I have just purchased your software as I am a freelance designer in Sweden and I liked the simplicity of your software. I do have a request though. I was wondering if there could be a slightly customized version of the pdf. I would like to see the pdf in the colours of my logo. It will just maintain the brand identity I am trying to convey. Is this a possibility?
(4 August 2009) Answer:
We liked your request regarding the theme color of the PDF Invoice! We have added a ‘color chooser’ in the Invoice Settings page which will allow you to customize the theme color for your invoices. When you next open your application you should be prompted to update to v1.4 (you will need to be online). This latest version contains the color change.
(5 August 2009) Question:
I have started to use your software and so far so good! One quick question I had for you. One of my customers wants to me to set up an account number (ID number) for him. I do see an ID in the Customers tab but it doesn’t appear to be editable and also does not show up in the final invoice. Is there any way to work around this?
(5 August 2009) Answer:
You are right the Customer ID field is not editable. I would suggest as a way to get around this you could do one of 2 things:
1. Put their Account Number in as part of the Customer Name e.g. ‘12345 Customer’.
or
2. Add their Account Number as part of the Customer Address: e.g.
Account 12345
123 Brown Street
Auckland
NEW ZEALAND.
Both of these will result in the Account Number being displayed on the Invoice.
(14 August 2009) Question:
I’m very interested in your software because I can use it on mac & windows. I would like to know if it’s possible to install the software in a way that all the computer on the network synchronise the invoice that I create.
(15 August 2009) Answer:
At present there is no way to synchronize your invoices automatically between networked computers. The only way would be for you to manually synchronise the database file (BusyBeesInvoicing.db) between your computers. On your mac the database file can be found at Library/Preferences/WorkerBees/Local Store/
(21 August 2009) Question:
Is there a possibility for an option for a “quotation” tab. Most often clients want a quote before you start with the work.
(23 August 2009) Answer:
Adding a Quotes tab is on our list of future enhancements. I am not able to give you a timeframe as to when we will have this ready for release, other than to say that it will be coming in the next few months, but hopefully sooner than later.
(21 Jan 2010) Added Quotes tab to the software.
(31 August 2009) Question:
I am in australia and have recently started looking for good invoicing software for mac. I found yours and think its great. i will purchase very soon however before i do i just want to ask a few questions. I am in a freelance graphic design company with a business partner. He will be running the software too so we will buy two copies, but how easy is it to transfer all item data and prices etc across to his computer? And also, are you guys planning on making an iphone app, so i can create invoices etc on the fly and transfer to the computer at a later date?
(31 August 2009) Answer:
In answer to your questions:
1. At the moment the only way to transfer the data would be to enter it manually, or you could copy the database file from one computer to the other (on a Mac the database file is located at Library/Preferences/WorkerBees/Local Store/BusyBeesInvoicing.db). If you go the manual entry route, you may find it useful to use the Search tab to retrieve all the records in a table (e.g. Items), and you can then use Export Data to export to a spreadsheet.
2. We currently have no plans to make an iPhone app, sorry!
(31 August 2009) Question:
Am i able to customise the layout of the invoice in the purchased version?? And is this a thing you guys have done and dusted, or are you making developments over time??
(31 August 2009) Answer:
The purchased version of the software is the same as the demo version, except that the SAMPLE stamp is removed. So you will not have control over the layout, but you can customise it by changing your colour-scheme and font.
The software is still a work-in-progress, so we are open to suggestions!
(6 Oct 2009) Question:
I just bought your EXCELLENT invoice system. Just one minor prob with using Busy Bee Invoicing: cannot seem to input decimal places in Job – Rate . . . field states Must be an integer and as you know, the pennies do add up! So would really like to know if this can be resolved. Looking forward to hearing from you soon
(7 Oct-2009) Answer:
Just wanted to let you know that we have updated the software to allow decimal places in the Job Rate. When you next open the software you will be prompted to update to version 1.5 which contains this change.
(7 Oct 2009) Question:
I often have customers looking for a simple invoicing and receivables application and, after some searching around on VersionTracker, I had a look at your video tutorials for Busy Bee Invoicing and am very impressed. Its a simple and easy-to-use application which I imagine can be just what many small businesses and even individual professionals need. Well done.
I have a question, however. I did not see anywhere to apply customer payments against invoices generated and was wondering whether you plan to add this feature. I guess that the only other thing I’d like to see is some reporting features.
Thanks in advance…
(7 Oct 2009) Answer:
Thankyou for your email, it is great to hear your feedback. Customer payments are on our list of to-do items, along with adding Quote capability. In the mean-time you probably noticed you can indicate that an Invoice has been paid by setting the Invoice Status flag. Regarding reporting, I will add that to the list! Let me know if you have any specific reports in mind. What we currently have is the Search tab where you can search database records and export the results to a spreadsheet.
Thanks again for the feedback, and let us know if you have any further questions or suggestions.
(19 Oct 2009) Question:
I just have a little question regarding the bee-software. I’m just trying to add my customer and for some reason it has added 4, but will not allow me to add any more. It is saying that is is having an ‘error #3131 Details: PRIMARY KEY must be unique’. What does that mean???”
(19 Oct 2009) Answer:
It should be all fixed now! When you next open up the application you should be prompted after a few seconds to update to version 1.6. Just follow the instructions to update the software and hopefully you should have no problems adding customers! Please let me know if you experience any further problems with this.”
(21 Oct 2009) Question:
I just purchased the invoicing software. So far I am impressed. A few questions. I am not able to charge more than 999 or three figures on my rate under the jobs tab. Is it possible to change this so the figure can be greater then 999 for example 2000, or 5000$. Also I live in New Zealand and the GST amount is 12.5% , but when I enter this in the invoice settings it always reverts to 12, can you update this box to accept decimal points etc.”
(21 Oct 2009) Answer:
I have made these changes for you. When you next open the Invoice software, after a few seconds you will be prompted to update to version 1.7. Follow the instructions to do the update and then you should have the latest changes.”
(2 Dec 2009) Question:
How can I change the ID on the items? I am an Avon rep and I wanted something that I could use what my customers order any Ideas?
(2 Dec 2009) Answer:
I think the Invoicing software will work really well for Avon. You could enter all of your products in as individual Items (and if you need to reference the Avon product number, just put this in the item description as well). Then enter in each of your clients in as Customers. Then each time you need to create an Invoice, your Customers and Items are already set up and ready to go and you should be able to create Invoices very quickly!
(6 Dec 2009) Question:
I uploaded my logo on the invoice settings page and it displays it there ok. But when I view invoice as pdf the logo is missing not sure why?? The logo is 3 colors but small 37kb.
(6-Dec-2009) Answer:
You may need to close and re-open the application once after adding the logo for it to be picked up on the Invoices.
(6 Dec 2009) Question:
I need to write detailed descriptions of services performed for the customer to read somewhere on the invoice and I dont see anywhere to do this?
(6 Dec 2009) Answer:
You can add details in the ‘Notes’ section of the Invoice.
(13 Jan 2010) Question:
I recently purchased your software, and I want to congratulate all of you is really easy to use, compressive and above all does the job. I just got a little request: translate the software in Italian. Since I’m using this software mainly to invoice customers in Italy, so it would be better for me and it will look better.
(13 Jan 2010) Answer:
We would be happy to include an Italian translation. Please note that only the Invoices themselves will be in Italian, the software itself will remain in English. I will put a list together of all the translations and I may email it to you if that is ok so that you can check they are correct! Let me know if that sounds ok, and we will get onto this in the next few days.
(14 Jan 2010) Question:
Basically for the product that we resell the VAT that in Italy is called IVA it varies, for instance for certain items the IVA is 4% and some others is 20%. Now the problem that I have is that I can’t use on the same invoice both IVAs because will charge the customers twice for 4/20%. Is there a way of be able to charge the IVA (or VAT) for every single items? Basically be able to choose for each items what percentage apply?
(14 Jan 2010) Answer:
Regarding your tax question, when you have the situation that you have both 4% and 20% taxed items on the same Invoice, you may just need to set up the items to include tax in the price, and you could always include the tax percentage in the Item Description, e.g. “Product ABC (inc. IVA 4%)”. That is the only way around it that I can see – I am not keen to modify the software to accommodate this at this time.
(15 Jan 2010) Question:
When I print an invoice it is not printing the name of my company, or the first line of the address. It just prints the last 2 lines of my address in the top right hand corner. Do you have an idea how to solve that? I can see the full invoice with all information on my computer screen. It is only a problem with printing. I printed 2 or three invoices fine, then about a week ago I started to have this problem.
(15 Jan 2010) Answer:
You may need to check your printer settings – it sounds like your page size may be a little out. The correct page size to use for these invoices is A4.
(3 Feb 2010) Question:
Will this program track payments of these generated invoices? At year end are totals available by product type?
(3 Feb 2010) Answer:
At this stage there is no tracking of payments (this is on our list of future enhancements), except that you can set the status of the Invoice to Paid. There is no reporting (i.e. to get year end totals), but we do have a Search function that allows you to select Invoices (or any of the tables) and you can export the results to a Spreadsheet.
(4 Feb 2010) Question:
Is it possible to remove certain fields from invoices? We sell items, not time billing. Is it also possible to either enter our own product ID numbers…or eliminate them altogether on the invoice?
(4 Feb 2010) Answer:
At this stage it is not possible to remove the Job/Date fields from the Invoice lines when you are only selling Items, so these will always appear as blank fields on your Invoices. If you want to see your own Product ID numbers you would need to enter these in as part of the Item Description. Our Item ID does not display on the Invoice, just the description.
(4 Feb 2010) Question:
1. Does the database produce automatic numbering for invoices? 2. It is quite important for us to have a remittance slip at the bottom of the invoice. Is this possible? 3. As with any business we have some customers who are late payers, can a statement be produced showing outstanding debts, say 30 days, 90, 120 outstanding? 4. One company we work with may have several orders on one invoice, each with it’s own purchase code. To meet their requirements, we need to list the type of product (which would obviously be a database field in the product table), the name of the recipient and their address plus the PO number. I notice on the demo that there is a description field; is this a free text field so I can give the company all the info they require?
(4 Feb 2010) Answer:
1. Yes we do automatic numbering. 2. There is a “Notes” section that displays at the bottom of the invoice. It is not a “reminttance slip” as such, but this is where I put the remittance info on my Invoices. 3. We don’t currently have a Statement document, although it is something I have been thinking about also, and will add it to our to-do list for future enhancements. 4. Regarding the way our Items are set up, we just have the description field, there is no Product Type currently available (I will add this request to our list also). The description field is a free text field so you can add all the info you need, but just be aware that you can’t change the text on the Invoice itself, you can only modify the text in the Items tab, so this may or may not work for you.
(8 Feb 2010) Question:
I am interested in your software but I can’t select symbol of Thai Baht & can’t use Thai font for invoice font. Is this possible?
(8 Feb 2010) Answer:
Unfortunately we would not be able to add the thai unit or font because the PDF writer that we use does not currently handle those characters. We hope that some time in the future we would be able to do this.
(9 Feb 2010) Question:
You can charge by specific Time Lots or Pre Defined Products. But I can not find a way to add individual Charges. As I charge very different for each quote. E.g. Webdesign is not a standard fee. All it needs is when you go to add something to invoice you need to be able to ender a Description and a Price that is all.
(10 Feb 2010) Answer:
We will definitely consider that for future enhancements. You are right, every time you want to add an individual charge you would need to add a new Item, and depending on your volume this may or may not be too cumbersome for what you need.
(10 Feb 2010) Question:
Im portuguese, and i liked your software but will it support SAF-T_PT 1.01_01 portuguse audit export file format?
(10 Feb 2010) Answer:
Unfortunately our software does not support the SAF-T audit file standards. Sorry we could not be of more help, thankyou for your query.
(16 Feb 2010) Question:
I am wondering if you can view reports of your sales and tax for accounting purposes? Also, does your software work on Snow Leopard?
(16 Feb 2010) Answer:
We don’t currently have any reports that can be run, however you can use the ‘Search’ tab to search for specific (or All) Invoices etc, and that data can be exported to a spreadsheet. We are looking to add reporting functionality at some point in the future! Our software does work on Snow Leopard.
