# Help with billing.



## freddavis (Dec 2, 2008)

This my second year. I worked hourly for a large mall in north east ohio. Ive done some residential drives. I got my first contract and plowed twice in november. I never had to bill any one. Looking for advise and a copy of a billing sheet. Thanks!


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## dannyslawn (Oct 29, 2007)

Buy Quickbooks!!!!!! We've been using it or Quickbooks Pro for 10 years in our landscape and snow removal business. Find a family member or friend that is familer with it to help get you going. With out QB we would have no business!!!!!!


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## ColliganLands (Sep 4, 2008)

i recommend the quick books as well just make sure you have time to figure it all out and get good with it. i bought it a couple weeks ago and im still getting used to it but it organizes everyhting in one place and you just enter the info and it will generate invoices,checks,deposits etc


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## clark lawn (Oct 7, 2005)

i use quickbook also. were in NE ohio are you weve only plowed twice so your probably in my area.


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## bridge577 (Sep 30, 2005)

Quick books is user friendly and you only need to update every for or five years when your cpa gets new stuff. Most accountants use it makes it easier for your taxes too.


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## Gicon (Oct 1, 2005)

Definitly grab Quick Books. Bill after every storm, that way no one forgets, and nothing gets lost.


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## freddavis (Dec 2, 2008)

Thanks for the help i will pick up quick books tomorrow.


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## plownoob (Aug 14, 2008)

give a look at ms office accounting. I just started using that while also using quickbooks. Reason I switched was I needed to do assemblies... like package of services. Quickbooks will only do that in $$premiere.


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## cartwrightsbabe (Dec 6, 2008)

*how to set up*



this is our first year plowing alone outside of a company.
we have about 30 accounts. some comm. some res.

im a very organized person. and know if i leave it to the guy doing the work it will be a mess.
i just need a quick and easy way to keep track of it all, for billing purposes.

anyone got any ideas?


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## Gicon (Oct 1, 2005)

cartwrightsbabe;663779 said:


> this is our first year plowing alone outside of a company.
> we have about 30 accounts. some comm. some res.
> 
> im a very organized person. and know if i leave it to the guy doing the work it will be a mess.
> ...


All of my route sheets, I have made in Excel. It has the Name, Address, and Phone # of property to be service, next column is a list of the work to be done, next three columns are all for completion times (for larger storms when we go out more than once)


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## SilkKnitter (Apr 2, 2008)

You can make your own bills and track everthing by hand. Huge pain in the ass but untill you can get a program that YOU can work and deal with on a daily bases it might just be worth it.


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## JDT (Nov 16, 2008)

Gicon;663974 said:


> All of my route sheets, I have made in Excel. It has the Name, Address, and Phone # of property to be service, next column is a list of the work to be done, next three columns are all for completion times (for larger storms when we go out more than once)


Any Chance you'd be willing to e-mail a copy? I am looking to do something similar? Then again, now that I think of it, you might not want to,unless you can do a blank form? No big deal if you can't. I'm in New Hampshire!


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## JDT (Nov 16, 2008)

SilkKnitter;665802 said:


> You can make your own bills and track everthing by hand. Huge pain in the ass but untill you can get a program that YOU can work and deal with on a daily bases it might just be worth it.


I use Quickbooks invoice manager right now. Its only for invoices, nothing to do with bank account information and such. I also have quickbooks pro 2007. I tried it once, but never understood it. I am thinking about re installing it and having another go at it beginning in 2009. I will have my mom train me this time, she is used to working with the program! You can get quickbooks invoice manager online or at an office store for under $50.00 I believe. Under $75.00 for sure!


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## SilkKnitter (Apr 2, 2008)

JDT;665843 said:


> I use Quickbooks invoice manager right now. Its only for invoices, nothing to do with bank account information and such. I also have quickbooks pro 2007. I tried it once, but never understood it. I am thinking about re installing it and having another go at it beginning in 2009. I will have my mom train me this time, she is used to working with the program! You can get quickbooks invoice manager online or at an office store for under $50.00 I believe. Under $75.00 for sure!


OK, but not everyone is savvy enough to even think about using such a program. We use Gopher for our invoices and such. It is simple and directed to the landscaping/snowplowing industry. It is also good for the 'not so computer smart'


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## JDT (Nov 16, 2008)

SilkKnitter;667009 said:


> OK, but not everyone is savvy enough to even think about using such a program. We use Gopher for our invoices and such. It is simple and directed to the landscaping/snowplowing industry. It is also good for the 'not so computer smart'


I understand. I have found with the quickbooks, once I have a new customer, or service established it is very simple to use. For labor charges, I just put in the total amount for the project with materials, that way its simple. For mowing and plowing, I have the rate for each individual customer and just select the rates that corrispond with the customer. I have found it very simple to use the invoice manager alone, now that I have it established. I tried the trial of gopher, and found it to be much harder than quickbooks.


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## SilkKnitter (Apr 2, 2008)

JDT;667078 said:


> I understand. I have found with the quickbooks, once I have a new customer, or service established it is very simple to use. For labor charges, I just put in the total amount for the project with materials, that way its simple. For mowing and plowing, I have the rate for each individual customer and just select the rates that corrispond with the customer. I have found it very simple to use the invoice manager alone, now that I have it established. I tried the trial of gopher, and found it to be much harder than quickbooks.


With quick-books, it is harder to fix mistakes. Gopher is much easier for that. And the cool thing is that you can add quick-books to Gopher for added stuffs.


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## JDT (Nov 16, 2008)

SilkKnitter;667339 said:


> With quick-books, it is harder to fix mistakes. Gopher is much easier for that. And the cool thing is that you can add quick-books to Gopher for added stuffs.


I guess it comes down to personal prefrence and learning the program to its fullest.


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