How to Choose the Best Software for Photographers (Part 5 of 5)

This is the last article in our software series - it's meant to be an overview of the options available for tracking your finances and managing your business as a photographer. 

There are so many options out there. Here are two big questions to consider. 

1) Where do you see your business in 2-3 years?   

If your goal is to ramp up your business to $100K and more, my personal favorite option is Quickbooks combined with your choice of business management software. All of these programs offer free trials, so take one of them for a test drive and see what you think. Don't give up on Quickbooks if it looks intimidating. Reach out to a professional for help getting set up and trained on what you need to know.

If you're doing this part-time or just starting out, I would check out Quickbooks Self-employed  (the simpler version of Quickbooks) and/or one of the studio management programs discussed in the last article. These are less-expensive options that will still keep your business really organized. 

2) Do you plan to eventually delegate your bookkeeping?

If the answer is yes, I recommend getting set up with Quickbooks, as well as a program like Dubsado.  Quickbooks is a standard program for accountants and bookkeepers and you'll be in good hands once you're ready to outsource.

If you think you've got it covered, go with a user-friendly, easy to learn program like Quickbooks Self-Employed or Freshbooks. Or check out our DIY Quickbooks for photographers course.

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Tanya had her own photography business for 6 years and discovered she liked the business side of things almost as much as photography. Long story short, now she's a bookkeeper FOR photographers. Find other accounting resources for photographers here.

Studio Software Just for Photographers (Part 4 of 5)

We've covered a whole range of options for managing your business and finances so far in this series. From Quickbooks to Freshbooks, to Dubsado and 17hats. 

Specifically for Photographers

Several companies have developed similar systems to Dubsado and 17hats, but they are specifically for photographers. They have pre-set email templates, workflows, contracts that only photographers would use.  Some also integrate with online galleries and have client portals.

I won't go into the differences or benefits of each, but here are a few for you to google and read reviews about: IrisWorks, Sprout Studio, ShootQ, Studio Ninja and Tave. 

Depending on what you need, you might love studio management software because it feels like it was made just for you as a photographer. Or it might be limiting and not have all of the features you need. In that case, consider one of the business management softwares mentioned previously that aren't geared towards one industry in particular. 

Want to stick with Excel?

There's one more option worth mentioning. If you love a good spreadsheet, here’s the best excel spreadsheet I've seen for photographers: The Easy Client & Money Manager. Like the name suggests, you can track your money, clients and workflow easily in one Spreadsheet file.

The bookkeeping portion is easy to use, and there are separate sheets to store client info and track your workflow. Some downsides to this are that you can’t connect to your bank account, pull reports, send/manage invoices, request and receive payment.

When to use a spreadsheet:  

• If you are part time or you’re just starting out

• Your income and expenses are straightforward

• Learning a new software stresses you out and you love the familiarity of Excel

• You don't mind data entry and you can be disciplined to keep up with it

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Next we'll wrap up this series by figuring out how to choose the software that's best for your business. Find more bookkeeping resources for photographers here.

The Best Business Management Software for Photographers (Part 3 of 5)

So far in this series we've looked at straight up accounting programs like Quickbooks and Freshbooks. Now let's look at CRMs that includes bookkeeping features. 

Business Management Software

You’ve probably heard of programs like 17hats, Dubsado and Honeybook. How do these compare to a program like Quickbooks?

Think of Quickbooks Online as the back-end hub for all things accounting. Programs like 17hats, Dubsado and Honeybook are going to be your front-end, client-facing center. They do have an accounting feature, but this is not the main purpose of the software and therefore it is rather limited on the accounting side.

BUT…even though Quickbooks Online and a program like Honeybook have different purposes, they can actually work together to create a streamlined accounting system.

How do they work? 

The integration is a one- way sync from the CRM to Quickbooks. Invoices and payments are pushed from Dubsado to Quickbooks and recorded. This means you will be doing all of your recording and tracking in Quickbooks. Once you have the sync set up and you are using Quickbooks, you won’t need to really use the accounting section of your CRM at all. You can simply create invoices and record payment in your CRM and let Quickbooks take care of the rest of your accounting and reporting.

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Want to know more about CRMs and Quickbooks? Check out our bookkeeping resources for photographers here.

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Next we’ll talk about CRMs that are photography-specific.

More Bookkeeping Software Options for your Business (Part 2 of 5)

In the first article of this series, I talked about reasons you may or may not want to choose Quickbooks to manage your business finances. It's not for everyone, but there are some reasons you might consider it.  If Quickbooks Online isn’t for you, consider…

Freshbooks

Freshbooks is another common accounting software. You can use it to send and track invoices, receive payment, track your expenses, and look at basic reports.  They've got great dashboards that shows you how the business is doing at a glance. (And if you’re interested, these both use single-entry bookkeeping.) 

Quickbooks Self-Employed….different than Quickbooks Online

Quickbooks Self-Employed is different than Quickbooks Online. It’s the same company, but a different program. It is geared towards freelancers and contractors, meaning you have minimal transactions and don’t need very robust reporting capabilities.

It’s very limited, but a lot of photographers love the functionality of Quickbooks Self-Employed. It allows you to track mileage, separate business and personal expenses and even calculates your quarterly estimated income taxes. 

When to use a Quickbooks alternative:

• You're part-time or just starting out and need a simple, basic system to track your finances. This may be a more affordable option.

• You'd like to move away from an excel spreadsheet but Quickbooks Online seems like overkill.

• You don't plan on using a software to manage your business (such as Dubsado, Honeybook or 17hats). These programs don't integrate as of now.

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Speaking of these programs, next we'll look at the best business management softwares for photographers. These include a bookkeeping portion, but also allow you to manage your clients and studio.