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Invoicing Software


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As a freelancer, I am looking for a good system for keeping track of and creating invoices for the work that I do for a large number of clients. I've been just creating invoices in a word processor and organizing via a numbering system, but it is admittedly a clumsy system. I have tried the software called Billings and it is almost exactly what I am looking for, except there isn't a good way to bill for, say, a 12-hour day rate plus overtime at time and and half or double time, which is how pretty much all of the production work I do is handled. Has anyone else found an invoicing software that works particularly well for freelance film production work? Or does anyone else have another good system for keeping track of everything?

Edited by Toby Orzano
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I know a lot of people use Excel.

 

I used an old Quickbooks program, which is an accounting programme, which also does your VAT (EU sales tax). I've replaced this with Sage Instant Accounts, which is a partly disabled full accounts program, which is rather clunky to use and making corrections can be worse than discovering that your sound is out of sync in a film edit. The reason I changed was that people were finding errors in VAT returns on the latest version of Quickbooks.

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I prefer excel for this. I use the newest version for mac and I have it programmed as an invoice for myself where when I put it "day" it does my day rat,e when I do "flat" it does a "flat" rate, and when I do "week," it does a week rate. Then I have a second spreadsheet called balance sheet which I program in with the invoice number as well as the amounts and expenses I've had and it keeps track of everything. took me a long time to get it all working well enough to be useful. And if you'd like, I'd be happy to send you an "invoice" via e mail to use as a template in excel.

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I do it the "clumsy" way.

 

My schedule is in MS Outlook which I then manually "track" to create invoices in MS Word and then I "track" those invoices in MS Excel. It would be VERY convenient if I could place a job in my calendar program (currently, MS Outlook that syncs with my smart phone) and then that information would automatically be placed inside an invoicing (fully customizable) and a tracking/summary program.

 

At the end of the year, I have to manually organize this information to cross-check with the 1099's I receive in order to complete my tax preparation.

 

I haven't found anything that provides that kind of fluid freedom I need, so I am left to invest my time into making the disjointed system work for me. :)

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Thanks for the replies, guys! Looks like we're kind of stuck doing it manually for now. Adrian sent me his template and that looks like it will work well, certainly better than what I had been doing (thanks again Adrian!). The software packages I've looked at have some great features but just won't work for what I need. They keep track of all expenses and labor you have billed for and you can see at a glance which ones have been paid. The problem is they seem to be directed towards time-based work that is done on a computer and not really suitable for production work. Maybe this is a niche in the software market that could be filled...anyone know any programmers?

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  • 1 year later...

Should anyone else want a peek at my template, please don't hesitate to let me know via a message as I'd be happy to shoot out the template/explanation to anyone interested.

 

hi adrian,

it would be of real help if u send me the template for the invoice. thanx. u can also send it to samanta.riju@gmail.com

thanx a lot

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  • 5 months later...

I used to use excel However I found a program called PAID for both mac and PC it has some nice features that apply to the film/tv world. And it can be set to tell you when invoices are 30,45,and 60 days past due. I also keep and old fashioned paper calendar with job names and on it and a google calendar via my phone/computer

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  • 6 months later...

I've been using excel too, but has anyone heard of this invoice plugin for your gmail. I'm trying to remember the name...

 

It's a plugin for gmail that allows you to create an invoice directly in your workflow. I believe it tracks your outstanding invoices and has an automatic one button send function to chase your customers. Has anyone heard of it?

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  • 6 months later...

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