Anyone use a database?

I

imported_hockeyplaya13

New member
How do you track your clients, income, expenses, amount spent by each person, amount spent per month, per week, most used service (if you offer specific packages), etc...? Or do you?



I just finished a taking a class all about Excel and Access, and am pretty well versed in using those two programs now. I plan on creating my own relational database to track the things mentioned above and to create reports on certain things. But I'm wondering if there's something else that you all are using that could save me the time/energy, and what information you like to track.



Thanks!



Scott
 
I tried creating a database in Access but I found it just plain annoying.



I'd much rather keep track of the important stuff in an Excel spreadsheet and written paperwork and/or copies of invoices and receipts.
 
JohnKleven said:
I use quickbooks, and it covers all of this information, also makes doing your taxes much easier.





John
Click to expand...



Yea, taxes was another thing I had in mind with this. If I created one, I would make it automatically prepare a balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, list of deductible expenses, etc...
 
Simply Accounting for us, and it tracks and stores all this information. Various reports can be generated depending on the information wanted.
 
MOP???

But ya, i use that same format.



Also, don't put your expenses on the same database, make them a seperate table. My CPA told me this is better for them, especially if you make column A all generic labels like "gas" or "supplies" or "food" that way they can organize them and tabulate the totals for each category.
 
If you already have Excel and Access you really can't beat it.



You could save yourself some money and spend a little time looking up some tutorials on creating databases with them.



That way you can make them do exactly what you want right from the start.
 
Personally, I'd develop a nice database within QuickBooks or SimplyAccounting that way you don't need to enter data in 2 different solutions.



If you prefer do you accounting in some other manner, then setting a really detailed Excel worksheet and using Pivot Reports can be pretty powerful as well.
 
JohnKleven said:
I use quickbooks, and it covers all of this information, also makes doing your taxes much easier.





John
Click to expand...



Hey John . . . . care to PM me some tips on how you have all your stuff setup?
 
I'm about to trial a pretty basic CRM package called Clientconnect from a Kiwi Company called MYOB, it integrated well with outlook and seems to be uite useful. Great for organising my customers into groups etc.. The problem that I have is finding the time to get all the info into the system.

Maybe a PDA or smartphone could be the answer to doing it on the fly?
 
I work with Excel nearly 7 days a week and will tell you by far it is one of the most powerful tools out there. Some basic Excel knowledge will go a long way. I'm definitely using it for detailing, personal finance, etc., etc.



If you start to grow in size you may want something more specialized, but starting out, Excel will be more than enough.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top