Re: Newbie help

["Chris Travers" <..hidden..>]

On 10/14/07, Del Miller <..hidden..> wrote:
> Hello List,
>
> I'm new to LedgerSMB and a complete novice when it comes to accounting
> so please forgive any simple... err... stupid questions.  I have an
> accountant that does all of the important stuff and I'm trying to setup
> LSMB for invoicing only at this point.  I run a small consulting
> business out of my home so, basically, I sell one products/service -- my
> time.

It seems that you have already familiarized yourself with the
structure of the manual, and that is a good first step :-)

>
> Any suggestions on how to do this?  I would really like a single invoice
> per customer (I bill monthly) that reflects the date of service and a
> description of the service provided (all charged against a single
> part/service number) on a line-by-line basis.  Sorta like this:
>
>
> Invoice 10355
> Invoice Date 10/31/07
> Customer: Gates, Goodbury, & Graves
>
> 10/1/07   GC   planning of project X   1.5hr   $150.00
> 10/5/07   GC   project y implimentation   5.0hr   $500.00
> 10/14/07   GC   final cleanup of project y    3.25hr    $350
>
> Amount Due: $1,000.00

Ok., here is some general guidance beyond what is in the manual
(specific to your situaiton).  At least this should enable you to make
better use of both the software and associated documentation.

Projects and timecards are going to simplify your tracking and invoice
generation greatly.  Basically set up the projects and issue timecards
against the projects.  Then at the end of the month, you can generate
orders from the timecards, and convert those to invoices (the process
is actually fairly painless).


> I tried setting up a part/service number of 'GC -- General Consulting'
> and the altering the description field on the invoice, but LSMB then
> says that the number is not recognized and asks if it's a part or a
> service.

Enter the part number first, then update, then adjust the line item.
You can do this for timecards as well so you can enter then and
generate your invoices appropriately.

>  I'm not sure where to go next.  I'm happy to read the manual
> (and I have) but the manual is a bit sparse on scenario/howto info.

Ok, the piece of information you are missing is this:

On the new line item, a search is performed on partnumber and
description to pull up the part.  Once it is located, the internal
number of the id is stored in a hidden field of the form.  At that
point, you can change either the partnumber or the description field
without affecting which part it is attached to (yes, this should be
handled differently, IMO, but those questions are for the 1.4 release
cycle).

>
> Also, I'm not beholden to the about layout if there's a better (or more
> correct) way to do it, but this is what I and my customers are used to
> and I'd like to keep it if possible.
>
We can patch your processes to a reasonable degree as is.  I wouldn't
worry about that too much.

Best Wishes
Chris Travers