What software are you using/recommend for billing and scheduling?

[Sensation Man]

Originally Posted by Rick Grantham

QB Pro is good. Along with spreadsheets like Excel. Excel is pretty powerful if you know how to use it. There are plenty of excel templates out there that give you a headstart.

Rick

The problem with excel is the way u have to save every document as a seperate file. Excel really sucks when your trying to keep a database of all invoices you sendout and how much each customer ows u. That's where Quickbooks pro really shines.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Jobber]

Originally Posted by Davids Lawncare

If only QB had Scheduling software build-in....I have been using Lawn Pro scheduling for 4 years now with QB for accounting and credit card payments. Lawn Pro is simple to use, just print out a list for each day..After reading some of these other posts it seems to be out dated. I would love a mobile app for scheduling it would be much more convenient to just upload invoices from my phone... I will be looking in to that.

Hey Davids,

Just wanted to chime in and tell you to check us out. We do everything that has been mentioned in this thread - quotes, billing, scheduling, automatic invoicing, payments, mobile, QB sync, etc. Also, as someone else mentioned we are rolling out some upgrades within the next 30 days.

The one thing we don't have that I know some do is the customer portal. However, for the difference in price we are a much better fit for 90% of the companies out there.

Thanks,
Jeff

[Big C]

I am currently using Jobber with Quickbooks online, Jobber syncs to QB with no problems and has all of the features that need, helps me stay on top of invoices, estimates, reminders and general tasks. I'm glad I made the switch.....can't beat it!

[Rick Grantham]

Originally Posted by Sensation Man

The problem with excel is the way u have to save every document as a seperate file. Excel really sucks when your trying to keep a database of all invoices you sendout and how much each customer ows u. That's where Quickbooks pro really shines.
Posted via Mobile Device

Agree with you Sensation Man. As an all-in-one small business office product, QB shines. But if you don't have QB, excel provides you with FLEXIBILITY (if you know how to use it really, really well). Database views are easy to set up, etc if you are good at it... for the rest of us, its just a spreadsheet.

Example.... Go google "invoice program in excel" right now and you will find plenty of options. There are lots of things off the shelf in excel, but if you already use QB to run your business, then by all means --- go with that.

Rick

[Jobber]

Hey Big C,

I'm very glad to see that you are happy with it! Thanks for the kind words.

Jeff

[zgrrl]

We do 30% lawn mowing and 60% Fine Garden Maintenance about 10% Install.
I run 1-2 employees a day besides myself, am in the field as a technician.

Two years ago went from Excel to Quickbooks...what a huge benefit. Agree with Darryl B above:
Learn how to set up your Lists and Chart of Accounts properly. I paid a bookkeeper to show me how to set up and use. We set up a dummy company first to make mistakes with.

I still schedule with a planner and excel (and can link worksheets to Materials Needed for example).
I like Quickbooks Pro, for the invoices, estimates, customer database management, labels for mailing, and the reports. Reports have really helped me see where I'm making and spening money.

However, had to upgrade a year ago to retain the 'benefit' of sending invoices by email. No choice there.
Thanks for the discussion..I'm going to look into jobber and hindsite.

[adam.neusbaum]

I've enjoyed QB Online for 2 years & am now learning Google calendar which has reinforcing reminder emails --minutes out before a service appointment. Feels like double work but keeps me sane on the workdays.

[Jobber]

Originally Posted by zgrrl

We do 30% lawn mowing and 60% Fine Garden Maintenance about 10% Install.
I run 1-2 employees a day besides myself, am in the field as a technician.

Two years ago went from Excel to Quickbooks...what a huge benefit. Agree with Darryl B above:
Learn how to set up your Lists and Chart of Accounts properly. I paid a bookkeeper to show me how to set up and use. We set up a dummy company first to make mistakes with.

I still schedule with a planner and excel (and can link worksheets to Materials Needed for example).
I like Quickbooks Pro, for the invoices, estimates, customer database management, labels for mailing, and the reports. Reports have really helped me see where I'm making and spening money.

However, had to upgrade a year ago to retain the 'benefit' of sending invoices by email. No choice there.
Thanks for the discussion..I'm going to look into jobber and hindsite.

Hi zgrrl,

Actually, as I was reading your post, I was thinking "Man, that sounds like a lot of hassle using the different programs - wish I could jump in and tell him to try Jobber."


Thanks for the interest. I'm glad you'll give us a shot. If you have not done so already, you can sign up for a free trial to check it out. Also, I would always recommend setting up a free demo to walk you through a typical work flow and set it up for your business.

Thanks,

Jeff

[Darryl G]

Jeff - I just wanted to say that I think you're doing a great job of promoting your product here. It seems like you're being honest about what your product will and won't do and where it fits in. That's refreshing...some reps make it seem like their product is the only way to go and that it will do everything for you including doing your laundry. I run a small operation and scheduling the number of customers I have isn't much of a challenge, so I'm not likely to become a customer any time soon, but if I were looking for something to complement QB I'd give your software a good hard look.

[imow in NC]

Originally Posted by krlc

What about LawnPro or Gopher software they are both rated good and they download to Quickbooks, is anyone using them?

I was using the older version of lawn pro. 3.13. the newer version really sucks. has more bugs than the White house. Use quickbooks for billing and expenditures. big learning curve unless you have a degree in Accounting.