much trickier than the billing side. My vote in this is if you're a newbie, go hire someone who's made all the mistakes before. I got burnt real bad on it when I owned my own little consulting s-corp.
posted by SpecialK at 7:23 PM on December 17, 2007

Buy a copy of QuickBooks and install it on a laptop. Bring the laptop with QuickBooks to a tax preparer and let him/her walk you through entering invoices, expenses, and payments. There many alternatives to QuickBooks but most accountants understand QuickBooks so better to speak their language. Do not attempt this without the direct consulation of a tax preparer or come tax season you will pulling your hair out in tears.
posted by StarForce5 at 7:51 PM on December 17, 2007

I'd suggest a detailed discussion with the consulting firm about how, why and what gets billed when.

I'd find out what processes they have in place for getting the billing data to you for entry and I'd make sure I understand those processes.

I'd talk to an accountant about the impact of billing at period end, and I'd talk to the consulting firm about what kinds of reports they're going to want from you about the billing you are doing.

I'd get a copy of Quickbooks (even the free trial) and load up the sample company, generate invoices, void them, adjust them, and watch the impact on sales figures/receivables.

Yes, you can do billing for a small consulting firm, and you can get up to speed on it fairly quickly. It's not rocket science.

But I'd definitely spend some time with the processes used to generate your work. Those processes can either make or break a good billing process.
posted by disclaimer at 8:30 PM on December 17, 2007

Thanks guys, I think they were all helpful, but StarForce5's advice not to attempt it without professional tax help seems to be the clincher.
posted by GeckoDundee at 3:56 AM on December 20, 2007