7/4/06: Shopping for software

This week I’ve decided to address an issue that I’ve been trying to avoid for months. Since my tutoring business has grown, I’ve come up with several methods of keeping records—all of which are various Excel spreadsheets. The difficulty comes when I enter the same data in two difference spreadsheets. I keep one record by date and another by student. So every session gets entered twice. I know there is a simpler way.

A few months back I tried to learn Access, thinking that relational database is the answer. That proved to be not the answer for several reasons. First, my installation of Access doesn’t perform like the manuals say it should. I bout two books on Access and tried following the tutorials. But I rarely got the screen that the book described.

Second, (perhaps because of reason #1), I couldn’t unlock the magic key. I kept thinking that any second, I’d uncover the secret code, and then it would all become clear. I gave up before that happened.

Third, from little I did discover, it appeared that Access isn’t really the tool I need. I need to do more than store data. I need the spreadsheet capability to keep running totals for each student.

So I’ve been in search of accounting software that is geared toward billing by the hour and tracking payments received. I rarely generate a physical invoice, but that ability would be nice. I think I’ve decided on Quickbook’s Simple Start. Several years ago I used Quickbooks as treasurer of my dive club. After a short learning curve, it was pretty easy to use.

If a reader has any ideas to contribute, I’d appreciate an email at bettiemw@yahoo.com.

I had an enjoyable time yesterday when I took three of my grandchildren out to eat. We visited about everything going on with us.

I have no big plans tomorrow, but will use the time to work in my yard. Happy Fourth to all of you!

For my tutoring service, visit http://WiseOwlTutoring.net.

For more information about my writing and editing, visit http://BettieWailes.com.