Client Management & Billing

[twopooches]

I am trying to locate an affordable and easy to use program that will automate my client accounts. Primarily I forget to bill my clients when their accounts (Hosting & maintenance) are due. Most are on PayPal subscriptions but get upset if they are not reminded before PayPal processes the subscription. Because of this they cancel the PayPal subscription and ask to be billed by invoice. Most programs I have looked at are either to expensive or to complicated. I have all my accounts on file but I need something that will remind my clients by email and remind me. I have used vinade reminder but I cannot keep suitable information on file with it.

[Orion]

I'm in the same situation sometimes lol... it's between forgetting or getting too many to bill so it takes a week to do it!

The only one I've come up with so far (haven't implemented yet) is modern bill... again stuck between going for it or holding off and waiting as Plesk's parent company bought it recently and Plesk 9 will have it integrated... but no clue when that will be out lol...

Anyone have any other good simple solutions? I'd love to know too!

[advancedmerchant]

Tough to do without a shameless plug... Get a merchant account with a recurring billing option. By charging their credit card, if they forget the bill is due, and the charge goes through automatically, they can make payments on their card accordingly. This lets you get your funds on time each and every month, and gives the customer flexibility to make payments. Just let your customers know to use a CREDIT Card rather than a DEBIT card, so the funds will be properly financed, rather than deducted from their cash flow.

[Mysti]

Why not use an accounting software such as Quickbooks? We manage everything in quickbooks, with a merchant account that allows for automated credit card billing, emailed invoices, and online bill pay. The clients seem to love and it makes for much less paperwork hassle!

[gelcreative]

Same here. It's domain name renewal reminders that I have trouble with. I am trying my hardest to diarise them one year in advance, but in the case of a .co.uk which needs renewing once every two years, I tend to have forgotten about it by the time it comes round!

I've got it stored on Excel at the moment, but that's got zero functionality for reminders etc.!

[Orion]

Why not use an accounting software such as Quickbooks? We manage everything in quickbooks, with a merchant account that allows for automated credit card billing, emailed invoices, and online bill pay. The clients seem to love and it makes for much less paperwork hassle!

LOL we do use quickbooks but takes a week to go through and invoice everyone every month.. can be a nightmare, the automated route is the way to go for sure... when you get over a couple hundred clients, and new ones coming on a few a day at that point it becomes hell to manage with just quickbooks and you need the automation...

oh.. of course I'm assuming we're talking one or two people operations it's not too bad i fyou have a full time book keeper and someone to handle just setting up new accounts on the server and someone else for sales and then there's service too ..

[visio]

I have exactly the opposite problem, my customers when they receive an invoice go and create another paypal subscription.... I had to cancel the recurring invoices.
For billing software I use account lab plus, $45.00 initially and then $15.00 a year, it is the most affordable billing software for hosting.
netenberg.com || creating possibilities from the same people who made fantastico de luxe.

[slipchuk]

Check out time.onrails.org for project tracking and blinksale.com for billing. These two sites are Free to sign-up and has real nice functionality and integration for client time tracking and billing.

time.onrails.org... Great for separating projects and running a simple punch clock which you can export out or link data to blinksale.com.

blinksale.com... has just those features you are looking for plus the ability to adjust and customize for both product and service billing.

BTW: I wouldn't suggest it for large scale of clients or complex projects for the obvious reasons although I am sure you can and other do.

The best part is its FREE! Anyways, check it out... enjoy.

[SemAdvance]

You can use Google Calendar to manage your payment and reporting schedules.

It allows you to set up an event.

Calendar also allows you to set events to occur each month, and it will send you reminders via pop up or e-mail with various time frames of those events.

It really is a full featured time management assistant and personal reminder system!!

Plus you cant beat the free aspect!

[gleames]

Look into freshbooks, it's an online solution that looks promising - havent' had a chance to try it yet