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The Pro Shop

Needs Software for Managing a Shop

Tom McKenna, Managing Editor

2 users recommend

Photo: Courtesy: os-unlimited.com

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This came into our editorial e-mailbox. I'm wondering if any pros can help this writer...

We're looking for software that would help us manage a small wood shop.  No employees, just my husband.  We need a better way to keep track of time, materials, invoices, etc.  Do you have a past article that would help us, or suggestions?  Your comments would be appreciated.

Deb

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Comments (4)

Sancordesigns writes: I tried Quickbooks but switched to Simply Accounting (not sure if thats just up here in Canada) but you can be a basic or complex with the program as you want. very intuitive and has a great help index.
You can set up projects and track expenses and revenue from each one so you know where you went wrong or right with your quoting.
Posted: 10:57 pm on April 1st

PORC writes: Hi Deb.

I would guess that everybody has there own way of doing things, and with a bit of practice you will find your way as well. My thoughts are:
-Use Quickbooks. It is a very powerful tool that can both help keep your company organized but also help with budgets, forcasting, and tracking of both time, but also materials. I do agree that the IRS is a good entity to satisfy, but my book keeping has much more to it than that. I am able to track every expense and earning on a yearly, quarterly, or weekly basis. Regular comparisons are critical for growth and understanding. Start with a small chart of accounts and add to them as needed.

Check out this link. I've learned a ton from him. and he just did a post a while back about business software for woodworkers.

http://www.woodworkersjourney.com/

Cheers

Posted: 5:11 pm on January 24th

jdmaher writes: For a one-man show, best to use Quicken (Home & Business edition). It's cheaper and easier.

Quicken offers "Categories" that allows classification of materials.

For Time - DON'T track it; it's not worth the effort. Instead, bid projects with fixed time costs - and eat the difference. Two or three projects is all it takes to learn to estimate time well.

You can issue Invoices with Quicken and do basic tracking of what's due. That should be enough for a one-man show.

There's much more to Quicken, but that's a longer discussion.

Remeber that computers are great for tracking detail - but then you have to maintain all that detail. DON'T! All you really need is enough to satisfy the IRS . . .


Jim
Posted: 2:45 pm on January 24th

saschafer writes:
It's sounds like they're looking for basic accounting software. Quickbooks is probably the market leader; other popular packages are Peachtree and MYOB. There are also some freeware and web-based packages available, although I have no experience with them. I don't think you're going to find anything that's specifically tailored to a small woodworking shop.

-Steve

Posted: 1:20 pm on January 24th

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