Good tip. I found the screen for doing custom invoices (customizable forms as they call it). I'll play with it in the morning and see if I can make it look alright. If I can make QB work that's probably what I'll use but I'm sure I'll grow to hate the program just as much as I used to. On the other hand, TruckNPro looks like it might be kind of fun. But having to enter info twice is BAD FORM - it leads to mistakes and moments where you wonder which version you should trust and it's just plain dumb. Now if TruckNPro could export data in a form that QB could deal with... I might just contact the TruckNPro code guy and try a little arm twisting. Years ago, I remember reading about a little ditty called qbxml. Intuit created the standard as a way for programs to export to QB. I can imagine using TruckNPro in road warrior mode and exporting the data to my desktop computer when I get home and having the best of both worlds.

 

You might also want to check out Quickbooks Simple Start. It's completely free, and may handle everything you need. Just google "quickbooks free". The only downside to it is that it won't import your older data if you've already been using Quickbooks.

 

That will be my next google. I just left my suggestion for the TruckNPro guy. He invites comments so I hope he won't mind. If he adds the ability to export data, I think he'd really have a winner.

 

I should've posted the link earlier. Here it is if you have trouble finding it:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...k2E6BB2KCnKfpQ

 

I dunno about that one Mal. It's a monthly fee and there would be times on the road where your internet connection wouldn't be good enough to run it well enough. Plus throw in Intuit's site being down from time to time and I think it might be a frustrating experience.

Another accounting package is tempting me. Amazon has Peachtree Complete 2011 for $22. Only problem there is that I doubt many accountants are equipped to deal with it. (Of course printed out P&L statements will work no matter what software generates them.)

I found a good vid for customizing invoices in QB 2002, I'll find a link if anybody needs it. The trick is to add fields in the Customers:Jobs screen and then they're available for invoices.

The new QB is tempting me too. In the 10 years since buying mine, they've improved some key areas - like making it more informative. Have they improved the Gawd-awful reports? Can't be any worse. lol

Ray White from TruckNPro says they're working on an add-in for QB versions 2002 and later. He didn't say when.

 

Some of the changes and innovations that Ray White has incorporated into Trucknpro has come from suggestions from drivers and owner operators who have used the program. He is constantly trying to improve his software. I know of one of his competitors who never seems to want to upgrade or change his software. It could be a challenge if your accountant didn't have the trucknpro software when it comes to taxes. However, you could print out your reports and just give them to him. He will have everything that he needs. You might even be able to scan the reports into a spreadsheet or another type of software. If all the accountant uses is the summary sheets, then they could have everything they need with the reports. You can set up the software to print about any type of report you may need, such as for maintenance, etc.,

There is a scheduler built into Trucknpro that will remind you about making payments or anything else you may need to be reminded to do. It won't make the payments for you, but will keep a record of them as long as you put it into the probram.

 

With Truckn Pro 2012 you can associate miscellaneous business expenses
such as telephone, Internet' insurance truck payments.
All you have to do is open the expense form from the main menu and in the expense category you will create your own expense categories just like you would in QuickBooks and then you will be able to run reports for by date or by expense category
and all of these miscellaneous expenses will show up in your profit loss reports.
And as far as e-mail and report you can do that also.
When you get Truckn Pro 2012 you will also get a PDF Creator this printer driver will work with any program on your computer so when you get ready to print a report just tell it to print with the PDF Creator and it will save it as a PDF file and save it wherever you choose and then you can attach it to an e-mail.

And for the big question most of you have been talking about adding QuickBooks integration.
I am talking to the reseller of this module now and trying to get a really good rate that will not cost a arm and a leg to get this added in.
There will be two types of this integration module. One is a read and write which you will be able to enter data from QuickBooks and it will go to Truckin Pro or what data you enter for Truckn Pro 7 will go back to QuickBooks.
And the other module is a read only which will cost less but what it would do it will read the data from Truckin Pro over to QuickBooks. I will have to distribute each module to each customer and these modules will have a unique license number for each one of them. I will be talking to the QuickBooks integration module department and get a final quote on what each of these license will cost.

 

I downloaded the new TrucknPro 2012 tonight. I am anxious to try it in the next couple of days and check out the new features.

 

You could add in other expense items, even with the older versions of Trucknpro. I keep my permits separate from my over size permits, just so that I can see how much that I am spending on each item. I also separate pm's from other repairs. I have a listing for my commercial insurance and another for other insurance. On your taxes you will probably want to put them together but I prefer to keep it separate for my own business. You could even separate your business telephone and cell phone expenses or combine them in one listing. I do like the idea that you can make changes for your particular business.

 

Last weekend I went back and put all my loads on one truck into the new Trucknpro Elite. I did it so that I could try the new software and also so that I could do my fuel taxes. The software caught a small mistake that I made on the miles. I forgot to put it in on two loads. Once I corrected the information, I printed out my IFTA report so that I could file my fuel taxes in a timely manner. I wasn't sure that I would have gotten back home in time to file them, so I wanted to get them filed now. I also printed out a profit and loss since January 1 of this year. I had to pay $53 this quarter and my mpg dropped from the last two quarters. We can file our IFTA and IRP online in my state. That helps to avoid a lot of mistakes.

The new Elite version (the newest) has another new feature which I also like. It has a driver qualifications file that you can scan and import a driver's CDL, medical card and application. It keeps everything together. I have been wanting this feature for some time. The downside to the Elite version is that you are limited to a single truck, as I recall. Foglines is working on a fleet version that is similar to the Elite version. If you have one truck it works very well.

I had some LTL loads this quarter. I like the way it can be keyed in. I like the PE version, but this one has a few additional feature that I do like. It is worth a look if you are thinking about buying some trucking software or upgrading an older version of the software. I have several friends who have been using Trucknpro for several years. One of them is planning on checking out the new version.

I hope that any of you who have tried the program will share your thoughts on the software, such as what you like or dislike about the program.