How to find us

You can find billing boss at http://www.billingboss.com and our blog has been moved to http://www.sagespark.com/blog/billingboss

Small businesses: don't get left in the dust by social media

Small businesses are using social networking in huge numbers, and Sage set out to determine just how they're using it, how much, and why. We commissioned a study, and we're sharing it with you on Sage Spark. Check out our report, North American Small Businesses Embrace Digital Social Networking.

65 percent of small businesses that used social networking sites said that they felt more comfortable doing so this year than they did last year, and 51 percent said that they had acquired and retained customers because of it.^*

Our own Rob King, VP of Strategic Marketing for Sage North America,

estimates that small businesses have a 12-month window to figure out online social networking. “I hate to say it, but if they don’t, they’ll get left in the dust,” he said. “It’s here to stay.”^*

Also check out the related New York Times article for some examples of how some small businesses are using social media today to market themselves. Sage Spark is a great place to promote your business online, connect with other professionals, and find services you need, so why not get started today?

Setting up Billing Boss to handle Canada's Goods and Services Tax (GST)

Setting up Billing Boss for Canada's Goods and Services Tax (GST) takes just a few clicks.

• Once you're logged in, go to the Settings tab and check to make sure your country and province are set correctly; then click Save and Continue.
• This will take you to the Taxes page, where you should make sure "My company charges taxes" is checked, and then click "Use the official tax values for my province".
• Click Save and Continue, and now GST will appear on every invoice you create from now on.

Don't worry, changing your tax settings doesn't mess with your existing invoices. If GST doesn't apply, you can uncheck the "GST" box for the line on the invoice, or for the entire invoice. You can view the GST you have collected in the invoice report.

Play the Sage Spark game: Game Changers and Visionaries

What kind of visionary are you? See how you compare with the famous game changing businesspeople of all time. While you're at it, test your business savvy.
You can also join the Sage Spark Contest by placing this game on your blog, in Facebook, Livejournal, iGoogle, Piczo or MySpace. Placing it on your blog lets you compete with other sites for prizes, including 5 iPhones. See details inside the head!

New in Billing Boss: Languages, iPhone and more!

Billing Boss has been in beta for a year now, and today we're very happy to announce we've launched a new version with lots of exciting new capabilities. Not only does it look different and work even better, it is now part of SageSpark.com, a community that offers expert advice, learning resources, and opportunities to grow your business.

Languages

Now you can work in the language you're most comfortable in. Even more importantly, you can communicate with and bill your customers in their preferred language, while working in your language.

English English Spanish Español French Français Italian Italiano Korean 한국어

Portuguese Português Brazilian Portuguese Português (Brasil) Simplified Chinese (Mainland China) 中文 Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong) 粵語 香港 Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) 國語 台灣

Mobile version

Billing Boss is now also optimized for the iPhone and the Google G1. When you visit BillingBoss.com from your mobile phone you will see a special version made just for small screens and slow connections. The regular version is still available on the iPhone, but the mobile version makes the most common tasks a lot easier.

Import/Export customer lists

If you already have your customer list elsewhere, now you can import your customers into Billing Boss so you don't have to re-enter your data. What's more, you can export your Billing Boss contacts as well. The standard CSV format works with Microsoft Excel and many other systems.

Improved payment support

Now you have improved control over the ways you can receive payment online. You can select multiple payment methods, and allow different payment methods for different invoices. Would you rather receive a check (or a cheque) for a large invoice, or credit cards for smaller amounts? Now you can.

Invoice history and delivery tracking

Check to see who's received their invoices. Failed deliveries are recorded on the invoice history and also emailed back to you.

We've seen that people who use Billing Boss work across borders, across currencies, across timezones, and across platforms. We've heard your comments and requests; we've seen how Billing Boss is used, and we're using that to improve the service. We're always interested in hearing more, and we value your comments. Expect to hear more about SageSpark.com and new ways you can accelerate the productivity of your business.

Scheduled maintenance, Thursday April 2

Billing Boss will be unavailable for thirty minutes starting at 8:30pm EDT on Thursday, April 2 (00:30 UCT/GMT on Friday, April 3) for a maintenance update.

There will be some exciting product updates coming with tomorrow's new version... stay tuned!

Something's coming, something good

We've been hard at work, and although we're not going to share just yet, here's a video of the development activity by our team over the past twenty months. You may notice a sort of crescendo which may indicate something big on its way... (looks better in its full glory)

Nerdy notes: we use Subversion for our source code control (though we're soon making a switch to Git) and this video was produced using code_swarm (with some minor modifications to keep people from piling up on each other) and of course mencoder to make the movie.