# How do you keep records



## chance (Oct 3, 2007)

I was wondering how people kept their records. Is there software out there that helps you keep records in this business, or does an excel spreadsheet work just fine?

If you use excel, how do you set it up. I am trying to set up an excel spreadsheet right now, but it seems all unorganized and hard to follow. If you do not want to post a screen shot my email is [email protected]

Thanks a lot


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## TshirtGuru (Jul 9, 2008)

chance said:


> I was wondering how people kept their records. Is there software out there that helps you keep records in this business, or does an excel spreadsheet work just fine?
> 
> If you use excel, how do you set it up. I am trying to set up an excel spreadsheet right now, but it seems all unorganized and hard to follow. If you do not want to post a screen shot my email is [email protected]
> 
> Thanks a lot


Quickbooks.


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

I started with Excel and quickly realized I needed something that worked... I'm using Quickbooks Pro now. It clearly was written by a bunch of accountants and they apparently didn't talk to people who might actually use it... there never seems to be an easy way to do things. On the other hand, after a couple of months of using it, you kind of get used to it.


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## imeccentric (May 13, 2007)

Chance,
Quickbooks has a freebie program that will do just fine for you. It won't keep track of inventory, but it does everything else you would need. It keeps track of expenses, does billing and invoices, keeps track of customers, and you can assign prices to your products. What more do you need, especially for free


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## Calibrated (Oct 26, 2006)

Note that the FREE version will only handle up to 100 customers, after that you need to purchase a full version. But seriously folks, your running a business and there is much more to it than simply keeping up with your customer information. 

Quickbooks comes in many versions, and they now even offer a CRM (customer resource manager) that can manage most shops needs and keep up with your expenses, taxes...and besides that if you dont use this type of accounting system how will you ever really know if your making money?

If you run your business by how much money you have left over in your bank than your certain to fail as a business....especially if you get audited. Quickbooks is under $200 so there is no reason not to use it.


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## jmlampert23 (Nov 7, 2008)

they have a program called t-invoicer made for screen printers here is an ebay action on it. i have been thinking about getting it T-Invoicer 3 Screen Printing Estimating Invoice Program - eBay (item 150307996973 end time Nov-09-08 14:14:33 PST)


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## Mar (Feb 13, 2008)

I use quickbooks too. For me, even though I'm no accountant, it wasn't hard to use. Just gotta learn some new accounting terms. Its just that its tons of features buries it under a face of complexity. I find Quickbooks as the best solution to my accounting needs thus far. It is precise, concise, featureful.

If you need a cheaper/free solution, you can try FreshBooks - Online Invoicing, Time Tracking and Expense Service. It is online, so you can access it from anywhere.


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## InterStreme (Feb 9, 2008)

We use quickbooks for accounting, excel for supplies, and a combination of outlook and didanddone.com for tasks and project management.


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## mikelmorgan (Nov 1, 2008)

I use a program called Filemaker Pro. It is a data base program that you can program yourself. It may be a bit complicated to set up but once it is set up there is no limit to what it can do for you. We can bid an order, make a work order from that bid, print out a schedule, keep up with production, inventory, what ever we program it to do. This year we had 3247 records on this file. We can pull up any record in a second, or any set of records. Divide these records any way we want. It runs our shop and everyone here uses it after minimal training. Look them up, you may need someone to write the program to fit your needs but it is a really good program. Contact me and I can tell you more if your interested.


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## amy_schutt (May 29, 2007)

T-invoicer software. Found it on ebay $40. Best stuff since white bread.


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## Nostalgic Ray (Feb 6, 2008)

Quickbooks Pro here


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