Book keeping?

At the moment I keep everything on paper and it's a complete mess.
I've tried out FreshBooks and Free Agent too; neither have really done it for me.

So, who uses what methods for their books?

Garyrae

It's not that difficult to set up a system using templates that come or can be downloaded for whatever spreadsheet program you have, but the trick is...you have to be numerate. (There are lots of people who just aren't, the way there are lots of people who just don't like to read, or look at pictures. This is not a value judgment it's a cognitive assessment.)

Depending on the size of your business and your long-term plans, you might benefit from hiring a bookeeper, or at least hiring someone to set up a system for you.*

Even "pug and play" software programs and those which include a "quick start guide," will have a learning curve. And even the simplest setup won't work if it doesn't match the way you process financial data.

Cheers!

Sarah

*These are not services my business provides, by the way.

I have the same problem Gary, everything's kept on paper atm. :S

www.marketcircle.com looks good though.

Guys, Use Excel it's pretty powerful and not that difficult to learn. I have my cash flow set up in there and all I have to do is just make entries for the current months income and the rest gets done by itself. Profit sharing(I have a partner), inflow, outflow and everything

Oh god... you don't want to know. It's horrible. What Dan pointed out looks nice though .

I have two excel sheets, one for income and one for expenses. Both contain the basic record keeping data I need so that I can reference them at any time. I love excel because you can do practically anything with the data.

Only shame is I'm not a mac user and I don't own an iPhone.

Originally Posted by Dan Only shame is I'm not a mac user and I don't own an iPhone.

SHAME?

Try using Excel man =|

Riddle me this too; especially you Dan, as like me I'd imagine you're working with 2 currencies, and Paypal's odd exchange rates.

How do you all go about documenting Paypal fees?

I'm getting 5 values to keep track of!
- Invoiced amount; USD
- Paypal fees
- Received sum
- Paypal fees in GBP
- Received sum in GBP

Losing my mind trying to work out how best to do things.

Originally Posted by Garyrae Riddle me this too; especially you Dan, as like me I'd imagine you're working with 2 currencies, and Paypal's odd exchange rates. How do you all go about documenting Paypal fees? I'm getting 5 values to keep track of! - Invoiced amount; USD - Paypal fees - Received sum - Paypal fees in GBP - Received sum in GBP Losing my mind trying to work out how best to do things.

I'm in the same boat as you, though I'm jotting everything on paper.

Still seeking a decent app that I can use. :/