Tracking Time

I’ve used On The Job for quite a while and as a time tracking application it has been very useful to me. But it just doesn’t fit in my workflow anymore. The fact that I can’t customize the invoice feature made my workflow look somewhat like this:

1. Track time for a project.
2. Export XML or CSV files.
3. Data merge these files into my InDesign template.
4. Export to a PDF file.

Allthough On The Job supports expense lines, I still need other software to keep track of domain names, webhosting and payments. So this is not a good thing anymore.

Since I’ve read some good reviews on the application lately, I decided to give Billings 3 a try. It seems like this is the app I’ve needed from the beginning. Here are some of the features I really like:

Custom Invoices

The invoice editor isn’t a very nice thing to work with if you’re used to working in InDesign or Illustrator. But in only a few hours I was able to recreate the invoice templates I needed.

Recurring Invoices

This is probably one of the features I like the most. I’m able to track invoices for webspace and domain names a lot better now. The hard job was to get all the data into Billings, but this will save me a lot of time when I need to create invoices.

Blueprint Slips

This feature comes in handy for adding fixed prices such as for domain names, web hosting.

Tracking Payments

I can easily see what invoices have been paid and who owes me money. The reports are very useful too. I’m now able to see who’s my top client, what expenses I make, …

There are still some things I need to figure out about Billings, but I think I’ll learn by using it.