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October 2000

SOFTWARE REVIEW
Low-cost
Time & Billing

Bargains abound in boxes
and on the Web

by John Hedtke

The following is the text of the review as applicable to BalaBoss Client Navigator

BalaBoss Client Navigator
BalaBoss Software Corporation

The first product in this review is BalaBoss Client Navigator. BalaBoss Client Navigator is the highest-end product of any in this review. It's overpowered for the sole proprietorship but it has the strength and feature set to handle time and billing for mid-sized and even large firms.

Client Navigator would do credit to many accounting systems for the level of detail, although this makes the client and timekeeper setup process somewhat more complex than some smaller time and billing packages. The company provides a data import service when you buy the software and are converting from another program.

Data entry is straightforward. You can customize some fields as well as add footers and text to the invoice format. Version 5.04, scheduled for release this fall, will let you add a logo or bitmap to your invoices as well. You can output invoices to the printer, email or fax. You can also send invoices to a word processing program for additional editing and printing.

BalaBoss also has the most complete sample data files of any of the programs in this review. You can experiment with every feature in depth.

In addition to the time and billing features, BalaBoss has may cool features that set it apart from other packages in this review. For example there is an extensive contact manager that even lets you set activity flags and print custom sets of labels.

The product also has a file room application for tracking the location of physical files and documents, very handy for large firms that store records for their clients.

There is a tree view that lets you set up a complete organization chart view of your clients and their separate divisions.

But the slickest feature is that you can customize buttons and link them to another application (such as tax software) and automatically retrieve the client information from BalaBoss, which then starts a timer and posts the information to the client timesheet.

The company is also working on data synchronization software for the Palm Pilot. BalaBoss only has average documentation and no online help. Moreover, the screen design is a bit cluttered and unclear.

BalaBoss Client Navigator is the most expensive of the products reviewed here. While it has more details and power than smaller shops are likely to be interested in, it is a first rate package for shops with at least 10 timekeepers.

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