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Date: 2000-09-30 04:01:26
From "Kurt Weiske "
Subject: back-end tools
A quick rundown of what I do to keep track of my time and expenses: Outlook - I keep calendar items for billable periods, and mark the time as tentative. I don't use tentative for real appointments. That way, I can look at the week and get an idea of how much time is billable versus unbillable. There used to be a version of Crystal reports that ran with Outlook, but I think MS pulled that with Outlook98 off the shelves. Notepad - I keep pretty religious notes when I'm working on a client's systems. I've found paper to work better than my Palm for this. I bought a bunch of 6x8 wirebound notebooks that don't look like high-school wirebound notebooks. They've got a nice stiff back for taking notes. Each day, I write down the date, the client's name, when I get in, and how I got there (for expense purposes). It's come in handy when I've needed to look back and recall something that's happened at a previous visit. I write down passwords in the book, which is good and bad. Good because I've had clients call me needing passwords that they've lost, and I've had them. Bad because if I lose the book, 3 or 4 places need to change passwords. Quickbooks - use this for entering bills and payments, and creating invoices. I'm not using this for 90% of what I could use it for. I'm getting to the point where an inexpensive laptop might come in handy - a P166 with 64 megs would do. That way, I could keep notes in notepad, update Outlook as I go along, and print/fax invoices for clients as I leave there. Now I need to go home, update Quickbooks, and always have all of the papers I need with me electronically. I realized that I usually end up carrying a folder stuffed with printouts, and they weigh about 4 pounds. That's most of a laptop. --- Kurt Weiske Technology Consulting email: kweiske@kataan.org tel: +1 510 336 1035
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