Pro Photographer Business Software Recommendation?

<p>Hey all,<br>

I'm wondering if anyone here on photo.net with a successful photography business has software that you use to track all your clients, events, payments, etc...? I am looking for a program that would be fairly easy to use that would help me with accounting and sales, especially when tax time comes around.</p>

<p>Thanks for any input!<br>

Kristy Berends Photography</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I would recommend ShootQ. It has everything that you will need at a fairly reasonable price. It is very easy to manage and can really increase your workflow.</p>

<p>Take a look at http://HSLtd.us and InView. It has top notch Contacts and marketing built in, paperwork that uses photography terms and a complete accounting system. There are movies demoing several aspects and a demo download.<br>

Disclaimer: I'm with the company, but we do have a significant number of well established pros who've used it for years.</p>

<p>Well I'm not with James Cook's company and have used his software for almost twenty years. Needless to say I have been quite satisfied. Great software that has only gotten better over the years.</p>

<p>I have used QuickBooks for ever and find it to be an extremely efficient, intuitive and frequently updated accounting program for my business. It operates seamlessly over the internet with my on-line banking and credit cards, tracks my customers accounts, invoices and makes it easy to do sales tax and out of state customers. Year end reports from P&L to the General Ledger are clear and comprehensive.</p>

<p>I am not personally a fan of the "integrated" software solutions that claim to do it all (caveat - I have not used James' software and it may well be fabulous). I did once invest (quite heavily) in a photography specific software solution that claimed to be a contact manager, marketing tracker, quoting software, integrated word processing and accounting - called "Colleague". It was a disaster of epic proportions and I have since found that, for me, using the industry standard software for specific tasks works best... </p>

<p>Ok, thanks everyone for the great tips! Right now I have a little Access database that is keeping most of my records, but its definitely time to upgrade!</p>

I use Quickbooks, user friendly and has all the reports you need at tax time.

<p>I also have a software question but it is more about getting started and the workflow mechanics of events. I'm a not yet pro but amateur PLUS photographer (DSLR) with good composition skills, green screen, etc. I was just diagnosed with breast cancer and am currently unemployed. I cannot work the conventional schedule of a full time job during chemo and treatment and therefore must get my photo business up and running quickly and inexpensively for weekends and events when I do not have treatments. I am interested in event photography - festivals, fairs, dog shows, etc. I will be working alone most of the time as I cannot afford an assistant yet. I need to know what software or system will allow me to issue a secure, pre-numbered ticket and web address to people as they enter the event or approach me so they can go to that particular number a day or two later to locate their photo online. Since my photos will involve people, I want to ensure the security of their photos. I'd also like to be able to email them a link to their photos when posted. In my events participants will not have numbered bibs such as marathons, charity runs, etc. I need a really easy, fast way to match up the participant with his/her own photo(s) to view online for purchase.<br /> What software do you recommend? Thank you so much for your help!</p>

<p>I've used Photo One for years, although it's not an accounting program. I export financial information directly to Quickbooks, so I use both. Accountants all seem to use Quickbooks as a standard, so there's anvantage to that program.....-TED :-)</p>

<p>I built a custom database that tracks clients/contracts, inventory, vendors, time, rentals, invoicing and jobs, etc. I looked at several different turnkey applications and quickbooks, but none would track the different data the way i wanted...sometimes it's better to do it yourself. All of my imagery is cataloged and processed with lightroom.</p>

<p>I would look at Studioplussoftware.com they have a free version you can try</p>