this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2023
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What I need:

  • Simple modern UI
  • easy way to create invoice and auto generate pdf file for me
  • allow to make me invoice template so I can put like additional info like bank details
  • have nice dashboard so I can see my income What I want to avoid:
  • too complex system
  • lack of docker support
  • software with paywalls for functions

Hope you can help me find something.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

When I was a freelance contractor I used InvoiceNinja. It was pretty good and also has some apps for mobile. And it's on DockerHub too.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

UI it’s kinda hard to navigate and also docker setup never worked for me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I agree, the UI is not really simple, but it is very functional. regarding the docker setup it also took me a couple of tries, but I succeeded in the end.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I have been researching this subject for a while as well and eventually settled on using Odoo with the full accounting features. It's more than just accounting but it works quite well and it's free. Can be run as a single python docker container.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Though look like most things are paywalled under enterprise 😅

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Some things are, but the core functionality is easily extended through modules and you can find a lot of sites with them. Some of the best modules are going to cost you some money but it’s worth it.

That being said Odoo is overkill if you just need to send an invoice. Odoo is perfect for running a business though. It can and will do EVERYTHING and then some.

I know people who run their entire businesses on it. Website, HR, inventory, time clocks, billing, etc etc. it scales really well too. Largest business I know using it has 100s of employees. They even have a paid developer on staff that writes and maintains custom modules for them. Smallest business I know of using it has 5 employees, including the owners.

It’s seriously impressive software!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

TBH, if something like invoice ninja isn’t working for you, even the paid hosted version, then maybe just use PayPal?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Hmm I end up managed to install invoice ninja with dockerfile repo I used wrong env file and it was making error. For plus I like apps both for iOS and Windows :)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Depends on what sort of invoices. For my invoices for billable hours, I use Kimai

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I will need to send invoices every two week in my case.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And in my case I’m an employee that will need send invoices to employer.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Employee/employer relationship is normally more formalised with contracts and wages. This is to ensure that the employer isn't taking advantage of loopholes.
Chances are you will get classed as a "disguised employee" if you are freelance and invoicing only 1 client.

But I don't know employment law where you are. I know the US and UK have laws about this, chances are EU does as well.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Freelancers with only one client are fine. More about who controls how and when the tasks are accomplished.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Ye though it's more complex when you are from EU and want to work for US company. Also for now it's more like part time job hope to get full contract one next year :)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I use pancake, works pretty well. It's paid, but only a one-time payment and you get the code.

EDIT: here's the link: https://www.pancakeapp.com/

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I currently manually create invoices in Excel, so I'm definitely interested in seeing what you find!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Well, openERP or openbravo were what I would have recommended ten years ago, but due to their commercialization aren't really relevant any longer. If I personally was setting this up for myself I would probably use redmine and a plugin that gives redmine the invoice functionality. However I wouldn't call it simple for a first timer to pull off, but if redmine is mastered you will find very extensible and customizable to any particular project's needs.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

My friend and I have been building just such a program for a while now. We are both self employed software devs and we didn't have a clean way of tracking time, so we started building something that just did that at first, but it's evolved a lot since then. However, it's still very much in development so customisation is limited, but the core stuff all works. Now granted, it doesn't use docker, it's just a stand alone program and currently doesn't have cloud support (we are working on it), but I can absolutely send you a copy if you wanna try it out.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago