Small, professional businesses such as accountants, lawyers, programmers, and consultants typically invoice based on time, but manual time keeping and billing may be keeping money off the table.
It seems simple enough to just keep a note pad by the computer, and write down what time you start and stop on a project. But in fact, it’s much more complicated than that. An average professional may go back and forth on several clients’ projects over the course of a single day. An attorney for example, may stop working on one client’s paperwork for five or ten minutes to take a phone call on behalf of a second client. That five minutes is billable time–but this constant back-and-forth becomes very difficult to track and bill on a manual basis.
Even a one-person operation can benefit from time tracking and invoicing software. The first and greatest advantage is that the time-tracking function makes sure that every minute of billable time spent is actually getting invoiced. Another advantage of course, is elimination of much of the time-consuming procedures that would ordinarily be involved in the billing and accounting process. Best practices in billing actually involve three processes: time tracking, invoicing, and post-invoice follow-up and receivables tracking. State-of-the-art invoice software such as BillingTracker handles all three on a seamlessly integrated basis.
BillingTracker overcomes the mundane billing software challenges faced by the small professional services office by automating the entire process. First, a built-in timer lets professionals easily switch between clients to more accurately record small time increments when handling multiple projects at once. That’s because in reality, very few professionals actually work uninterrupted for hours on end on a single project. Phone calls come in, clients walk in the front door with emergencies, and emergencies of all sorts happen on a regular basis. When a professional sits down to work on one project, interruptions come in from three others. A simple on-screen timer that can be operated with a few mouse clicks makes sure that everybody is getting billed for their share of the professional’s time.
At the end of the day, time tracking is only the beginning. On a manual basis, minutes must be added up and distributed between clients, and then recorded and sent to the billing department. Again, this manual procedure is time-consuming and counter-productive. When the time tracking function is integrated with an invoicing function, the invoicing software is able to automatically take the time data and create custom invoices based on the projects and billable time recorded.
After the invoices go out, there is still another step involved, and that is tracking payments. After invoices are sent, BillingTracker is still working behind the scenes to keep track of who is paying what, when. Again, professionals may have different terms for different clients; and BillingTracker sends out alerts when an invoice has not been paid on time. Of course, reporting features also create an easily readable report that can be updated on a daily basis, showing what has been billed to whom, what has been paid, and what is still due.
Time tracking with integrated billing software functions is an essential component of even the smallest service-based business. The small investment required quickly pays for itself by making sure that all time spent is being billed, and that invoices are being sent out and received on a timely basis.
Howard N. Posey is a professional copywriter who’s main interest is software websites. He has written numerous reviews and articles on different software programs in a wide range of industries. Howard is also a professional press releases writer. For more information on billing software, visit: http://www.billingtracker.com
The accounting software can be defined as the application software that is used to make the accounting services all the more simple as well as efficient. The accounting software records and processes the accounting transactions that are well ensconced in the functional modules like account payable, account receivable, payroll and account balance.
The companies can make the accounting software internally or purchase it from the software manufacturing companies that have the capability to manufacture these softwares. In some cases if the need so arises the companies can buy the softwares from a third party and then do modifications on it depending upon their requirements. Some of the most important accounting softwares that are used extensively by the companies are:
Tax software
Real estate accounting softwares
Small business accounting softwares
Church accounting softwares
Day care accounting softwares
Accounts payable accounting softwares
Inventory softwares
Accounts receivable softwares
Payroll accounting softwares
SAP accounting
Govt. accounting softwares
Mid size as well a small business accounting softwares
Non-profit organization software
The accounting soft ware is made of modules that can be of great assistance in running the businesses successfully
Some of the accounting softwares modules are:
The core modules: The eight core modules form the kernel of all the software modules. These core modules are:
Order entry
Payroll
Inventory
Job cost
System manager
Accounts payable
Accounts receivable
General ledger
Advanced modules: In addition to the core modules, there are advanced modules that are designed in order to meet the additional requirements of the buyer. In any of the accounting softwares, it is fine to miss an additional module but one cannot afford to miss the core modules.
In addition to the aforementioned modules, there is some key e-commerce modules like:
Web customers
Web portal
Web financial statements
Web tools
Web based requisitioning
Web commerce catalogue
Web employee
The accounting softwares have greatly reduced the efforts that were required to keep a check on the finances of the organization. It is really important that the companies as well as the individuals, who purchase any of the accounting softwares, do it while keeping in mind their requirements.
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Bookkeeping and accounting for small business does not have to be as complex as it might first appear and can produce a financial result if a small business uses that information to take action.
Sales Invoices
A sales invoice is a prime document. In more advanced accounting systems technical terms such as sales day books, sales ledgers, debtors and credit control are important but at the basic level bookkeeping of sales is the act of recording those sales in the business books.
A sales day book is basically a log of sales invoices issued by the business and this level of recording financial transactions is all that may be required for a small business. A simple list of the sales invoices which would be described as part of a single entry bookkeeping system.
Simple bookkeeping for sales invoices is single entry bookkeeping with manual analysis. While the accounting staff may make these entries in the small business environment the business owner usually keeps the books.
Larger organisations may well maintain sales day books but would certainly also enter the sales invoices into an accounting system and would usually use accounting software to do so. Within the financial accounting package the sales would not only appear as a list making up the total sales turnover but would also be entered in a sales ledger.
Each sales invoice being allocated to the various clients to whom the sales had been made. The sales ledger at this stage of the bookkeeping represents the value of goods or services sold to each customer.
Purchase Invoices
A purchase invoice is a prime document and a purchase day book is a list of purchase invoices received from suppliers. The purchase invoice day book would not normally require further financial analysis of the type of expenditure. To that extent a simple purchase day book would be a good starting point for a simple set of accounts but require a little more sophistication requiring analysis by expense type for both financial control and taxation purposes.
Single entry bookkeeping is sufficent for most small business with the addition of analysis columns.
Medium and larger organisations require to track and control purchase invoices to control costs and payments. In a mirror of the sales ledger system purchase invoices would also be entered by supplier into a purchase ledger. The easy way is to allocate each supplier a code number so that the accounting software can collect the amounts owed to each supplier the individual supplier accounts being the purchase ledger.
Cash and Bank Transactions
Quite apart from the single entry of sales and purchases is the recording by a business in its books of cash and bank receipts and payments. The third area of prime documents is the cash receipt or bank slip, given or received. Such documents may take many forms from the till roll of a retail business to the deposit slip at a bank but all are evidence of money changing hands.
In a small business cash and bank records may be maintained separately to the records of other prime accounting records. In a simple format the cash or bank records would be similar to the bank statement but showing the names of customers and suppliers or if multiple customers for example then the source of the money being received or paid.
Larger organisations and particularly using accounting software also code each receipt and payment to the same customer and supplier codes used to produce the sales ledger and the purchase ledger. In addition to recording the cash and bank transactions in the cash and bank accounts the amounts received and paid are also recorded in the sales ledger and purchase ledger.
By recording the cash and bank transactions in the ledgers the customer and supplier records making up the accounting ledgers then show the balances on each account and the recording of the financial transactions in this way is effectively the other side of the double entry bookkeeping system.
Small business not requiring sophisticated accounting softwared for financial control purposes and using a simple bookkeeping system would record receipts against the list of sales invoices and payments against the list of purchase invoices.
Basic bookkeeping using single entry of prime accounting documents would be suitable for small business, requires very little accounting knowledge and when carried out by the business owner rather than a bookkeeper or accountant can save money..
Terry Cartwright, accountant, designs UK Accounting Software on excel spreadsheets at DIY Accounting providing complete Small Business Accounting Software solutions using double entry bookkeeping for small limited companies and single entry bookkeeping for self employed business
