[mark mann]

is george software good or is there any other good options?

what do u guys use and and how much has it helped?

thanks in advance for any replies....

[chopsie]

I have only used george, but think its excellent, all I need for 50 quid

[SPE]

does what I want, organises my round and records my expenses, good support too and 50 quid nuff said 

[Jeff Brimble]

Paul Sanders, the face behind George is brilliant solving any problems you may have, there is also a users forum, and the version gets updated regulary, as long as you do regular back ups all the info is available by email, which is handy if you lose your computer.

[combat1]

Used George for a few years now, back up all info to the internet which costs about £12 a year. Had a computer meltdown last year and was able to get all the George data back in minutes, thanks to Paul and the internet back up service. End of year accounts were so easy with this system. recommended highly.

[Mr Bungalow]

Hello Mark,

At the moment to be honest the best software to use is George.

regards.

[Smudger]

Take a look at window cleaner Pro.

more bucks but an extremely good prog - couldn't run the biz without it.

Darran

[jsm]

im a george virgin of 4 weeks , just gone over from excel spredsheet

after the first time inputting all the info which took days lol so far im very pleased , i think it also has given me a push as i now try and beat george in doing the work on time - i dont like seeing work pop up on the screen in bold red overdue lol ... so so far thumbs up

[Carl2009]

Guys guys guys, none of you have mentioned Roundtracker. Believe me it's brilliant for the price of £37. Check this out:
http://www.roundtracker.info/

[mark mann]

Guys guys guys, none of you have mentioned Roundtracker. Believe me it's brilliant for the price of £37. Check this out:
http://www.roundtracker.info/

thanks for adding this carl - what made you choose this over george - so many choose george so does this package offer more - it mentions tracking your canvassing and quotes also - does george do this for example??

[prestige cleaners]

im with george, no probs and cheap. the only thing missing is an app for iphones/androids. but not a big deal.

[Carl2009]

I did a quick spreadsheet analysis of WC Pro, George and Roundtracker. This is what I found from George, for me at the time. Note - this was then and is only my opinion.

Printed worksheets - addresses difficult to read
When closing pages it returns a slowly filling blank page
Cannot personalise invoices with branding
Once expenses are in you ca't amend
No cashflow reporting


WCPro
Columns go out of line when Maintain button is pressed

WC PRO is soooo expensive. I know we can't compare with what Microsoft churn out s=for the price, but c'mon.

For £25 (at the time) I figured Roundtracker did all I needed to do. I served me well (and would still) till it was upgraded (for free). I am totally satisfied with it. Best £25 I ever spent.

Try it and you'll see.

[kate1]

Hi

Cleared this with Dave, as I just wanted to say that this facility IS available on mobile phones.

Dont want to be deemed as advertising, but just wanted to clarify that side of things.

[M Henderson]

Guys guys guys, none of you have mentioned Roundtracker. Believe me it's brilliant for the price of £37. Check this out:
http://www.roundtracker.info/

thanks for adding this carl - what made you choose this over george - so many choose george so does this package offer more - it mentions tracking your canvassing and quotes also - does george do this for example??

I figured Roundtracker did all I needed to do. I served me well (and would still) till it was upgraded (for free). I am totally satisfied with it. Best £25 I ever spent.  Try it and you'll see.

Thank you for your kind comments Carl.

I think the reason it doesn't get mentioned as much is because a lot of window cleaners tried the earlier versions of Round Tracker and  have perhaps ruled it out based on judgement of those versions.

In all seriousness I think the low price also puts some off! 

[rg1]

Roundtracker requires Microsoft Excel on your PC so if you dont already have it, it's an extra expense that you need to be aware of.

[Carl2009]

But how in today's environment do you manage a business without Excel - cashflows, forecast P & L accounts etc. etc. Surely everyone has Excel... Don't they?

I reckon Mark might be right - people tried the early version and still think it's the same (though as I said nowt wrong with it in my book). They should download the new version and have a play methinks.

[rg1]

But how in today's environment do you manage a business without Excel - cashflows, forecast P & L accounts etc. etc. Surely everyone has Excel... Don't they?

I reckon Mark might be right - people tried the early version and still think it's the same (though as I said nowt wrong with it in my book). They should download the new version and have a play methinks.

There are many programmes, software etc that do all the things you have suggested, Excel is just one of them.

[Carl2009]

Yep I agree and they all have a cost attached. For £85ish you can get a great suite of Office applications - Word, Excel, Powerpoint (useful for demoing wfp to new custies.... ). Add in the cost of Roundtracker and you are still quids in compared with WC PRO. IMO.

[M Henderson]

Roundtracker requires Microsoft Excel on your PC so if you dont already have it, it's an extra expense that you need to be aware of.

This is true.

Open Office doesn't support the new advanced version of Round Tracker due to the extensive use of VBA Coding (Macros).

As Carl says, Microsoft Office is however a sound investment for any business.

The good thing about Excel is that as Microsoft continue to develop Excel, the products based in Excel get better as a result of it.

eg. When Excel 2007 came out Round Tracker took a big leap forward thanks to the new tick box, multiple choice filter feature

Added features without me having to do anything! -  

[Moderator David@stives]

Mark

Send me a trial, wouldn't mind taking a look

[darren clarke]

all my paper work is in excel, can i just import it in to roundtracker, with out typing it all out again

[darren clarke]

i just checked i have mircosoft works spreadsheet   will it work on that

[M Henderson]

Dave you have mail (hope the email address is right)..

Blue Monkey - You do need Excel and not just Works.

You can download a free trial of Office here:
http://www2.buyoffice.microsoft.com/emea1/product.aspx?sku=10234528&cache=1552978600&culture=en-GB

I think the trial is 60 days.

[M Henderson]

all my paper work is in excel, can i just import it in to roundtracker, with out typing it all out again

..sorry forgot to answer this....

if you have your round details already in Excel then it will be quicker to enter the round details rather than having to retype everything since you can copy and paste text but you can't just press a button to import the info to where you want it to be.

[Smart Carpet]

Hi Mark H,

I think a big question (esp to those who have been affected by the WCP news) is will the RoundTracker program work without internet verification, eg if your business ceases trading, will your program continue to work as normal?

I haven't been able to try it as I use open office spreadsheet, but is printing out accounts from whatever dates you set easy to do?

Thanks,

J

[geefree]

Think wc pro , has had its day, i heard on here that its being taken over, and will cost to use on a monthly basis,

If true , talk about pricing yourself out of the market, mearkat .com

 

[M Henderson]

I think a big question (esp to those who have been affected by the WCP news) is will the RoundTracker program work without internet verification, eg if your business ceases trading, will your program continue to work as normal?

Actually I recently answered a similar question regarding registering licences (but for the same reason as you are asking)  on the RTv4 PRO support forum:

Here was my reply:

You do not need to register a license (apart from the Excel license if you don't already have it)

If you use a suggested online back up folder such as www.dropbox.com you can access the file from any internet connection at any time by logging in to the dropbox folder on the server - which is  automatically synchronised with the dropbox folder on your desktop. - This is a free service dropbox provide.

We recommend users do this because you always have a back up of the most recent file online, it doesn't cost anything and you also have recent previous versions also automatically saved for you in case of errors or whatever.

So if your PC breaks you could access your Round Tracker file from a mates computer and once set up with Excel on the new computer you are back to normal again.

Hope that answers your question for you,

So basically, yes it will still work as it is a stand alone product.

I haven't been able to try it as I use open office spreadsheet, but is printing out accounts from whatever dates you set easy to do?

Yes you can use Date filters to set the period you wish to print off. eg. click on Last month, Last Quarter or if you wish you can set the desired dates using the Between option.

[Smart Carpet]

I think a big question (esp to those who have been affected by the WCP news) is will the RoundTracker program work without internet verification, eg if your business ceases trading, will your program continue to work as normal?

Actually I recently answered a similar question regarding registering licences (but for the same reason as you are asking)  on the RTv4 PRO support forum:

Here was my reply:

You do not need to register a license (apart from the Excel license if you don't already have it)

If you use a suggested online back up folder such as www.dropbox.com you can access the file from any internet connection at any time by logging in to the dropbox folder on the server - which is  automatically synchronised with the dropbox folder on your desktop. - This is a free service dropbox provide.

We recommend users do this because you always have a back up of the most recent file online, it doesn't cost anything and you also have recent previous versions also automatically saved for you in case of errors or whatever.

So if your PC breaks you could access your Round Tracker file from a mates computer and once set up with Excel on the new computer you are back to normal again.

Hope that answers your question for you,

So basically, yes it will still work as it is a stand alone product.

I haven't been able to try it as I use open office spreadsheet, but is printing out accounts from whatever dates you set easy to do?

Yes you can use Date filters to set the period you wish to print off. eg. click on Last month, Last Quarter or if you wish you can set the desired dates using the Between option.

Ok thanks for the reply.

How would I go about installing the program 'on a mates computer'? 

Would I need to purchase and download the program again, or can I install it with the program I originally paid for and received?

[M Henderson]

You wouldn't need to purchase Round Tracker again to access it on dropbox but Excel would need to be installed on the computer you were using.

[Smart Carpet]

Oh I see, because the 'program' is just an excel file, right?

  (I hope)

[M Henderson]

In Carl's words...

They should download the new version and have a play methinks.

 

[mattywig]

Hello Mark,

Is it better than my back n red notebooks that have all my customers wrote down in them and ticks when they've been cleaned and crossed when they have paid? I spend 5 minutes a day in the van updating these and they are extremely reliable and Ive yet to have one crash on me! LOL I am really a wc dinosaur? I was only 30 on sunday not that I celebrated it.

Hope your well regards Matty

[rg1]

Yep I agree and they all have a cost attached. For £85ish you can get a great suite of Office applications - Word, Excel, Powerpoint (useful for demoing wfp to new custies.... ). Add in the cost of Roundtracker and you are still quids in compared with WC PRO. IMO.

Carl, I wasn't trying to make comparisons between George, WCP & Roundtracker, they are all great programmes. I was merely pointing out the fact that Roundtracker requires Excel for it to work and if you don't already have Excel, it would be an extra expense that you need to be aware of.

[George Systems]

Printed worksheets - addresses difficult to read
When closing pages it returns a slowly filling blank page
Cannot personalise invoices with branding
Once expenses are in you ca't amend
No cashflow reporting

Hi

Just for the record

1) I've had no complaints about the address being hard to read
2) Not heard about that either
3) You can print your own logo on an invoice or use your own pre-printed letterhead
4) Not true
5) Not true

Paul Sanders
GeorgeSystems

[Carl2009]

Hi Paul,

You have a successful system liked and appreciated by many users. These were just my findings in Jan 2009.

Hope you have continued success.

Cheers

Carl