So I've been working on an alternative to Harvest, which is what I currently use to invoice my sysadmin clients. It's great but there are a few drawbacks:
- Since it's hosted in the US, it loads a little slower for me
- I don't get to see the source code, so can't make any changes
- It's hosted software, so I'm not in control of the database
- I can't use it on my own domain
The product is now nearly finished, and should be finished by the end of the week, incorporating most of the core features of Harvest/Freshbooks/Ballpark etc. I deliberately haven't bothered with the features I don't use.
The backend interface is Bootstrap with a lot of custom javascript, so it's clean and easy to use and does calculations on the fly without having to leave the page etc. The frontend interface has been designed by a designer so it looks pretty. It currently has full editable client profiles, full editable invoice profiles and full payment profiles. Still on the list to do before release are recurring invoices, a nice admin home page with Google Charts and hopefully something to make accounting easier for those who (like me) use Sage Instant Accounts for their accounting. Whilst this could potentially be used for hosting, there are no plans to add cPanel modules etc.
I started out making this primarily for myself, but during the development, it became apparent others could use it too, so I'm looking at licensing options. I want to make it affordable to anyone who is getting enough freelance income to actually need a billing system to handle it.
So, if you're in the market for this sort of software, could you let me know roughly what you'd be willing to pay for a:
Monthly/owned licence
With source code/ionCube encrypted
I'd also be willing to add new features quickly if there is demand for them.
Update: The initial release of the software is now available at www.openbill.co.uk