Hello Friends

I would really encourage anyone considering a new system to choose one that integrates the calendar and the invoices.  I've not used Hallmaster but I've heard positive reviews from some who do.

If a Meeting is already committed to invoicing software, e.g. Quickbooks, then a separate calendar is inevitable and Preston makes good use of Google Calendar.  This is easy to share.  I use colour codes to show the status of an event:

Grey (default) - status pending, mostly room bookings not yet invoiced.
Dark blue - Quaker events.
Light blue - other uncharged events (e.g.  visiting tradesmen).
Green - cancelled events.
Red - invoiced events.

I generally write invoices at the start of each month, at which point I change grey entries in the previous month to red.

For invoicing I use a home-grown Microsoft Access database which serves me well (I wrote it) but is probably not suitable for handing over to someone else.  The database is too clunky, and anyway few people own a copy of Microsoft Access.

When the time comes for me to hand over the invoicing to someone else I will ask the Meeting to look carefully at Hallmaster.

Peter Bullman, Manager, Preston Quaker Meeting House.

On 14/08/2023 12:32, Ann Turner - Warden and Bookings wrote:
Hello Friends,
Here at at Scarborough we also use Google Calendar for bookings -
I use a colour coded system for the rooms - eg red for the large room, green for the small room and blue for the committee room. As Liz says, adding things manually to invoices takes a few minutes for each booking, I have a sheet I made which I fill in by hand, looking at the calendar for who booked which room and when, it takes about ½ hour I suppose. Then transfer the details to invoices created by Quickbooks which sends the invoices and records them too. Our AM has transferred all local Meetings to Quickbooks.  As most of our hirers are regulars it doesn't take too long to send out our invoices which we do monthly unless requested otherwise.
In friendship,
Ann
Ann Turner
Warden, and Bookings
Scarborough Friends (Quakers) Meeting House
Quaker Close, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO12 5QZ
///honest.noise.ground
m: 07763 763 792
t: 01723 362 756 (mostly answerphone)
Please note I work part-time hours and will respond as soon as I can
www.pandhquakers.org.uk


On 14/08/2023 10:12, Liz Smith wrote:
Here at Street Quaker Meeting I also use google calendar for bookings.
This system is easy to set up and use. I received support from Wendry
Hayward years ago when I was warden for Reading Meeting.

The invoices are created on a spreadsheet. You can easily use google
spreadsheet for this. I transfer the hiring data into the spreadsheet
manually, going through the google calendar week by week. It can be
time consuming if your meeting house is very busy, but it's not
difficult to do.

I'd be happy to share examples of my calender and spreadsheet if
anyone is interested.

In friendship,
Liz

On Fri, 11 Aug 2023, 10:37 Martin Lacey,
<off...@norwichquakers.org.uk> wrote:

Hi David,

Good question!

At Norwich we use Libre Office for invoicing and spreadsheet
recording.  And Google Calendar for keeping track of bookings.

Benefits:
Zero purchase cost and no monthly/annual subscriptions.
Single point of control prevents most errors.

Downsides:
Takes a little more time at the end of the month to invoice and
update spreadsheets.
Single point of control = reliance on one person.

QUESTIONS:
Is it possible to integrate Google Docs for invoicing and
spreadsheets into Google calendar?  If this is even remotely
possible, I may spend some time investigating...

Kind regards,
Martin Lacey

Meeting House Manager
Norwich Quaker Meeting House
Upper Goat Lane
Norwich
NR2 1EW

01603 624854 Weekdays 9 - 1
07857 167322

On 10/08/2023 13:52, David Bull wrote:

Good afternoon, all.

We are looking at systems for taking and managing bookings for the
meeting house. Would anyone care to comment on pluses and minuses
of the various systems (Hallmaster, etc)?

Many thanks,

David Bull

Co Clerk (and convenor of House Management Committee)

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Chester Quaker Meeting

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