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Considering migration from Billings Pro

Des Dougan

October 14, 2012 02:21

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I'm very unhappy with the ongoing stability of the Touch application in the Billings Pro suite - I have been using it for close to a couple of years and have had to reinstall it many times. On occasion, this has meant re-creating timer entries that get deleted when the app is re-downloaded (mostly because it stopped synchronizing, or crashes when opened). As 99% of my data entry in on my iPhone, it's time to look at alternatives.

I came across Studiometry recently and today have been browsing your site. The main issues for me are:

1. iPhone/iPad syncing - any known issues? Do you use WebDAV or simply sync on the local LAN?
2. Is the iPad version the same as the iPhone, or does it make use of the greater resolution? BP Touch on iPad is a great disappointment.
3. I like Billings Pro's ability to export to MoneyWorks Express (invoices and payments). Can I export the same data from Studiometry? It's critical that my finance software is kept up to date without having to manually enter the transactions.
4. Is there a way of exporting historical data from the Billings Pro database and importing it into Studiometry?

Thanks for any clarification you can provide.

 

Des Dougan

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4 comments

• 0
  
  Oranged Support October 15, 2012 20:33

  Hello,

  Thanks for contacting us on the forums! Hopefully we can get your questions answered.

  1. We don't have any currently known sycning issues in the Studiometry Touch app. We do have version 1.8 under review currently fixing a couple small interface issues and adding several new features. You can sync over the local LAN, and you can setup your network to sync remotely if necessary.

  2. The iPad has updated interfaces to take advantage of the extra screen resolution. Many controls are different, it uses Split views and popovers, and has a very iPad like feel. You can check out the screen shots to see it, or download it for free (the download is free, syncing with Studiometry requires a license)

  3. You can export iif files from Studiometry, as well as customizable exports from invoice templates, and plain text files. Most likely MoneyWorks can import the Quickbooks IIF file, but if there is something very specific you need for a format we always accept feature requests for things like this.

  4. Importing all of your data from Billings into Studiometry could prove to be difficult because of the differences between the two softwares. Studiometry helps by letting you import delimited clients, projects, contacts, and work items, but you'd have to figure out how to get that out of Billings. If you can get your data out in any type of text file, Studiometry will be able to import most of it for you using the File Menu > Import > Delimited Text options.

  Hope this helps and let us know if you have any more questions!

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  Des Dougan October 19, 2012 02:24

  Thanks for your feedback - it was very helpful.

  I've been trying the various features and so far, I'm impressed with the functionality of the application. It has a lot of depth and, contrary to a review I saw, is pretty straightforward to use.

  My biggest concern is getting invoices and payments out of the system and into MoneyWorks Express. The invoice type that allows an export that includes the Client ID, which would be the key used in MoneyWorks, seems only to be the plain text one, where there are export options other than IIF, which doesn't include the ID.

  However, using the plain text invoice would likely mean having to create the invoice twice, once with a more polished look, and then the plain text one. Is this possible (it's clunky, too...)?

  I would then take the text export and manipulate it with something like Keyboard Maestro to get the fields laid out in the way MoneyWorks needs them. Is there a better way of getting the transactions out?

   

  
  Thanks,
  
  Des

  P.S. The "Generate to File" option for the HTML and text format  invoices drops the output into the Applications folder - is this a bug?

• 0
  
  Des Dougan October 25, 2012 21:21

  Can anyone respond to this? I am impressed with Studiometry's functionality, but integration with my finance software is mandatory for me.

  
  Thanks,
  
  Des

• 0
  
  Oranged Support October 25, 2012 21:59

  Hello Des,

  If you choose to go with the plain text template export, you wouldn't have to create the invoice twice, per say. You would simply need to create the invoice and go to the View Invoice tab of the invoice editing window, from there you can select the template you want to use for the current output. If you want to send it to your client, you'd just select your visual/fancy template, and if you want to export it, you'd select your Plain Text template and export it from there. 

  In regards to the IIF exporting, we can try to add it to one of the fields for the export, but it really depends on how the IIF would be imported into the other program. 

  In terms of flexibility and power, using a plain text output would be your best bet, but it would require a couple more clicks when exporting (click View Invoice while in the Invoice Editing window, click the template you want to export with, then click Generate to File).