How little you know about the age you live in if you think that honey is sweeter than cash in hand.
- Ovid

Yes, we’ve said it before, but I think it bears repeating for a review such as this: in the realm of freelancing, one of the most important tasks you have is tracking your time accurately and efficiently. But even if you can track the time, if you forget to ask to be paid, or have no way of tracking what you want to be paid for, your goals of becoming a successful freelancer will never come to fruition. Seeing that our goal here is to provide you with the resources you need to be successful, we are reviewing Cashboard, a web-based time tracking, estimating, and invoicing application.

How does it work?

The benefits of the web application world are twofold. You can find resources for relative cheap (if not free), and if the company is just getting started, like Cashboard (at the time of this review), then upgrades are usually fast and furious. Signup for Cashboard is simple, but one thing is important to note in the process - you really need to note your unique web address. Why? If you don’t bookmark that login page, then you are, at this point, required to make a double step to return to it at any point. The login link on the main page only redirects you to your appropriate URL based upon the email address you signed up with. An inconvenience, but one that I’m sure we will see remedied in the future. Cashboard can currently be integrated with Basecamp or export details to XML.

The interface is a mix of text and glowing blue buttons with the main navigation tabs running across the top and the appropriate buttons for each area on the right side. There are a couple of instances where it feels like the layout doesn’t feel quite right. For example, I found myself constantly trying to scan the left side of the screen for the task I wanted to try out, when the buttons were actually located on the far right. To be fair, Cashboard is still in beta, and these sort of design issues will inevitably work themselves out.

Every time you login, you are greeted with your Overview. Comprising of all the useful bits of information you need to make your company work, it shows pending invoices, projects that need invoicing, latest activity, and even a small cash overview. Just enough info to let your mind wrap around, but not enough to be overwhelming. I especially like the way that the pending invoices are shown as you can easily recognize which have been sent (or need to be), and which have been paid (or not) along with a basic set of info regarding said invoice.

I also liked the little details such as “I need your attention…” or tips at the top sections that could be hidden once you got in the groove of how the system worked. It was the bits like this that made one feel like a lot of thought had gone into the design, which Seth has obviously applied.

Upgrade to any level of paid subscription, and you also get the ability to customize colors and logos used with Cashboard. This is important as you can give your clients access to the system to see the details of existing and upcoming projects. Branding is very important - and this is yet another way to accomplish the task. Other upgrades include the ability to send PDFs and the recent addition of being able to accept online payments through Authorize.net and PayPal. A very handy ability indeed, as not all clients have the ability to pay by check or cash by your asking due date.

Creating users (either your own or for your client) and companies is a snap. Unfortunately, you can’t attach an email address to more than one client (say if they ran two companies and wanted you to do work for both).

Need to send a simple estimate? How about a complex version complete with client agreement, terms, detailed tasks and a best/worst case pricing? Either way, Cashboard is ready to help. Here’s the real trick: not every estimate is a live project until you say it is. Send as many estimates as your heart desires - all pricing levels from free to the top of the line “Maple” are unlimited in this regard. This makes sense from both a marketing standpoint on the Cashboard end to an individual freelancer on the other. You’ll know very quickly whether you need to upgrade to the next level based on the number of projects you will be able to invoice. Once you are ready, those estimates convert easily into active projects.

Of course, you can create projects without estimates at all. On the Project Overview page, one can determine what projects are active (and if they are being worked on), what projects are closed, and how many projects you have available based upon your subscription level. Tasks can be configured per project, and can be configured with a best/worst case time, plus the ability to set hourly or flat billing. The client, if allowed access, can then connect and see how the project is progressing and whether or not the budget is being met. You cannot delete tasks that have time assigned to them, and if you delete a task that is assigned to an estimate that required client agreement, then said agreement would be voided.

Personally, I hate dealing with timesheets. Thankfully, Cashboard presents them in such a way that even I felt somewhat comfortable with. You can select your project, the task, and date, then enter the hours (in either a standard or percentage format for minutes) or even click the Start Timer button, and have it note the time for you. As the business owner, you can see time for yourself, your employees, and even sub-contractors if you wish. And, once again, you can allow the client to see the project as the time progresses - giving those more needy customers a sense of control they desire.

Don’t like the web interface to track time? Cashboard has a Yahoo Widget that looks and operates smoothly. It asks for all the needed login information at install, and will show you the appropriate projects and their tasks when you ask it to. The username and password have to be saved for this to work, so this wouldn’t be feasible for a multi-user computer.

What’s the use of tracking your time if you aren’t getting paid for it? The invoicing and accounting features of Cashboard are detailed and expansive, covering almost every desire, save scheduled invoicing (which is coming soon). Invoices can be created, then sent via email in text format or pdf, and then the customer, if you have it configured, can return to the page, pay via PayPal or Authorize.net or you can mark the payments as they come in (with automatic payment notices sent back to the customer). The invoicing system also has the ability to import time directly from a project (or projects), or no project at all. Payment reminders can be sent out along with thank you emails, rounding Cashboard out nicely - except for one hole: the accounting tab just covers the invoice accounting realm. It will not, sadly, help you track your outgoing money, or help you replace Less Accounting or Quickbooks. Not that it is designed for this, but I prefer an integrated solution when I can have it.

Support from Cashboard was fast and helpful. Seth, the creator of said application, was ready and willing to answer any question I might have had. In all, I found Cashboard to be a worthy web application, with a major amount of potential for the freelance world.

The Lowdown

The Good

• Standard SSL connection
• Estimates and invoicing
• Multiple user time tracking
• Plenty of tips and help
• Customizable color schemes and logos (above free level)

The Not So Good

• Still in beta
• Double “login” if you don’t remember your custom URL
• Accounting doesn’t currently track money outside of the Cashboard realm
• Can’t use one email address with multiple companies
• Multiple steps required to get to important areas (such as Companies)

Price

With flavors from free (Vinyl option limited to one open project) to $90 per month (Maple plan with unlimited projects), Cashboard offers five subscription levels with 30 day trials available. You can read more about the pricing plans here.

Would you like your product reviewed?
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