Every January I sit at my desk, pulling my hair out and cursing myself for not keeping up with my books, accounting, etc throughout the year.  I am forced to spend countless hours trying to get everything organized for an entire year because I didn’t take the time to organize it throughout the year.

And every January, I vow to find some sort of software, spreadsheet or program that will allow me to be better organized for the coming year.

Repeat pattern.

But I am breaking the pattern this year and helping you do the same!  There are so many great software programs and accounting spreadsheets that will help all of us when it comes to the business side of photography.  If you are at all like me, then taking the photos and editing them and interacting with clients is where you shine.  But, unfortunately, if we want successful businesses, then we also have to shine at the bookkeeping and organizational side of things.  That is where some of these programs will help.

I did some research and tried out a couple of studio management or accounting programs that might just help you in your quest for better organization for your business this year.  Check out some of the options below and decide which one will work best for you!

My advice, do this now before your busy season starts and before you head down that unorganized pattern again this year!

Studio Cloud – What do I like best about this program…IT’S FREE!!!  Yes, you read that right…FREE!!  This program is a business management software that allows you to keep up with clients, your schedule, bookkeeping, invoicing and much more.

The Studio Cloud home screen has several options – Overview, Clients, Calendar, Point of Sale, Bookkeeping, Projects, Cloud Services, Settings, Logout.

Overview – This is where you will find the following:

Quick Task Window which includes New Client, New Prospective Client, New Event, New Invoice, Setup Wizard, Manage Proofing, Affiliate Program, Send Backup to StudioCloud Support, Subscribe Now.

Upcoming Dates window which is a great place to see clients birthdays or anniversaries, which will be a great way to make sure you send a little note on that client’s special day.

Agenda Tab lets you see what is on your agenda for that day.

Weather Forecast which is a great way to see if your session will need to be rescheduled due to rain or snow!

Project Management allows you to see your current projects and their priority.

For Your Information is a window that shows you the latest news about StudioCloud.

In addition to the Overview Tab, there are eight other tabs that include:

Clients – this is where you will manage your client list and enter each client’s information.  This section alphabetizes your clients to make it easy to find them.

Calender – Allows you to keep track of your sessions, appointments, etc through a calendar that can be viewed by day, week or month.

Point of Sale – This is the section for invoicing, keeping track of payments and refunds and which are due.

Bookkeeping – This allows you to enter new income or new expenses, see your running balance and run reports so you can see where you are spending the most money.

Projects – This allows you to set up unique projects such as office projects or client projects, assign a deadline to it and even assign the project to an employee.

Cloud Services – This will allow you to sync your information to your other devices.

Settings – This tab is where you will enter all your specific settings for your business.

My Thoughts – This program has everything you will need in that it allows for you to keep track of your calendar, keep track of your clients and keep track of the bookkeeping for your business.  Basically it is a one stop shop for all your photography studio business needs.  And its Free, which is the most attractive part!  However, it is overwhelming at first and will take some time to get it set up and get used to using it.  For someone like me, who is used to using a paper form that I created that just allows me to write down the client’s name, number, address, email, etc and has a list of to do’s at the bottom to keep me on track with what I need to do for each client (send contract, model release, etc) switching to a computer program will take some time.  But because it is paper free and  I won’t have to invest in tons of client folders, everything is in one place and it is much easier to find a client than my old paper system, this is a great program!  I recommend this program if you are in the down season of your business when you have time to set it up.  There are tons of how-to videos on the site and their customer service has been great!

The Easy Accounting Solution – This program is a web-based program that allows you to keep track of expenses, assets, client address, vehicle usage and much more.  This program is $249 and includes free hosting for one year.  The renewal cost is $39 after the first year.

The Easy Accounting Solution has several tabs that allow you to keep track of your business.  They are as follows:

Calendar – This allows you to see upcoming sessions, appointments, etc. by month.

Products – This tab allows you to input all the products that you offer and allows you to keep track of your price, client price, markup amount, mounting cost, shipping cost, printing cost, etc.  This is a great way to see how much you are charging versus your cost of goods.

Product Packages – This is a tab that allows you to set up your packages or collections that you offer clients, which will make invoicing for those collections easy.

Address Book – This is a standard address book that will allow you to enter a client’s name, address, email, phone numbers, birthday and anniversary.

Jobs – This tab allows you to enter jobs that you have to do or sessions.  It gives you a place to enter who referred this client/job to you, type of job (senior pics, family pics, etc.), the date, the sitting fee for this particular job, the job status and notes.  You are able to put in the different appointments for this particular job such as pre-session consultation date, photo shoot date, order session date and delivery date.  It also has a list of to-do’s for that job such as sitting fee paid, edited session, order received from customer, order placed with lab, invoice sent, invoice paid, etc.

Invoices – This is the section that allows you to create invoices, view all invoices and see which ones are paid and which are overdue.

Expenses – This is the section where you can keep track of all your expenses per month.  It allows you to enter the date in which you purchased the item, who you purchased it from, the description, category and amount.  There is a pull-down menu of possible categories such as advertising, office supplies, etc.

Assets – a tab that allows you to keep track of your assets such as your camera, computer, etc.

Liabilities – this allows you to input your businesses liabilities.

Checkbook – This allows you to set up your bank account to have it in one place to view everything to do with your business.

Vehicle Usage – a great place to keep up with your mileage for tax purposes.  This section has a place for the date, the destination and odometer start and end.

Reports – Generate reports so you can see how you are using your money, what is selling the best, etc.

My Thoughts – This program is definitely geared toward the accounting side of your business, but also allows you to keep track of clients in a basic address book.  I like that it is specific to photographers and relates to the things we do (they also have other options if you are a different type of business).  I think this program is a little less overwhelming and more straightforward than the program above.  It does allow you to invoice clients and put your own logo and branding on that invoice, which I like.  I also like the job section as it allows you to check off the things you have done for that particular job.  It is kind of like my paper system only on the computer.  I would recommend this program for those that are looking for a great way to keep track of their taxes, income and expenses in an easy location.

The Easy Accounting Solution is offering Seniorologie readers $50 off with the discount code SR50.  They also offer a two-day free trial that allows you to get in there and fully use the program before purchasing.

The Law Tog Accounting Spreadsheet – This spreadsheet was created by the talented Rachel Brenke who is a photographer, lawyer and business consultant.  She has a video tutorial that shows this spreadsheet and all that it includes.  You can view it at the link below.

http://www.thelawtog.com/accounting-spreadsheet-tutorial-tips-accounting-spreadsheet-for-photographers/

I have not actually used this spreadsheet personally.  However, from the video tutorial and knowing Rachel, this is a great option to keep your business organized.  Because she is a photographer herself, I am confident that she is providing a spreadsheet that works for all photographers.

The spreadsheet contains the following tabs:

Inquiries – a place to key in your inquiries as they come in including name, phone, notes, etc.  This allows you to put what the inquiry said such as still thinking, etc.

Clients – Once an inquiry becomes an actual client, you can enter their information on this page.  This tab allows you to enter name, address, email, phone, etc.

Client Sales/Client Product Amt – Keeps a running tab of the amounts you have paid out.

Receipts – This allows her to keep up with date, description, tax category, amount and how much sales/use tax is due. You are able to put in your specific tax rate.

Monthly Income – This allows you to keep track of your gross and net income, what your goal is and it is split by quarters so you can view it easily.  It also has a place for you to see your # of sessions and # of inquiries.

Cashflow – This is a breakdown by month of your expenses, which include office supplies, education, packaging, marketing, etc.  There is also a section that allows you to input your Facebook Fans, Instagram Followers, Pinterest Followers and see if there is a correlation between the numbers and the cash flow.

Income Tax – This allows you to keep track of your estimated income tax by a percentage that you set.  By seeing these amounts, you will be able to put the dollar amount into savings throughout the year so that you will have it to pay come April.

Data – allows you to enter the categories that you want for the receipts page.

My Thoughts – This is a straight forward spreadsheet that has been created for you.  It is less intimidating than the other two because you basically have everything set up for you and all you have to do is enter the information.  If you are not an excel person, this might be a bit difficult but as long as you don’t mess with the formulas and just enter the information, then you should be fine.  Rachel suggests making a copy of the spreadsheet immediately upon receiving it so that if you do accidentally mess up a formula, you have the original.

Rachel is offering Seniorologie readers 20% off using the code Senior20.  The price of the spreadsheet is $89.99.  To purchase, please click here.

The programs above are all great for different reasons.  Finding the one that is right for you is key.  I hope by explaining each of these and what they offer, it helps you on the path to being Organized in 2013!

There are many other tools and programs out there.  I would love to hear from you if you have a favorite.  Please leave a comment below to tell us all about it.