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BaccS - Windows-based management and invoicing software for translators
Thread poster: Eugene Kuchynski
Eugene Kuchynski
Eugene Kuchynski
Belarus
Local time: 06:32
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER
BaccS for Windows Oct 20, 2016

First of all, thanks to the Claire Ziamandanis for the previous supportive message!

Now, announcing the launch of the BaccS for Windows! Many hours, talks and feedback are turned into the new product. Thanks to all who sent me messages and wished to see Windows (offline) version. Your requests are heard.



At the moment BaccS for Windows is very similar to online version, except tabbed interface, improved invoice and CV template designers, improved dashboard and charts which now look much more attractive, and reworked TO3000 import function. Plus, of course we get secure solution which doesn't require to store anything in the cloud.

The app doesn't require installation which allows to easily backup it together with the data or even have it in the USB drive. Updates arrive automatically.

This time it is not free, but very cheap - ~30 USD.

From today, I start a long cycle to improve the app, so please share your requests.

Just to keep the message short, here are some links with the information about new software:
Screenshots: www.ibaccs.com
Information about installation, prices, updates, etc.: www.ibaccs.com/Home/Pricing
Tutorial (warning: 40 minutes, this time with voiceover and without subtitles): https://youtu.be/opgaziNyRlU


 
Eugene Kuchynski
Eugene Kuchynski
Belarus
Local time: 06:32
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER
Software manual Oct 27, 2016

Added first version of software manual - 40 pages of detail description and pictures. Tons of useful information, explanations and examples. PDF file is available here.

Added 'Expenses' document allowing to register expenses and distribute them for a number of months. Expenses are reflected in charts.

And, just to show something new, here is a short animation from latest update sho
... See more
Added first version of software manual - 40 pages of detail description and pictures. Tons of useful information, explanations and examples. PDF file is available here.

Added 'Expenses' document allowing to register expenses and distribute them for a number of months. Expenses are reflected in charts.

And, just to show something new, here is a short animation from latest update showing how it is easy to include or exclude jobs in the invoice by dragging and dropping rows:
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Michael Grant
Michael Grant
Japan
Local time: 12:32
Japanese to English
"BaccS for Windows" looks great! Oct 28, 2016

Hi Eugene,

I just wanted to say that BaccS for Windows looks great!
As a person who is just getting started in programming, I am wondering:

What development environment do you use?

I have an idea for a Windows-based app I am working on (currently, it's MS Office/macro-based),
but I'm looking for a good development environment to use, so please let me know what you used!

Thanks!
Michael G.


 
Eugene Kuchynski
Eugene Kuchynski
Belarus
Local time: 06:32
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER
C# Oct 28, 2016

Michael Grant wrote:

What development environment do you use?

I have an idea for a Windows-based app I am working on (currently, it's MS Office/macro-based),
but I'm looking for a good development environment to use, so please let me know what you used!


Thank you, Michael. Well, that is not a secret. C# and Visual Studio. But be prepared that learning cycle could take minimum one year. And maybe much more, depending on the complexity of the task. Please feel free to write private message if need any help with starting.


 
Eugene Kuchynski
Eugene Kuchynski
Belarus
Local time: 06:32
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER
Good news Nov 7, 2016

I'm still alone in this thread, but continue to post.

Last weeks I released few versions, with tons of updates, based on my own vision and user's suggestions. Short summary:

- Extended demo limitation (should be enough for 2-3 months) and possibility to download demo via direct link, without limitation: click to download (~ 60 Mb)
- Possibility to add jobs as events to Google Calen
... See more
I'm still alone in this thread, but continue to post.

Last weeks I released few versions, with tons of updates, based on my own vision and user's suggestions. Short summary:

- Extended demo limitation (should be enough for 2-3 months) and possibility to download demo via direct link, without limitation: click to download (~ 60 Mb)
- Possibility to add jobs as events to Google Calendar (back sync soon too)
- Files handling and automatic folder creation during job creation
- Themes support and possibility to change font size in entire app
- About 50 minor fixes (like spelling, VAT numbers, some terms, forms composition, etc.)
- Keyboard shortcuts to quickly switch between all parts of the application
- Better automatic price apply (you may have different default rates depending on customer, currency, unit, work type, fuzzy type, language direction)
- Total performance optimization


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Rolf Keller
Rolf Keller
Germany
Local time: 04:32
English to German
Programming is just like translating: To convert from your brain's language into the PC's language Nov 7, 2016

Eugene Kuchynski wrote:

C# and Visual Studio.

A very good team. Much better and more future-proof than any of today's script languages.


learning cycle could take minimum one year

It depends heavily on talent & previous knowledge. It took me one week to understand Visual Studio and C#, so that I could re-code one of my old Word macros into C#. I learnt how to code when Bill Gates attended the high school, though. No PC and no object-oriented language, just a deck of punched cards. Any wrong comma or colon meant "Please correct your card deck and wait another week for the university's mainframe to process it. Today my PC responds within one or two seconds, so I can get done much more mistakes than ever before.

. And maybe much more, depending on the complexity of the task.


That's true, of course. Omni-Lookup (www.omni-lookup.de) took me much more than 2 weeks.


 
Adam Łobatiuk
Adam Łobatiuk  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 04:32
Member (2009)
English to Polish
+ ...
Invoice languages Nov 10, 2016

Hi Eugene,

Is it possible to issue invoices in different languages depending on the client? For example, I'd like to be able to issue invoices in Polish for Polish clients and in English (or bilingual) for international ones.

Thanks


 
Eugene Kuchynski
Eugene Kuchynski
Belarus
Local time: 06:32
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER
Invoice languages - yes, soon Nov 10, 2016

Adam Łobatiuk wrote:

Hi Eugene,

Is it possible to issue invoices in different languages depending on the client? For example, I'd like to be able to issue invoices in Polish for Polish clients and in English (or bilingual) for international ones.

Thanks


Hello, Adam,

Thank you for this timely question. If you use demo version, than you can see in changelog that the next planned feature is languages support in the invoices. At the moment we don't have clear idea how it will look, but the general approach will be as following. We will use built-in invoice designer to create invoice template in any language (if it will be difficult, I will help). Then this template will be linked with the customer or it will be possible to select which template to use before printing particular invoice - I'm still thinking which approach will be more useful.
Plus, as soon as app users find invoice designer slightly complicated, soon I will record a video where will show how to create invoice template from scratch. Also, later there there will be a gallery of invoice templates on the website.
This update will be released in the first half of the next week.


 
Eugene Kuchynski
Eugene Kuchynski
Belarus
Local time: 06:32
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER
Per-customer or per-language invoices Nov 16, 2016

As promised to Adam, BaccS now allows to have any number of invoice templates, which you can simply put into templates folder. Then, before printing an invoice, you can select which one to use. Thus, now it is possible to have different invoice templates for different languages or customers:

Invoice templates are created using built-in invoice designer. As soon as it requires some experience, I help all my users to create templates. Just send me an example of your invoice and you will get ready-to-use template on the same day. If invoice language is other than English, please provide both versions.

Also, here is updated link to download demo version (download starts immediately, ~64 mb).


 
Andrés Taboada Casteleiro
Andrés Taboada Casteleiro  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 04:32
Member (2016)
Portuguese to Spanish
+ ...
Amazing Nov 22, 2016

Dear Eugene, I was looking for a tool like yours for many years. So, I like it so much, congratulations man!! And thank so much!

Andres

[Editada em 2016-11-22 17:28 GMT]


 
Johan Kjallman
Johan Kjallman  Identity Verified
Local time: 04:32
Member (2008)
English to Swedish
+ ...
One more happy user Nov 25, 2016

I have been working with the desktop version for a few weeks now, and I must say that I’m quite thrilled about what it’s capable of achieving. I have used TO3000 for a few years, but never really liked it, mainly because everything felt so “hidden away” and required plenty of clicks. I think Baccs has a lot of strengths, but what I like most about it is how easy it is to enter and access data where you need it. It’s also intuitive and I have been able to learn how to use it without nee... See more
I have been working with the desktop version for a few weeks now, and I must say that I’m quite thrilled about what it’s capable of achieving. I have used TO3000 for a few years, but never really liked it, mainly because everything felt so “hidden away” and required plenty of clicks. I think Baccs has a lot of strengths, but what I like most about it is how easy it is to enter and access data where you need it. It’s also intuitive and I have been able to learn how to use it without need for instructions (now there is a manual as well though for when in doubt). I get a good overview of the “state of affairs” from the widget dashboard and can easily access the most relevant entries from there. And for the occasions where I do need to enter data in two different catalogs at the same time, I can simply open the second one in a new tab without having to close the first one. I’m also a sucker for statistics - it’s nice to see that your hard work is paying off and things are going better. There are some really nice charts that are very easy to set up and I know that the developer is working on adding some more useful statistics in the next period as well. Speaking of which - another thing that I really like about this software is that the developer is very helpful and open to user feedback (I’ve had several feature requests implemented within a few hours are at most a few days).
I did have a quick look at some online alternatives as well such as Protemos. While they may look a bit more modern and appealing at first glance, I prefer Baccs’ superior functionality and capability of displaying lots of useful information on the same screen without having to scroll all the time.
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Marc Theriault
Marc Theriault  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 20:32
English to French
American and European translators only? Nov 30, 2016

Hello Eugene,

I heard in the tutorial video that you can set up your own currency, but from what I could see in the trial version, there are only 2 currencies available: US dollar and euro. Maybe you can modify that in the real version? If this is the case, what about the taxes? Could I set up the system to accomodate the complicated Canadian sale tax system (different according to the province where your client is located)?


 
Eugene Kuchynski
Eugene Kuchynski
Belarus
Local time: 06:32
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks, answer and announcement Nov 30, 2016

First of all, would like to say 'thanks' Andres and Johan for such a positive feedback. I wrote you private messageы, to avoid over-posting here, but now can express appreciation here too. It's nice to meet you and discuss the future of the app.

Marc Theriault wrote:

Hello Eugene,

I heard in the tutorial video that you can set up your own currency, but from what I could see in the trial version, there are only 2 currencies available: US dollar and euro. Maybe you can modify that in the real version? If this is the case, what about the taxes? Could I set up the system to accommodate the complicated Canadian sale tax system (different according to the province where your client is located)?


Well, of course the app supports any number of currencies. USD and EUR just created by default on first launch. I'm not from Europe and USA, and we all have different currencies and taxes. You can create any number of currencies. But have to select one base currency. Plus, the app automatically downloads currency rates and converts all amounts into your base currency. Just go to the Catalogs - Currencies and create CAD or any other currency.

About taxes. When invoice is being prepared, you may apply 2 taxes. Taxes are applied to final amount of the invoice. Later the app will automatically apply corresponding taxes depending on the invoiced customer. As with currencies, you may have any number of taxes with different rates. Everything is specified in the Catalogs (currencies, taxes, and other basic data like default prices, units, etc).
As soon as I don't know Canadian law, can you please explain different cases of applying taxes? If the app currently can't handle any of your requirements, it will be possible to quickly correct this

To all:
Finally, let me make a small announcement. Today a new update was released, where I implemented a report, which is unique for such kind of software. Called it performance report. In general, it allows to get information about rates, amounts and volumes for any period of time with regard to units, work types, customers, customer categories, work fields and work field categories, in any order of these classification groups. For example, it is possible to build a table (and chart) showing average rates in 2016 for translation jobs counted in words; or proofread volume in 2014-2016 for the client X in IT field both in words and hours. Settings are very flexible, allowing to setup report for many different cases. Chart is built depending on the selected rows. Really proud of the result:

The second feature, which is not so significant, but also important, is possibility to add instructions for the jobs. But not simple instructions. It supports all the formatting options available in such editors as Microsoft Word. So, you can change fonts, colors, text formatting, insert pictures and tables, change background, etc.


 
Marc Theriault
Marc Theriault  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 20:32
English to French
Different sale taxes Dec 1, 2016

[quote]Eugene Kuchynski wrote:

As I don't know Canadian law, can you please explain different cases of applying taxes? If the app currently can't handle any of your requirements, it will be possible to quickly correct this [quote]


Hello Eugene,

Thank you for your promp reply, which was interesting to read.

Here are a few exemples of sale taxes according to the province:

Client is in Ontario: I charge a HST of 13%
Client is in British Columbia (where I live): I charge a GST of 5%
Client is in New Brunswick: I charge a HST of 12% (I think)
Translator and client are in Quebec: the translator charge a QST (Quebec Sale Tax) of 9.975% (I think)
Client is in USA or elsewhere in the world: I don't charge sale taxes

There are 10 provinces and territories in Canada. For some of them, I charge a GST (Goods and Services Tax) of 5%, and for the others, I charge a HST (Harmonized sale tax), which percentage varies according to the province/territory. The type and amount of tax depends on the agreement the province/territory has (or doesn't have) with the federal government, and these agreements change from time to time.

I hope this help

[Modifié le 2016-12-01 01:00 GMT]


 
Eugene Kuchynski
Eugene Kuchynski
Belarus
Local time: 06:32
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER
Taxes Dec 1, 2016

Dear Marc,

Thank you very much for the questions and explanations. Well, the app can (almost) suis your needs without any additional changes. I've recorded a small (1 minute) video showing how to add and use all mentioned taxes:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1jd_YZ3oIrYdEZuVkF4bVRIbHM/view?usp=sharing
As you see, you may have all o
... See more
Dear Marc,

Thank you very much for the questions and explanations. Well, the app can (almost) suis your needs without any additional changes. I've recorded a small (1 minute) video showing how to add and use all mentioned taxes:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1jd_YZ3oIrYdEZuVkF4bVRIbHM/view?usp=sharing
As you see, you may have all of them and select during invoice preparation (1 or 2 taxes). But I plan to make the following changes in the next update based on your question:
- Add more decimal places in the tax rate (2 is not enough for 9.975)
- Make it possible to select default taxes for customers. In the result, when a new invoice will be created for particular customer, default taxes will be applied automatically, so it won't be necessary to remember which taxes are applied to each customer

Hope I fully answered your question. If not, please let me know. Thank you!
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BaccS - Windows-based management and invoicing software for translators






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