Business Database

kabayiri

Have a look at this link :-
http://www.timeiq.com/

It's a web based solution, and as the name suggests, it is centred on time tracking.

Keep in mind one thing. It is highly unlikely to do exactly what you want to do in the exact way you want to do it.

Off the shelf, standardised solutions need a flexible approach for their use. Software is often about compromises.

Watch the videos on the home page and let us know how it stacks up?

bengalknights

you could also try Postbooks Accounting/ERP which uses the postgresql database system and as its open source is free

Link is http://www.postgresql.org/about/news.845

natc

Hi again - still not sorted this problem!

Has anyone had any experience with filemaker? Or any other software which may do the job?

Thanks.

swvillafan

Hi there, we use an old legacy system called Superbase (you cant buy it anymore) but keep getting emails from a company called Alpha Software who develop a database system. Not tried it myself but might be worth a look!

littlepanther

Access is a very useful database but training is useful you could use lynda.com and pay for it or jargonfreehelp.com/access.asp, I used jargonfreehelp when I was doing my ECDL and it was useful. I contact them and they said they will be adding more this month. You can find more on YouTube but both of these are good quality and all in one place.

oldtoolie

Why do you think Sage is too big for your business? Have you looked at their "Starter Solutions?"

http://shop.sage.co.uk/starterpackages.aspx

Prices seem reasonable. You have already found out that building your own database isn't easy. Why not go with what thousands of other businesses do?

Mobeer

natc wrote: »

...
We just need a simple system. We have been using excel for everything, to record the staffs hours and the places they have worked etc which shows them a monthly breakdown. Then we have to invoice each customer, then we make a wage sheet on excel for each staff member so that we can pay them through the bank.
....

natc wrote: »

Still having problems!
...Its quite a simple database we need, just to record wages - thats it. And to be able to see where they have worked and how much we have paid them etc. ...

As a suggestion, could you break this work down into smaller parts?

Perhaps start with an Access database that does just the time recording, so just has to record staff, customers, contracts, and times worked. Then use this and some queries to provide the information you need in the existing spreadsheets. This would at least be a start to the solution you want and would be easier to develop than the whole thing. The other work you mention (recording pay rates, payments to staff, records of invoices sent & paid or not) could then be added later.


Or better still, start with a clear idea of what you want to achieve, what is most important and what is least important. You won't be able to fairly evaluate the various suggestions being made here before you know what you want and what you need.


--
Also, do you expect staff to enter their own records? If so, you probably want to keep hours worked visible only to the current user, and pay rates well hidden?

S0litaire

is it just basic invoicing expense & timekeeping?

You could look at an online system called Freshbooks
https://secure.freshbooks.com/pricing.php

I've used the free service for invoicing a few odd jobs and it's easy to use (the biggest "pain" is setting things up at the start) but that's the same for any system...

sign up for the free service and see if it does what you need (nothing to loose!)

*note*
Yes it is a US centric company. But if you don't use the "snail-mail" option and print off your own invoices via the site it's very usable in the UK

amcluesent

http://small-business-software.iris.co.uk/default.aspx

bengalknights

natc wrote: »

Hi again - still not sorted this problem!

Has anyone had any experience with filemaker? Or any other software which may do the job?

Thanks.

Have you tried postbooks?