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Looking for Excel spreadsheet for invoicing/payments, etc. (i.e., D.I.Y. TO3000 clone)
Thread poster: Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:51
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
Mar 14, 2017

OK, so I have been using TO3000 for years now, but am looking to try a simple Excel spreadsheet for a while, as I am sick of the TO3000 approach.

I find that I never really understand what is going on in TO3000 when tax time rolls around, and was hoping to change that by switching to a simpler system. Anyway, before I start tinkering, I was wondering if anyone here already had a nice system or even an excel template or two. Basically, the system needs to:

• track jo
... See more
OK, so I have been using TO3000 for years now, but am looking to try a simple Excel spreadsheet for a while, as I am sick of the TO3000 approach.

I find that I never really understand what is going on in TO3000 when tax time rolls around, and was hoping to change that by switching to a simpler system. Anyway, before I start tinkering, I was wondering if anyone here already had a nice system or even an excel template or two. Basically, the system needs to:

• track jobs
• track invoices
• track payment
• link payments to invoices
• track business expenses
• some form of invoice creation would be nice

Michael


[Edited at 2017-03-15 11:53 GMT]
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Anton Konashenok
Anton Konashenok  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 14:51
French to English
+ ...
I have a basic one Mar 14, 2017

Michael, I wrote an Excel template for my invoicing (with some VBA code) a while ago and will gladly share it after the next round of improvements, which I will do one of these days. It is not exactly what you are asking for, but it creates invoices, automatically inserting the client data and payment terms from a table, and highlights invoices that have not been marked as paid by their due date. No job/payment/expense tracking, no per-client statistics.

 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:51
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Don't let yourself do it Mar 15, 2017

Michael Joseph Wdowiak Beijer wrote:
Anyway, before I start tinkering, I was wondering if anyone here already had a nice system or even an excel template or two.

Sounds like incipient yak shaving to me.

You will spend hours searching for and evaluating candidates, then decide that nothing is quite what you want, and spend hours if not days creating something quite impressive, including some rather clever VBA macros. Then going forward you will regularly spend time tweaking it when you should be doing something else.

Trust me, I've been here. I know the symptoms. I would stick with TO3000.

When you say tax, do you mean VAT or income tax?

Dan


 
CafeTran Training (X)
CafeTran Training (X)
Netherlands
Local time: 14:51
Tüftler Mar 15, 2017

Michael Joseph Wdowiak Beijer wrote:

OK, so I have been using TO3000 for years now, but am looking to try a simple Excel spreadsheet for a while, as I am sick of the TO3000 approach.


https://www.drweb.de/magazin/einnahmen-ausgabenrechnung-leicht-gemacht-mit-excel-oder-openoffice/

https://board.protecus.de/t35422.htm

http://www.giga.de/downloads/eur-buchhaltung-mit-excel/

http://www.ms-buchhalter.de/Excel-Buchhaltung.html


 
Oliver Pekelharing
Oliver Pekelharing  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 14:51
Dutch to English
calendar, excel and proz Mar 15, 2017

I think I can do all that, but I need three apps: I enter all (most) jobs in my outlook calendar and track them there, I enter expenses in a simple excel sheet, and I use Proz's invoicing tool to create invoices, track payments, link payments to invoices, calculate VAT, etc. (Proz's tool is simple, but could use a few improvements. Sadly no one in support listens to suggestions... But it still works for me.)

Olly


 
ahartje
ahartje
Portugal
Local time: 13:51
Member (2006)
German to Portuguese
+ ...
BaccS Mar 15, 2017

Thanks to your entensive list of accounting programs I changed to BaccS, when my TO3000 version crashed after an automatic MS update.

So far, Yauhen/Eugene has been very supportive and has reacted almost immediately, when I needed help for updates, adjustments or even tips regarding the template designer. The existing import function for TO3000 data acts perfectly well and saves your time.

Now the program works smoothly and I am glad that MS forced me to look for altern
... See more
Thanks to your entensive list of accounting programs I changed to BaccS, when my TO3000 version crashed after an automatic MS update.

So far, Yauhen/Eugene has been very supportive and has reacted almost immediately, when I needed help for updates, adjustments or even tips regarding the template designer. The existing import function for TO3000 data acts perfectly well and saves your time.

Now the program works smoothly and I am glad that MS forced me to look for alternatives.
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Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:51
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Dan Mar 15, 2017

Dan Lucas wrote:

Michael Joseph Wdowiak Beijer wrote:
Anyway, before I start tinkering, I was wondering if anyone here already had a nice system or even an excel template or two.

Sounds like incipient yak shaving to me.

You will spend hours searching for and evaluating candidates, then decide that nothing is quite what you want, and spend hours if not days creating something quite impressive, including some rather clever VBA macros. Then going forward you will regularly spend time tweaking it when you should be doing something else.

Trust me, I've been here. I know the symptoms. I would stick with TO3000.

When you say tax, do you mean VAT or income tax?

Dan


You're probably right, but occasionally I get the itch.

Not VAT, but income tax. My UK self assessment. I'm just not happy with my overall system, and am trying to either improve it or devise a better one.

[Edited at 2017-03-15 21:32 GMT]


 
Heinrich Pesch
Heinrich Pesch  Identity Verified
Finland
Local time: 15:51
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
How many invoices do you send Mar 15, 2017

I sent last year about 70, and in some years more than a hundred, but I have no use for special software.
Since the beginning I have used Word for invoicing, a form where I fill in the information of the customer when I send my first invoice to them. File name Customer17009 if this is the 9th invoice of this year. At the end of the month I convert the files into pdf and send them off.
My bookkeeping I do in Excel, one sheet for each month and a new file each year.
Last Sunday I
... See more
I sent last year about 70, and in some years more than a hundred, but I have no use for special software.
Since the beginning I have used Word for invoicing, a form where I fill in the information of the customer when I send my first invoice to them. File name Customer17009 if this is the 9th invoice of this year. At the end of the month I convert the files into pdf and send them off.
My bookkeeping I do in Excel, one sheet for each month and a new file each year.
Last Sunday I did my tax declaration, it took me an hour to make the final calculation and fill in the forms.
The deadlines I keep in front of me on a calendar of paper, expense 2 Euro each year.
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Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:51
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
KashFlow vs FreeAgent (vs TO3000 3D) Mar 19, 2017

Heinrich Pesch wrote:

I sent last year about 70, and in some years more than a hundred, but I have no use for special software.
Since the beginning I have used Word for invoicing, a form where I fill in the information of the customer when I send my first invoice to them. File name Customer17009 if this is the 9th invoice of this year. At the end of the month I convert the files into pdf and send them off.
My bookkeeping I do in Excel, one sheet for each month and a new file each year.
Last Sunday I did my tax declaration, it took me an hour to make the final calculation and fill in the forms.
The deadlines I keep in front of me on a calendar of paper, expense 2 Euro each year.


Hi Heinrich,

I suppose I send about 100 invoices each tax year.

I am currently test-driving KashFlow.

I'm going to have a look at "TO3000 3D", when AIT finally release it. However, if it's just another pretty much identical version, with a slightly different UI (like the last two so-called big upgrades), I might consider switching to KashFlow. One reason is I like the idea of being able to link my actual bank statements (via automatic bank feeds) with my £ and € Barclays accounts, among other things. KashFlow also has some pretty cool UK Self Assessment stuff, for those of us among us who need a bit of hand-holding thwn it comes to accounting, taxes, etc (such as myself). FreeAgent also looks interesting (and has even more extensive UK Self Assessment functionality), but is quite inflexibly built around the idea of billing by the hour.

Michael


 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:51
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Non GBP accounts Mar 19, 2017

Michael Joseph Wdowiak Beijer wrote:
One reason is I like the idea of being able to link my actual bank statements (via automatic bank feeds) with my £ and € Barclays accounts, among other things.

KashFlow looks nice, and I am a convert to online accounts myself, but I don't think it yet supports multicurrency accounts?

Dan


 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:51
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Anton! Mar 19, 2017

Anton Konashenok wrote:

Michael, I wrote an Excel template for my invoicing (with some VBA code) a while ago and will gladly share it after the next round of improvements, which I will do one of these days. It is not exactly what you are asking for, but it creates invoices, automatically inserting the client data and payment terms from a table, and highlights invoices that have not been marked as paid by their due date. No job/payment/expense tracking, no per-client statistics.


Although I'm currently leaning more towards either just sticking with TO3000, or switching to something like KashFlow, I would love to see your template, as I am always interested to see how other people do it!

Michael


 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:51
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Yes, BaccS does look very good, … Mar 19, 2017

ahartje wrote:

Thanks to your entensive list of accounting programs I changed to BaccS, when my TO3000 version crashed after an automatic MS update.

So far, Yauhen/Eugene has been very supportive and has reacted almost immediately, when I needed help for updates, adjustments or even tips regarding the template designer. The existing import function for TO3000 data acts perfectly well and saves your time.

Now the program works smoothly and I am glad that MS forced me to look for alternatives.


Hi ahartje,

... and possibly better than TO3000. I'm also glad it's starting to build momentum, as TO3000 really needs competition, to wake them up.

Michael


 
Michael Beijer
Michael Beijer  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:51
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Indeed, it doesn't. Mar 20, 2017

Dan Lucas wrote:

Michael Joseph Wdowiak Beijer wrote:
One reason is I like the idea of being able to link my actual bank statements (via automatic bank feeds) with my £ and € Barclays accounts, among other things.

KashFlow looks nice, and I am a convert to online accounts myself, but I don't think it yet supports multicurrency accounts?

Dan



I gave up on KashFlow because it can't handle multi-currency accounts. However, ClearBooks can (as can Xero, I think), so I am currently testing ClearBooks. So far all the important stuff seems to be present (automatic bank feeds for both my euro account and my sterling account, the ability to charge in words rather than just hours like FreeAgent, etc.), and it's cheaper. The self assessment stuff isn't as extensive as in FreeAgent, but it seems to do everything else nicely.

info: https://www.clearbooks.co.uk/

Michael


 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:51
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Looks nice Mar 20, 2017

Michael Joseph Wdowiak Beijer wrote:
However, ClearBooks can (as can Xero, I think), so I am currently testing ClearBooks. So far all the important stuff seems to be present (automatic bank feeds for both my euro account and my sterling account, the ability to charge in words rather than just hours like FreeAgent, etc.), and it's cheaper.

A few years back when I was looking at accounting systems, I noticed several people expressing concern about Xero being behind the others in terms of compliance with UK accounting requirements. Having had a browse through various forums, that complaint still seems to be voiced fairly frequently.

ClearBooks seems nice. It looks as if the automated bank feeds are only available in the more expensive Together+ version, which at £16.50 + VAT is perhaps more expensive than I'd like to pay. (I would not be able to avoid that version in any case because the cheaper version doesn't handle VAT.) But in the end were talking about a tenner a month more, so it's marginal in the greater scheme of things. I currently import transactions by CSV, which is getting boring.

In terms of invoicing to handle words in ClearBooks, would you just use the "Qty" field for number of words and the "Unit price" field for your rate in the invoice creation form?

I was wondering about how to get multiple services on one invoice, such as DTP (which I sometimes use when I need to OCR something and do layout work) and translation. It looks like this is feasible through adding a "stock item" for each service and than just using the "add item" function on the create invoice form. Hmm. That would work.

Do let us know how you get on with ClearBooks...

Dan


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:51
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Create your own Mar 20, 2017

With my very basic skills I created my own. Saves a lot of trouble at the end of every month and the end of the accounting year.

Invoices awaiting payment are in red, making it easy to track who has paid and who hasn't.

To keep things simple I tabulate all my expenses on a separate spreadsheet I also created myself. At the end of each month I simply add that month's expenses and the spreadsheet totals them up at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

It's worth spe
... See more
With my very basic skills I created my own. Saves a lot of trouble at the end of every month and the end of the accounting year.

Invoices awaiting payment are in red, making it easy to track who has paid and who hasn't.

To keep things simple I tabulate all my expenses on a separate spreadsheet I also created myself. At the end of each month I simply add that month's expenses and the spreadsheet totals them up at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

It's worth spending time creating these and refining them as appropriate. A great time-saver.

[Edited at 2017-03-20 17:23 GMT]
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Looking for Excel spreadsheet for invoicing/payments, etc. (i.e., D.I.Y. TO3000 clone)






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