Review of BIllings & Billings Touch. Win A Copy!
I’ve been a huge fan of Billings software ever since I won a free license back in November. I had actually been trying to find an official billing and time tracking app because Paypal invoices just weren’t cutting it in the area of professionalism, and custom invoices were taking too long to fill out.
I tried and reviewed Freshbooks and it didn’t make the cut. Why would I want to pay an exorbitant fee every month, and more when I have more clients? Plus, what if I didn’t have access to the internet but wanted to check my client info?
That’s when I won my copy of Billings.
Billings
Billings is Mac-only app with a reasonable price tag of $39.99 (like one month’s use of Freshbooks!). It allows you to track your time by client, apply and bill for that time, make and send estimates and invoices and track who’s paid you and who hasn’t.
The app’s website is beautiful, in line with the normall Mac app look. The checkout process, support and forums are great to use. The app itself is equally beautiful and it feels and runs like a native Mac app built by Apple itself. Some of the coolest features I love from them are:
- The timer that sits in your top toolbar, you can quickly start, stop and switch between open projects
- Send estimates, invoices and statements
- Lots of different report features you can run instantly. This was a BIG help when filing taxes.
- Ability to customize and switch between a dozen or so invoice designs (I use the yellow birdie). And most of them look great, no Word templates here!
- Arrange clients in folders (I use these for potential, active and old)
It seems Billings has just the right amount of features. It took me a couple of hours the first day (mainly because I was playing the the template customizations for so long) to learn, and ever since then it’s been quick and easy to use. I leave the app open and probably take a look at it 5-6 times a day.
The only issues I’ve had were that the sending estimates function would lock up every once in awhile if I had a long notes section. The ability to email estimates was also down for a bit. But a quick jump to the forums and it was fixed in the next release. So it works perfectly now. I’ve never actually had to force quit the app or have it crash on me (if only Adobe could do the same *cough cough*).
Billings Touch
I only recently purchased Billings Touch (the iPhone app) because I did’t really see a use for it, until I had purchased my new iMac. I was unable to track time or send estimates or invoices when working on my MacBook (since you can’t sync two copies via Dropbox or anything).
Billings Touch comes in at a hefty $14.99 price tag (ouch) but it’s another beautiful app. It allows you to view all your client accounts and make and send invoices. You can wirelessly sync via your wireless network (so make sure you do it before you leave home!) but it doesn’t it automatically when you open the app.
The only major disappoint to this app is that you can’t view or make estimates, but so far that’s been ok to me. You also can’t have the same invoices and estimates as you do on your regular Billings app, but I don’t think any of my clients have, or will care, that my invoices from the iPhone look different.
I don’t get out much so I haven’t used this app a whole lot, but I was able to send an invoice while lying in bed at 1 am the other morning…and that was just too cool. 
I was also able to check on the fly whether or not I had any late payers while sitting in my favorite coffee shop.
Congrats to the Winners!
The winners of the contest are @Illumilogic @joshhemsley and @michalkozak ! Congratulations! Please send me your email addresses!
About the author
Amber Weinberg specializes in clean and semantic XHTML, CSS and WordPress development. She has over 10 years of coding experience and is pretty cool to work with. Amber is available for freelance work, so why not hire her for your next project?
I would love something like this but I am on Windows not Mac. Would be great if they did a Windows version for people like me.
Unfortunately, a lot of what makes Billings great is a direct result of it being a Mac application, written using the Macintosh Cocoa development environment. Nothing against Windows, per se, but we’re Mac programmers. Writing a Windows version of Billings would require re-writing the whole application, not to mention learning the Windows development tools and environment. We can either invest time and money in Windows versions, or make the Mac versions of our programs better. At the moment, it just makes more sense for us to do the latter.
Amber, this is just great!
The most exciting feature to me is the timer sitting in toolbar. I’ve been looking for some tool to track my time for a veeeery long time and didn’t find anything that was worth it. I even started to build chrome extension for that, since my browser is open 24/7. But that’s just really nothing comparing to Billings’ timer is awesome. Not to mention the ability to switch between projects right from it, this is just cool
.
Really would like the a license!
Cheers, Michal.
Billings was one of the first applications I bought when I got my new MBP. Worth every penny. The ability to track expenses as well as time worked is probably the most useful function for me. I had a hard time keeping track of which expense went with which client. No more!
I’m looking forward to using a well written mac app that outputs professional documents. There just isn’t anything else out there that does it this well.
Thanks!
Great article Amber! i been looking for a system where i can track my clients, personal projects, with out losing control of everything i have to do. I have test several CRMs but nothing convince me at all besides those monthly payments are too expensive
A great thing is that is MAC based!
It looks like a very powerful tool, i will give it a shot and hope i become a winner!
I’m developing my own web app for handling my clients, but this looks really nice. Too bad they only made it for the mac, that seems a little illogical.
Not really, it’s pretty logical considering they wanted to make a very stable, beautiful looking app, and I don’t think I’ve seen either of those in a PC.
I use freshbooks now, I feel like I’m not getting my $19 worth every month, also need better looking invoices.
Thanks for the review.
The feature I look forward to the most is the professional looking invoices and quotes. I’ve used other options and just haven’t been impressed. I’ve looked into Billings before but have never taken the plunge. Hopefully winning a copy will be the answer.
Oh man, I’d love to get my hands on a copy of Billings! I’d be most looking forward to the time tracking abilities, and the organization of invoicing for taxes!! That would be such a big help!!
The WYSIWYG designer to create custom invoice designs will be very handy. I currently use freshbooks and it’s very limited in the design/look of your invoices.
This sounds like an awesome app and I’d love to win a copy! I’m looking forward to the ability to easily generate professional-looking invoices. The timer also seems like it would be incredibly useful because keeping good time records is always tricky.
I would really like custom invoice designs that look great. Ive tried Intuit, Freshbooks, Less Accounting, Google Docs Spreadsheet, Word and nothing really has satisfied me while still being affordable. Even if I don’t win I might buy a copy now that my main computer is a Mac.
I’d love a copy of Billings. I think the best feature would be organization for tax time, for sure. Beyond that, creating custom invoices would be great as well.
Great review Amber! I love that is has toolbar access. Thats one thing I get frustrated about the most is not having quick direct access to my project timers. And having one linked into a billing system is even better. Been wanting to try out Billings for a while now but have been putting it off.
Thanks for the review; I’d love to win a copy. The toolbar timer sounds great, and my invoices could definitely use a visual upgrade.
As a freelancer, I tend to under-charge my clients based on tasks I simply forget to keep track of. It is a bit frustrating to realize money is left on the table. This software would certainly help me keep track of ALL services, but most importantly it will help me maximize my earnings. Who wouldn’t want that?
timer? awesome….
Would love a system like Billings, at the moment I am doing it all by hand, ie editing InDesign Templates then exporting to pdfs – eventually I end up loosing them because I am really lazy and export to the desktop, once its full I select all and create a new folder. – really need to become more organised!
I am looking forward to a clean app that I can track time and create invoices on my Mac. I am not always connected so having those functions available while not online will be great.
This software looks pretty sweet. Thanks for the review and the chance to win a free copy! I’m looking forward to the toolbar timer to help me keep up with my time for each client the most. Really looking forward to trying everything out.
This program seems so clean and polished that anything would be better than what I am doing now. I especially like the look of the invoices offered, plus the option to sync with the iPhone.
I am a freelancer and currently use Microsoft Excel for time tracking, billing, and invoicing. It can get very frustrating when i have many clients to manage and is a very tedious and unproductive process. Billings fits my requirements because it is easy to use, has a beautiful interface and nice templates for me to get started right away. Thank you for the giveaway! Hope I can win a copy.
Tweeted here:
http://twitter.com/aer00/status/13347964908
The small timer in the toolbar is my favourite. You don’t need to go to the app for checking the time. And I’ve tried the demo of Billings and I’m amazed by the look and the usability of the app.
The timer for me too a really small but crucial feature of the software. Here’s my tweet too: http://twitter.com/BenjaminReid/status/13368830040
hey amber… this product looks great. I am interested in the organization of invoicing and timetracking. Been using Basecamp for timetracking but this sounds like it would be more convenient.
Also retweeted it @mountup
pick me! pick me!
It looks like an awesome product. I’m interested most in the way it handles time tracking.
tweeted. @forsbergj
Woow! This is amazing! I will be really happy if i will win.
I love that it is Mac specific and I’m really looking forward to the time tracking feature. No more post-its