Some of you will already know I manage the development team at The Accountants Circle, as well as much of the management accounts and budgeting outsourced services.
What I'd like to know is - what tools or templates do you think would make your life easier as a bookkeeper?
What gaps do you see in your current range of tools?
Do you have templates you use that are somewhat time consuming to use?
We do already provide efficient, flexible and professional templates for - management accounts, budgeting & projections, timesheet management, asset management, cash book, and general record keeping (registers, mileage, cheques etc).
I'm hoping to get an idea of what others feel would be useful. I have a few ideas for adding to our template collection, but I want to prioritise development with what others think will be useful!
I'd be very interested in some sort of practice management spreadsheet. Something that I could plug my Vat return due dates into, together with my clients year end dates. If this linked to a database containing client contact details all the better. I use fixed fees at present but have taken on a few new clients who I bill on a time basis. A timesheet spreadsheet linked in to the above would be ideal.
We've discussed practice management quite a bit, but held off on developing a spreadsheet for this and focussed attention to an online/database option which can also run as a desktop package (listed for a future stage).
This is something I know some others here are working on, but I have little involvement apart from some discussions on features and functionality.
We do currently have a Timesheet Management System which was only released last month and already proving popular - I hadn't actually expected it to be this popular when I was working on it.
Another option is the e-conomic software, which has a project accounting module. This is available free to bookkeepers and accountants for your own use and is quite a powerful package.
When I do hear more on the practice management system we're developing I'll definitely keep you all posted!
