The Bee’s new Invoice Detail Report is the swiss army knife of reports! Here are just some of the things this report can do for you:
* Show how much business (revenue/sales) you have done with client “X” over the past 90 days.
* Show the detail of all unpaid invoices.
* Show all the invoices with service / item “Y” for the past 6 months.
* Show the invoice detail for a specific category of service / items.
* Export the detail to a spreadsheet for further analysis.
June 6th, 2011
The Bee is more than than just an invoicing system. Much more. With the release of Books, the Bee has been transformed into a complete system to meet all of the bookkeeping needs of a small service business or freelancing operation.
For existing Bee customers, here’s how to get started using Books
Books was released to all Bee customers on June 6, 2011. As part of the release, we did the following:
1. Created Books accounts (general ledger accounts) for all expense categories.
2. Created Books accounts for a typical service business.
3. Created an entry for books account, Accounts Receivable, that agrees to the total of unpaid invoices.
4. Created an entry to books account, Opening Balance Offset, to balance the balance sheet.
5. Created books transactions for income and expense transactions for calendar year 2011. You can see these in the Trial Balance (detail).
Here’s what you or your accountant should do:
1. Create general journal entries for the balance sheet accounts.
If you have any questions about how to get started with Books, please email Bee support.
Thanks!
November 11th, 2010
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., it seems appropriate to talk about “giving thanks” in a business context. As professionals, we should be generating a significant portion of new sales from referrals. But when we land a new account, do we take time and effort to properly thank the person who refers us? Putting aside any moral discussions about how its the right thing to do, thanking a person properly, is just good business.
Here are three critical components of a proper “thank you”, that will help make a lasting impression, and significantly raise the chances that you will receive more referrals.
* Be Timely. Within 48 hours of landing a new account, call the person that referred you and express sincere thanks.
* Be Sincere. Your thank you should be heartfelt and should be specific about how the referral helped you and what it means to your business.
* Be Unique. After a verbal thank you on the phone, you should follow up with a unique gift. Something unexpected. Something of high-quality. Spend the money. And if possible, take the time to deliver it in person.
People do business with people. It’s the emotional connection that drives sales. Make sure you are putting the proper value on a new sale by delivering a proper thank you.
November 8th, 2010
You asked for it…….you got it! The Bee now imports time entries from Basecamp! Basecamp, the popular online, project collaboration tool from 37 Signals, boasts over 4 million users. Now, Basecamp users that track time on projects, can easily transfer that time to create an client invoice in the Bee.
Now, here’s the really cool part! Our Basecamp integration allows Bee users to not only transfer time from their Basecamp account, but also from other Basecamp projects they have been invited to. Here’s an example:
Frederica Freelancer uses her Basecamp account to track time on projects for clients she works with directly. Frederica also tracks and bills time on projects that she works on for Big Top Designs, Inc., a web design firm. Big Top has their own Basecamp subscription and has granted Frederica access to certain projects.
With the Bee, Frederica can pull time from ALL of these projects to prepare invoices for clients. Pretty slick!
Here is a link to a short video we put together to demonstrate the ease of the integration. We hope you like it!
Kudos to Karl for writing the integration code. Not a trivial task!
Happy time tracking!
October 19th, 2010
Who knew we would hear from so many folks all over the world who wish to use the Bee! However, we have to admit its been a little tough to love the Bee if you’re not based in the U.S.
Pesky things like currency symbols, country codes, and address formatting needed to bee addressed.
So thanks to you (Alfonse, Andrea, Charles, and others!), we have added a bunch of new “international” features. We have taken great care to add only the minimum of what it takes to get the job done. Staying true to our mission of keeping the Bee clean and simple for all. Here’s a taste:
* country codes
* international address formatting for the U.K.
* currency symbols and codes for invoicing in different currencies
We hope you like it! Cheers, grazie, gracias!
September 10th, 2010
Many of our customers like to send along a personal note when emailing an invoice to their client. Maybe its a couple of sentences explaining the charges on the invoice. Possibly a special “thank you” for the business. Or it could be a friendly reminder to “please pay”, when resending a previously sent invoice.
The Bee now makes it possible for you to tailor the subject line of the email, as well as the body of the email. But wait, that’s not all! Now, you can also add and store your signature and the valediction to be used for all invoices emailed. Just go to Profile / My Info to store your signature.
Here’s a look a the new screen that pops up when you email an invoice. You have the ability to edit anything in the “yellow” subject and message boxes.
August 30th, 2010
My father-in-law, Ray, had a very successful home building company. He was known for building a quality house that would stand the test of time. Funny thing is, he couldn’t even hammer a nail. All work was performed by subcontractors.
When I discovered this, I was keenly interested to know how high quality workmanship could be maintained by using all subcontractors. His response, “All the best subs in the city want to work for us. Most have been with us for over 20 years.” It turns out, there was one over-riding reason the best contractors worked for Ray. Ray paid them BEFORE their invoices were due. In an industry known for late payment and non-payment to contractors, Ray knew the secret to building to a quality home.
As entrepreneurs running service businesses, we would do well to remember this lesson. Paying our freelancers and contractors on a timely basis is critical. If you want to work with the best, structure your business accordingly.
August 18th, 2010
Hello reader, it is Trent aka “the intern” and I am writing today about my experience working here at the Bee. I’ve been slinking about behind the scenes to help shape the B2Bee web presence and marketing efforts. Throughout the course of the summer I’ve worked on numerous projects and learned plenty along the way. I’ve built confidence in my ability to ship good content and the humility that comes with having to revise it. Probably best of all, I’ve gotten the chance to be a part of a mission to be that “aha, that’s what I was looking for” moment for our customers.
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