Tips and Tricks to Streamline Your Workflow

For decades, certified design business consultants like Wallene Reimer and Teryl Birkes have been working closely with designers using Studio Designer. Their considerable insights and experience with the platform are shared in our ongoing series of Tips and Tricks. Certified consultant Teryl Birkes and his company Teryl Birkes & Associates, have been working with Studio Designer since its inception. He also offers training, consulting, and technical support for the program along with running an interior design bookkeeping service.

Custom Reports for Accurate Accounting

Teryl Birkes informs his clients that the following four important reports should be reviewed on a regular basis to maintain correct accounting. 

Accounts Receivable

• This report shows all client invoices with a balance due. This report is important to look at to make sure you are collecting all of the money you are owed. If you are not able to collect the balance create a credit invoice to write off the balance. If it is a small amount you can Receive and Apply payment to the invoice via the Money In Screen using a Bad Debt Write Off account for the Cash Account.

Accounts Payable

• This Report shows all items on an order that have been invoiced to your client where you still owe a balance to the vendor. This report is important for cash flow purposes for these vendors will be requiring payment within 30 days. Review this report for accuracy. Sometimes a vendor will quote a different price than they actually charged you. If the vendor is not owed a balance then adjust the purchase cost on the order to the amount paid.

Work in Progress

• This report shows all items on an order that has not been invoiced to the client. This report is important because it shows items that need to be invoiced. Remember that the income and cost are recorded at the time of invoicing the client. This is a good report to ensure you are staying current with your invoicing and is also a great tool to narrow your focus on items that need attention. There are three ways to clean up this report.

1. Invoice the item if it is completed.
2. Void the order if you are not going to do the item.
3. You cannot charge your client the balance for the total amount. If so, change the selling price to what your client has paid you and invoice it.

Client Deposits

• This report shows items not invoiced but with client payment applied. It also shows Funds Available for each client. This report is important to review to see if there are any items that might need invoicing. It also serves as a reminder of items that you might need to order. It can also let you know if you forgot you had applied client money to an item that has been canceled.

All of the above reports are pre-built and found among the many standard reports displayed when you access our revamped Custom Report Builder found at the bottom of the screen after you log in. You can further customize these reports to suit the needs of your particular business or even create a report from scratch with fields and filters you set up.