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Marketcircle releases Billings Pro for iPad
At long last, Marketcircle has released Billings Pro for iPad. The time-tracking and invoicing app has made the leap from the desktop to Apple's tablet, and offers independent and small-business owners the freedom to get things done while out in the field. Here's a look at the most recent version of Billings Pro for iPad. Earlier this year, Marketcircle discontinued Billings and encouraged users to switch to Billings Pro. Why? One of the main reasons was sync. Many users need to generate invoices on the go, and have them waiting on all compatible devices. Since Billings required manual sync of two devices on the same Wi-Fi network, that had to change. Billings Pro syncs data between Marketcircle's servers and the user's devices. This isn't client/server syncing that sends data on demand, but real-time sync that is handled seamlessly in the background. It's what Marketcircle calls "distributed computing." Development When working on a version of Billings Pro for the iPad, Marketcircle's developers focused on these guiding ideas: Users will use this while "in the field" with their customers. The iPad would let them design an invoice that looked and, in many ways, behaved like a paper invoice. The result is Billings Pro for iPad. Looks The app uses a paper/folders metaphor. It looks nice and is immediately understandable. The home screen features three main sections: Invoices, Projects and Clients. Each section is organized in a clever way. The row of invoices shows what's overdue or what's about to come due first. Projects are sorted by modification date and clients, again, by when you most recently worked with one. Use The invoices are well executed and look nice. When editing an invoice, it looks similar to its paper counterpart. In fact, since the full-sized iPad's screen is about the same size as an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper, it's like working with a real-world invoice. From the invoice editor, you can enter new client information, add a slip, change existing client information and more. Billings Pro for iPad makes it easy to customize invoices, too. You can add a background or other images that are consistent with your company or band, all from within the iPad app. If a photo is in your camera roll, you can add it. Color and font options are available, too. If you're the type who gets carried away with cosmetic changes, don't worry. Marketcircle will save you from yourself. You only can use two fonts (one main and one accent) and three colors (a base and two accents). Each invoice gets a unique number, of course, and that requires communication with the server. If you're outside of an active, compatible network as you make an invoice, it will be placed in a queue for sync as soon as a network connection is available. Conclusion Billings Pro looks great on the iPad and should serve mobile business owners and freelancers well. I used Billings for years and look forward to making the transition to Billings Pro myself. Billings Pro for the iPad is available for free from the iOS App Store. Billings Pro requires a subscription that starts at $5 per month for a freelance plan which includes 5 invoices, 5 estimates and 5 statements each month. You can also pay $99 for a year subscription that provides unlimited invoices, unlimited estimates and unlimited statements. All plans allow you to add unlimited number clients and projects.
Marketcircle teases Billings Pro for iPad
Marketcircle, the company behind Billings Pro, has announced plans to bring the popular service to the iPad. Billings Pro allows users to easily track the time they work and build invoices based on if they charge by the project, quantity of product sold or by the hour. It also can keep track of expenses to keep you from dealing with receipts. You can find a video preview of the iPad build below. The company hasn't announced an official release date, but in the meantime you can sign up on its website for updates on the project. Billings Pro iPad Coming Soon from Marketcircle on Vimeo.
Billings Pro 1.1 adds support for QuickBooks, MoneyWorks
Marketcircle has released Billings Pro 1.1 with support for QuickBooks and MoneyWorks. Biliings Pro (our review) offers time tracking, invoicing and billing for small businesses and groups. With support for multiple users, server software and client side applications, Billings Pro is a nice solution. This update lets you export clients, invoices, payments and more to an IIF file, which can then be imported with QuickBooks (it goes in the other direction, too). Likewise, it'll exchange data with a MoneyWorks database. They've also made general performance a bit faster. You'll find upgrade instructions here. Note that you've got to update both the server and the client, so it's a bit trickier than double-clicking an installer and sipping a latte. This is a free update for registered users.
Discussing the Mac App Store and Billings with Marketcircle
As the first iOS feature to go back to the Mac, the Mac App Store presents unique challenges and benefits to developers. I spoke with Marketcircle CEO Alykhan "AJ" Jetha about his team's experience with moving Billings (our previous coverage of this app) to the Mac App Store, as well as the restrictions that keep their other applications out. TUAW: How soon after learning about the Mac App Store did you decide to use it to sell Billings? AJ: It was a no-brainer; an easy decision. We knew right away that we'd want Billings in the Mac App Store. What was the process like, and how did the vetting process compare to that of the iOS App Store? We submitted the first version on November 3rd. It got initially rejected because we were using the Sparkle update tool. Of course, Apple wants us to use their own. So, we removed that, but left a checkbox in the preferences that offered to check for updates automatically, and got rejected again because of it. We removed that and re-submitted, then ran into a private API call. We worked that out, resubmitted, fixed one more minor issue and were approved a couple of days before the store went live.
TUAW review: Billings Pro
Billings Pro builds upon the award-winning (2009 Apple Design Award) client-tracking and invoicing software, Billings, by Marketcircle. This major release introduces support for multiple users, server software, and new client side applications for both the desktop and iPhone. While many independent workers have enjoyed Billings and Billings Touch for years (myself included), small business owners with several employees have been left out. Billings Pro fixes that. We were able to spend some time with Billings Pro, and we're happy to offer our review. Click the link below to read the full report and see additional galleries of screenshots from Billings Pro Touch and Billings Pro for the Mac. %Gallery-104989%
Marketcircle releases Billings Pro
After some teasing and a closed beta, Marketcircle has finally released Billings Pro 1.0. As the big brother to Billings, the pro version offers multi-user support for small businesses. I've used Billings and Billings Touch for years, and love them dearly. Of course, I'm a "business of one," so I don't need multi-user support. Many do, however, and Marketcircle intends to bring the great Billings experience to them. Additionally, they're going for ubiquitous access from the Mac, iPhone and the web. Billings Pro is a multi-user time tracking and invoicing application. Time tracking is super easy. All you must do is click aspect of the project you're working on, start the timer and you're off. When you're done working, simply stop the timer. All data is synchronized automatically. This release offers new tools for the manager, like what they're calling "Timecard," which lets users track mileage, project expenses and time spent working via a modern web browser, including Mobile Safari. There are several payment options. First, users can purchase Billings Pro for a one-time fee of US$199.95 per user. Once that's done, you own it. There are no monthly or annual fees. Additionally, users can upgrade from Billings 3 to Billings Pro for $174.95 per user. Those with more modest needs can take advantage of a monthly, per user "pay as you go" option for $24.95. Marketcircle is also offering a Billings Pro Starter Bundle which comes preloaded with Billings Pro, Billings Pro Touch, Timecard, Switchboard and a full year of Premium Support, starting at $1,429.50 for up to 5 users. Of course, that's only the surface of Billings Pro. We're working on a full review and will have that out for you soon. Good luck to the folks at Marketcircle.
Marketcircle announces Billings Pro, needs beta testers
Marketcircle, the Canadian software firm that brought you Daylite, Daylite Touch, Billings, and Billings Touch has just announced the next generation of their time-tracking and billing solution. Billings Pro takes advantage of many of the features built into other Marketcircle products and takes Billings to a new level as a multi-user application. The new application will include a server piece (like Daylite), a way to use the application offline and then sync to the server (once again built upon Daylite), over-the-air sync (as with Daylite Touch), and Marketcircle's expertise in desktop and mobile user interfaces. The application is still in development, and beta testing won't begin for a few months yet. If you're an existing Billings user and would like to receive consideration as a possible beta tester, fill out this online form and you may hear from Marketcircle in a few months. At this time, no ship date or price has been determined for Billings Pro.
