Billings Pro is Billing Software for Macs and iPhones


I’ve been trying out Billings Pro and I recommend the program to small business owners, including those with employees who telecommute or employees that are on the road often.

According to the program’s maker, Marketcircle, “Billings Pro is a professional multi-user time tracking and invoicing solution for the Mac and iPhone, with a Web interface called Timecard for non-management staff. Timecard lets workers track time from any modern, standards compliant mobile or desktop browser, on any operating system.”  The application is a multi-user version of Billings 3, an award-winning invoicing and time-tracking program for single users (I’ve used it for the past year or so and I like it too).

There are several components to Billings Pro, allowing managers and employees to keep track of time anywhere:

-Billings Pro client (Mac OS X 10.6 or newer) – used by managers to enter invoices and payments, approve slips and take care of other administrative tasks.

-Billings Pro Touch – the iPhone app that allows all users to enter time, expenses and slips (these become items on an invoice).

-Timecard – web-based time tracker that runs on the latest version of any browser (on a computer or smartphone).

-Billings Pro Server – this is what keeps the whole system together.  The server is installed on a stationary Mac (installation doesn’t require an expert) and it “stores all the data in an industrial grade database.”

-Switchboard – online portal through which users access the Billings Pro database.

Overall Billings Pro makes for smooth sailing with invoicing and time keeping.  The server, iPhone app and other components allow multiple users easily to use the system and for managers to sync all the entries and create invoices without a hassle.  Billings Pro comes with more than 30 invoice templates that range from corporate-looking to those with colorful designs.  The iPhone app allows users to make time and expense entries offline and to sync their entries with the server once they access the internet with their phones.  Users can also submit slips via the app for managers to approve through the Billings Pro Mac client, which features a quickly accessible tab that allows managers easily to approve slips.  Also, client information can be easily imported from the Address Book or Daylite, which is a project management program by Marketcircle.

The simplicity of design and use of Billings Pro are also present in the reports feature, which is especially good for those of us who are not big fans of numbers but who need to keep an eye on accounting and overall business operations.  A few of the reports are Accounts Summary, Activity by Category and Estimate vs. Actual and all are concise and look nice.  It’s refreshing to see an invoicing program that shows just the information that is relevant as opposed to rows and columns of numbers that have nothing to do with the wanted information.

Since I work only on a laptop (that travels with me everywhere) I had trouble with the Server because it is really intended to run on a stationary computer.  My support representative, who was rather helpful, pointed this out to me.

Something I would have changed in Billings Pro (and Billings 3) is the fact that I can’t turn an estimate into an invoice at the click of a button.  I can go into an estimate slip and add it to my list of working slips then create an invoice from there, which is good for workers who need to time their work but it’s a bit of an inconvenience for those who charge at flat rates.  I also wish there were a way to restart the timer in Billings Touch because if a worker mistakenly hits “stop timing” instead of “pause timer” there’s no way to get back into the slip and work on it again.  The solution has been to start a new timer, which is not a big deal but could add a few too many slips to an invoice.

Users can try the full version of Billings Pro for free for 30 days.  The full version with email support costs 139,95€ per user and there is also a Starter Bundle package that costs 999,95€ for up to 5 users that comes with a year of premium support.  On its own premium support comes at 439,95€ per year.  There are other plans for the software and for premium support that users may check out on the Marketcircle website.

I recommend the software for small business owners with stationary offices looking for a painless time and invoice management program.

(Full disclosure: Marketcircle gave me a free license of Billings Pro as was the case with some other software I have reviewed.)


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Freelance writer, translator and copyeditor currently living in Amsterdam. Former stressed-out marketing and public relations person in NYC. Likes languages but really doesn't like flowers. Contact through GreenRabbitTranslations.com.

Discussion

  1. Mike on the 9th November

    Thanks for the review. I’ve been contemplating giving the single user version a try. I like that they have a 21 day trial period and will probably try it out soon

    • Ana da Silva on the 10th November

      Hi Mike,

      I’d say give it a shot. I’m happy with the single user version 🙂

  2. Zackery M on the 9th November

    I use this (or the free version on the iPhone). I really like it and before I was using an Adobe Air based time tracker. But it was getting complicated when I needed to track meeting times when I didn’t have my Mac with me.

  3. Maggie on the 9th November

    I use Billings all the time and I love it — effective, easy to use, and really keeps thing on track with minimal effort. Plus bangs out nice looking invoices!

  4. Bearpig on the 10th November

    I tried Billings for a while but it was a bit over-complicated for my needs (i needed to purely invoice, without time tracking, etc) and ended up finding Grand Total which was exactly what i needed as the ability to create custom designs was by far the simpliest i’ve come across.

    If you want you can read my review of it, plus a few other invoicing software packages (including Billings) here – http://www.bearpig.co.uk/blog/?p=215

    • Ana da Silva on the 29th November

      I only tested the timer Billings and it worked simply. Can you elaborate on how it was complicated? Other readers would appreciate it I’m sure.

      Thanks Bearpig!

      🙂

  5. Bearpig on the 30th November

    Just to clarify the above comment, it wasnt that the timer itself was complicated to use (in fact the opposite was true – it was very simple), it’s just the package as a whole was offering a lot more functionality than I needed. I have tried to use timers in the past and I’ve always forgotten about them, which leads to very confusing totals at the end of a job!
    I’m sure Billings Pro, with the new server based option, will be very useful to a lot of people; it’s just I needed something that worked in a certain way to suit my style of work (which Grand Total still does a great job for).

  6. Tim Kolke on the 25th September

    I’m selling a 4 seat license of Billings Pro on eBay.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/251152701684.

    Love the software. We’re downsizing and don’t need it any more.

    See eBay posting for full details.

    Thanks.

  7. Erni on the 26th March

    Few partners of mine use Billings, but I don’t have a mac, does anyone know any equivalent software for windows? I use http://invoicebird.com most of the time but
    sometimes when Im on business trips and have no internet access I need a software
    which is not internet-dependable 🙁

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