TedFab Faber on sun 21 mar 04
After years of being away from making pots, I'm not concerned about =
software for glazes formulas, what I really need is business type of =
software. I want to make up invoices, receiving reports and other forms =
to track expenses and make tax time a little more easy. I have options =
Quicken which is a good basic business software or develop my own =
spreadsheets.
I appreciate any input.
Thanks
Ted=20
Cindi Anderson on mon 22 mar 04
Hi Ted
Quickbooks is probably really what you need. I have to admit I curse it a
lot. It is obvious that it is not a microsoft product in look and feel, and
there are some navigation things that are so irritiating that they could
easily fix. BUT, I have gotten used to most of it, ANHD it helped us when
we got started as a very small business, and also works great as a much
larger business. It does everything you will ever have to do, keeping
tracking of your inventory, sales, sales tax, customers, suppliers, profit
and loss statements, balance sheets, etc. All the reports you will ever
need are there. Aging reports on who owes you money. Aging reports on
money you owe. It has taken me 4 years to find some of the reports, but
they are there. If you ever hire an employee, it can do your payroll for you
too. You can even pay your bills online through the system so you don't
have to enter them twice, but that option is cost prohibitive for the number
of checks we do (hundreds a month). And you can get a Quicken credit card
that downloads to Quickbooks to streamline that data entry.
You probably are better off with Quicken or Quickbooks than spreadsheets,
but you should look at the differences between Quicken (which I really think
of as personal finance) and Quickbooks, to see which one fits best. And
save your time developing spreadsheets and use it to make pots or to
actually analyze whether and how you are making money (much easier when the
reports are all there).
Cindi
----- Original Message -----
After years of being away from making pots, I'm not concerned about software
for glazes formulas, what I really need is business type of software. I
want to make up invoices, receiving reports and other forms to track
expenses and make tax time a little more easy. I have options Quicken which
is a good basic business software or develop my own spreadsheets.
I appreciate any input.
Thanks
Ted
Sue Beach on mon 22 mar 04
Ted,
I use & like Quickbooks. It does all I need for my pottery and also works for
my husband's music jobs. In addition, I was able to figure out a way to use it
to do the books for the local co-op art gallery. Check it out.
Sue Beach
Muncie, IN
No interest in Quickbooks; just a satisfied user
Quoting TedFab Faber :
> After years of being away from making pots, I'm not concerned about software
> for glazes formulas, what I really need is business type of software. I want
> to make up invoices, receiving reports and other forms to track expenses and
> make tax time a little more easy. I have options Quicken which is a good
> basic business software or develop my own spreadsheets.
>
> I appreciate any input.
>
> Thanks
>
> Ted
>
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>
Susan Giddings on mon 22 mar 04
Ted,
Business software can be a joy but it cam also be the bane of your
existence! A lot depends on your approach. Quicken is great and will suit
the needs of most small businesses especially "start-ups". But you need to
remember it is not made just for you - it is made to suit the needs of
EVERYONE, potter or convenience store owner, or hotem operator, or whatever.
So as a result, it will cover all the basics but will include feature and
functionality you don't need and may only gloss over some areas where you'd
like to be more specific or exacting. Some people and businesses can handle
it, others can't. This, I think, is where the approach issue comes into
play! The options to a canned software of the "Quicken" variety if it just
won't do can be very expensive - in both time and money. Rather, I
typically will advise people to use a package like Quicken to handle all the
basics but to then use other products to "dress" things up a bit. Unlike a
lot of people, I happen to be a fan of Microsoft and especially MS Office.
Built in templates abound for all sorts of business needs. Invoices are very
easy to create in Word and spreadsheets in Excel can be used to augment what
Quicken can do for you. Take advantage of the fact that just about ALL
canned packages have the ability to export data to Excel and learn that
functionality - learn it cold. Learn how to create and run Excel macros -
the real secret to tapping the power of these products in a time saving way.
All this can be a very viable alternative - but it will take some work on
your part to learn and to use. If you are not willing to take that step,
then DON'T - make pots and try to hire a part time bookkeeper to do it for
you.
The point of all this being that a canned package is written to serve the
needs of MANY different people and businesses. It may not meet ALL of your
needs. Get the package that is the closest fit for you. What falls out -
examine:
Is there another way you can do it that the package does handle?
If not, do you really need it? Can you do it yourself? Are you willing to?
And just watch what you take on. If you don't make pots, then there will be
no money coming in that you need to account for - the whole issue is moot.
My 2 cents worth.
------------------
Susan Giddings
S
>After years of being away from making pots, what I really need is
>business type of software. I want to make up invoices, receiving reports
>and other forms to track expenses and make tax time a little more easy. I
>have options Quicken which is a good basic business software or develop my
>own spreadsheets.
"There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are
others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot
into the sun." — Pablo Picasso
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Valice Raffi on mon 22 mar 04
Ted,
You might like QuickBooks, it has all the features you said you want, is
very user-friendly, and has enough similarities to Quicken to make your
learning curve short!
Valice
in Sacramento
drinking coffee this early am from my beautiful shino mug that came from
Dave Garner in the Stay-at-Home exchange! (thanks Dave, and thanks again,
Chris!)
>After years of being away from making pots, I'm not concerned about
>software for glazes formulas, what I really need is business type of
>software. I want to make up invoices, receiving reports and other forms
>to track expenses and make tax time a little more easy. I have options
>Quicken which is a good basic business software or develop my own
>spreadsheets.
Annie Evans on mon 22 mar 04
Check out www.WorkingArtist.com. Amazing program.
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