[geeks] timesheet and invoicing software

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 @ 13:34 -0800, Sheldon T. Hall said:

> Charles Shannon Hendrix writes ...
> >
> > I'm after an invoicing system for contract work.
> > 
> > I track my time with a timer program. It's the data collection and
> > reporting part I want to automate with software.
> > 
> > I actually put a couple of hours into a quick database to track this,
> > and I might just write something simple myself.
> 
> Heh.  Don't forget to check for rounding errors and zero balances.  I
> didn't, once, and my program sent "Pay up or else" invoices to anyone who
> had a zero balance over 60 days old....

I learned while doing some credit card and accounting software to avoid
balance checks whenever possible, most especially when doing things like
invoice checking.

Balance checking is always error prone in financial software, so
whenever you can avoid it, you are better off.

Always try to assign things like balances to some sort of container
which can have a status, like an invoice, time period, or account.

In other words, check the invoice status, not the balances owed.

You can still make mistakes like applying money to an invoice and not
marking it paid, but they are harder to make, and easier to fix and
check for.

I'm not planning on anything big... a bare bones invoicer is all I
really need.

I was just hoping to be lazy and find one already written.

Everything I found that didn't suck was for Windows.

-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["People should have access to the data which
you have about them.  There should be a process for them to challenge any
inaccuracies." -- Arthur Miller]