Combining a part-time architecture practice with a job as a college professor means that every minute is precious for Ed Shannon, in Palatine, IL (just outside Chicago). After five years in business he came to the conclusion that he needed to become more organized about tracking his time and creating invoices.
Research on online bulletin boards for architects and on the Internet turned up a few well-known billing software packages. But, the big names didn't stand up to Shannon's small business requirements. One of the top contenders was "way too expensive. And it seemed like it had too much for me. A lot of stuff I wouldn't use. And it looked to be too complicated," he says.
A perfect fit for small business
BillingTracker fit Ed Shannon's wish list perfectly. All the time tracking and professional invoicing functionality he needed, in an easy to use, very affordably priced software package.
"I was able to learn it without investing a whole lot of time," he recalls. "To learn the whole program probably took about two hours and I already pretty much knew what I was doing."
The ability to easily create accurate, professional-looking invoices is key for Shannon. "With BillingTracker, I feel a lot more confident with my invoices. I know everything is in the bill, without having to check it, or do it off the top of my head. It keeps me organized."
"I use BillingTracker to log all my time, even my administrative stuff. I have an entry for un-billable work, and also for my college work, so I can look back and see what I did." Shannon's careful time tracking is the result of a previous experience where he had to prove how much architecture work he did in order to get his agreed payment. Now he has a professional way to show what he did. "I'm creating a trail behind me."
"Another thing I really like is that I can keep track of my reimbursable expenses. Now I log any receipt I get, and the program marks it up automatically."
Business snapshot
Name: Edward J. Shannon
Description: Residential architecture and design services
Number of employees: Sole practitioner
Number of customers: 2-4 clients per month
BillingTracker user since: November 2004
Location: Palatine, IL (near Chicago)
Website: www.edwardjshannon.com
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