FreshBooks users with iPhones or iPod Touches can now manage their FreshBooks account while on the go with MiniBooks, an app from Groovy Squared. The app synchronizes with your FreshBook account, so you can access your data even if you lose your network connection.
MiniBooks comes with the following features:
- Clients: Search for clients and contact them with the iPhone’s phone and email applications.
- Invoices: Create, edit, search, view and email invoices from within the app. You can also view the status of the invoice and record payments.
- Timers: Start and stop timers that can track multiple activities on one screen. Active timers will keep running even if you close MiniBooks.
- Estimates: Create, edit and email estimates that you can turn into invoices. Read the rest of this entry »
Filemaker’s Bento software for the Mac is meant to be a database management program for users who aren’t much interested in keeping databases. At least, as someone who shudders at the very term, that’s how I see it. The program receives its third major iterative upgrade today, and there’s a lot for web workers to get excited about with this latest version.
I haven’t used Bento since it was first released, so a lot is new to me. For the purposes of this review, I won’t be detailing what’s changed so much as what strikes me as most useful about the program from a web working angle, since I imagine many of you will be new to the software as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Most web-based invoicing apps offer similar features, allowing you to customize and email invoices, track payments and view reports. WorkingPoint, formerly Netbooks, is an easy-to-use app that does all that, plus by partnering with direct marketing company VerticalResponse it gives users a way to create and manage email communications with clients. Read the rest of this entry »
Maybe it’s just because I was an English major, but the names people give to their web apps never cease to rouse my sense of curiosity. Hence my attraction to Ronin, which had me more eager to try out a new invoicing app than I ever have been in recent memory. It doesn’t hurt that it also happens to be monthly invoicing time, which I have come to dread like no other. Hopefully Ronin can help alleviate my terror.
At first glance, using the press demo supplied, it appears to be a very nicely put together web app. The UI is clean and pleasant, with a typical shades-of-gray-with-soft-edges Web 2.0 color scheme, and a blog-style navigation tree under the header. If I have to be making up invoices, at least I don’t have to be doing it via an ugly interface. Read the rest of this entry »
Based on the number of time tracking applications we’ve covered here on WebWorkerDaily, and the frequency with which new ones are being introduced, it’s obviously an area that’s in high demand.
Even among the team here we all seem to be on our own missions to find the perfect time tracking solution. Dawn recently wrote about her experience with Harvest and I’ve certainly tried my share of apps over the last few years. But after a couple of months of trialing, testing and tweaking, I’m ready to commit to freckle.
Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve given some advice for setting freelance hourly rates before, including a rough rule of thumb for those leaving more traditional employment (multiple your hourly pay as an employee by 2.5 to 3.0). But a new blog post from Pat Allan offers another way to think about this, and one worth running through if you’re new to freelancing.
There are basically three variables to juggle: your total income for the year, the number of hours you’re going to work, and your hourly rate. If you know what any two of them are, you can figure out the third. So, if the goal is to come up with an hourly rate, you need to determine your target total income and work hours.
Read the rest of this entry »
There are a multitude of invoicing options available for the web worker, and we have covered our share of them. A new entry that just crossed my desk is the oddly named CurdBee.
I gave CurdBee a quick run through and found that it covers the basics of invoicing and payment reasonably well. I was able to get up and running quickly and found it easy to get test clients and service items entered for my first invoices. It hooks into Paypal Standard and Google Checkout for payment processing and also supports multiple currencies.
Be aware that there are no time tracking features and the overall functionality is sparse compared to more fully featured services like FreshBooks or Cashboard. It is also missing a lot of the nice “usability touches” that a more established product will typically have.
But if your needs are simple and you just need to send out quick invoices to your clients, CurdBee might be a good option for you. Accounts are currently free with no apparent limitations.
Are you using an online service for your billing? Could CurdBee work for you?
FreshBooks users with iPhones or iPod Touches can now manage their FreshBooks account while on the go with MiniBooks, an app from Groovy Squared. The app synchronizes with your FreshBook account, so you can access your data even if you lose your network connection.
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
