What client records system do you use? Studio Suite?

[MOTTO mastering]

I'm currently using a demo copy Studio Suite as a Filemaker based product for client records, invoicing etc. I think its very comprehensive, perhaps too much so for me, but great! I know Bob K has developed his own Filemaker based solution for Digido. In terms of a survey what systems/paper based solutions do you use for your back office work?

Cheers

Russ

[Cellotron]

Some non-audio tools I use for my biz:

Quickbooks Pro on a PC for invoicing / customer database - Accounting Software - QuickBooks
Mozilla Sunbird as a scheduling calendar - Mozilla Sunbird®
dopdf as a freeware pdf creator (for emailing cue sheets, etc.) - Free PDF Converter - Convert to PDF with doPDF
Virtual Mechanics SiteSpinner 2.7 for website creation - Builder & design software to create your web page & websites
Magic Mouse Discus4 for CD label design - Magic Mouse Productions - Home of the best cd labeling software

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[jdg]

not really mastering related, but i remember some threads in the "So Much Gear..." forum....

i use iBiz and iCal. thats it. im small time, low overhead, so this works for my one man shop. but i can totally see a need for a more robust solution esp if u manage employees.

my wife uses quickbooks at our bakery.. i absolutely hate it! the newest version is a pox on my brain, i dread doing payroll (for other reasons besides shelling out tons of money to no good lazy employees )

good luck :)

[Pedro_vde]

We use Studio Suite since 2004.

Pro
- very complete
- great support. Joel Stoner is somebody that knows his thing and is very quick in giving answers to your questions or problems
- The fine thing is that with a little knowledge of Filemaker you can adjust almost everything to suite your needs.
- Does almost anything that a company has to handle at the administrative side. (both accounting and technical)
- Price or call it Bang fro the Bucks. When we bought the previous version I was checking alternatives but they where all more expensive or useless/incomplete. (I remember a competitor that had the same features it's called Farmers Wife)

Cons are
- It takes a while for a user to become familiar with the 'program'. Because there is a lot of space and dedicated pages and fields most users start scratching there head. It took me the last four years to have some guys handling simple tasks. On the other hand my wife who does the bookkeeping at the company has the least computer experience of all people over here but she was using the office part of the Studio Suite in less than two weeks...
- speed with multiple users getting data from the server's database

Kind regards from Belgium

Pedro

[Brad Blackwood]

Originally Posted by jdg

my wife uses quickbooks at our bakery

Not sure about her accounting practices, but her cookies are incredible!

[mastertone]

Originally Posted by Brad Blackwood

but her cookies are incredible!

Hey John , Do you ship to Sweden?

[soundroid]

Filemaker pro Rules. IMO the best database software for mac.
I've been using it since version 2.2. if only it had tubes.....

[Johns]

Studio Suite user here. Works very well no matter how big or small your needs.

[MASSIVE Master]

QuickBooks Pro (2008). Pop a disc to the accountant a couple times a year and all is well.

[jamsmith]

Quickbooks is an excellent program for record keeping by non-accountants. There are some programming interfaces available for Quickbook that have allowed my import and export data between Quickbooks and the custom project management suite I developed for my company. If anyone has suggestions about what they could be added to Quickbooks that would make it better for studios, PM me. I am still looking for a music biz related product to develop.