# The guy behind the Green Curtain ( client management and accounting )



## sophiasart2013 (Feb 5, 2013)

I am hoping to add this forum to my growing list of resources. Excited to gain some insight.

My better half and I launched her business interest in photography in August, and like many new business owners launched prior to a few crucial steps, partially because this is an aside to regular employment, and also because we knew jumping into certain financial choices without the benefit of time and wisdom can often be money out the window. 
i.e. buying DX lenses just because you have a DX body thinking you have to match those letters for compatibility... ugh).
Im fairly adept at webdesign and management, so our choice of Smugmug was more from a perspective of having unlimited storage for a set yearly price, as well as easy access to the major labs. 
My better half already belongs to PPA, and just returned from the convention in Atlanta with a giant goodie bag of promotional stuff, leading us to have a significantly heated conversation about accounting/client management/studio management software suites.
Very shiny glossy product cards in hand, I've been going back and forth over this gaggle of hungry baby birds, all vying for our hard earned dollars, so a few questions posed to the group:
As we are a house divided ( I am a pc guy, she's a Mac girl ), and as I am most comfortable in that microsoft environment, in addition to google calendar, gmail, and android phones ( she as expected is apple all the way ), I desire to learn from your experiences in the following areas:
Our current business model focuses on Kids and family portraits, presenting a few packages of deliverables ranging from wallets to canvases, and we are funneling those orders through smugmug ( as ourselves and shipped to ourselves for personal delivery ). We are going to begin doing mini books, senior photos, regular photobooks, and a referral program based on the mini books as the advertising piece and codes rather than printed cards. 
My better half is dead-set on using quickbooks for all the accounting, coming from a family of accountants, but I am not convinced that the entire management side of the business can be run just from that application (not convinced only based on a lack of experience with that product).
Here are the items that I believe should be on our top priority list:
-Appointment management and communications tracking
-Invoicing and Contract Management
-Appointment tracking for sessions
-Payment Tracking for partials/deposits/amounts due
-Invoicing and tracking of hard and soft business expenses 
-Ability to push schedule tracking notifications to both iphone and android
-exportation of all data to quickbooks

So, knowing all of this, here is a specific program-related information request:
PSM Quest -- I love that it integrates into google calendar, and that it's a single pricepoint ( $39 ). It seems fairly straightforward to learn and use. Anyone currently using this, and to what extent are you integrating it into your business (client management, accounting, etc)?
The other, subscription-based software programs have me a little skeptical simply because you are in a sense carving out yet another piece out of your monthly gross sales.
Looking forward to the feedback
Nicholas & Marjorie


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