translate from spanish to english: Essential Software: TranslationOffice 3000

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Many moons ago, when we started our small business (specifically, the European side of our business), we made many beginners' mistakes, including managing to invoice incorrect amounts to incorrect companies. We chronicled this mortifying experience here, and shortly thereafter, we decided that it was time for an invoicing and accounting system. Our IT guru set out to find one, and we loved it from the very beginning: TranslationOffice 3000, mainly known as TO3000. We have been recommending this nifty software at all our seminars and workshops around the world for years without having any financial connection to the company (other than the fact that we gave them money for the software). However, in the spirit of full disclosure, we want to let you know that earlier this year, AIT, the company that makes TO3000, decided to take out an ad on this blog. However, this does not prevent us from giving this software an honest review. The short version: we love it.

Screenshot -- main screen (courtesy of TO3000)

Screenshot of main screen. Courtesy of TO3000.

First things first: What is it?
TO3000 is a translation management software that allows users to track every project, every invoice, every client and every payment. It's relatively simple to use, and readers of Translation Times get a 25% discount (version 10 is currently EUR 183).
The software allows you to create very pretty template-based quotes and invoices for clients, which has forever eliminated embarrassing invoicing errors for us. We also have a solid database of customers, phone numbers, addresses and contact persons inside the software. You can created many different billing categories, including hourly interpreting services, per-word translation rates, discounts for repeat customers, etc. One of our favorite features, which was missing from many of the other software packages that we looked at, is that you can invoice in many different currencies.

Our favorite features
There are many fantastic features of TO3000, and it's a bit hard to narrow them down. However, we've tried to come up with our 10 favorite features in no particular order.

Overview of invoices. Courtesy of TO3000.

With one click of a button, you will know how much money you have outstanding for the month. You just go to Invoices to clients --> calculate totals. The system will clearly indicate which invoices are outstanding.
Creating professional-looking quotes is a breeze. They are based on templates that you will help create -- this is a bit tricky, you not too terribly difficult to figure out.
There is a built-in word counter that's integrated into the quote tool, which is fantastic. You upload the document and the system counts the words and automatically tells you how much the project will cost. Brilliant.
We really enjoy knowing who our biggest customers are. This comes in handy around the holidays, when we decide who should get the larger presents! You can easily view how much you've earned from each customer.
The project tracking tool (called Schedule of Projects) is wonderful. Once you enter the quote and get the project, you enter the deadline for the project and the system will tell you exactly what's due when.
Invoicing is, without a doubt, our favorite administrative job. There's something very satisfying about writing an invoice, and with TO3000, it will only take a few minutes. We then convert them to PDF and off to the customer they go (via postal service in Europe, via e-mail in the U.S.)
The company's customer support is top-notch. We've only had a few questions through the years, and every time, the friendly folks at this Ukrainian company have answered our questions quite quickly. It's pretty nice to actually have a relationship with the people who make the software.
Entering payments from clients and closing out the project is fast and easy. The system will keep track of the average time it's taken for a client to pay, so the next time you issue a quote to that particular client, it's handy to know that they took longer to pay than you would have liked. This might be a good time to ask for a deposit.
TO3000 is a database, so you don't have to worry about hitting "save" for things to get saved.
You can try the software for free for 30 days, but by the end of it, we bet you will be hooked.

Adding a job to an invoice. Courtesy of TO3000.

The software is made by AIT (Advanced International Translations), which makes a variety of other cool software tools as well. Stay tuned for our review of Projetex.
Any bad news?Well, not really. Initially, the navigation (those menu items that one uses to click on things) wasn't as intuitive as it could be, but it has both improved a bit with new versions and we've also gotten used to it. Some navigational items aren't very elegant, such as going from creating a project to creating a project-related job, but those are relatively minor details. AIT is very good about bug fixes and new versions, which we've always installed without problems. By the way: we are not translation software gurus (that would be our friend and colleague Jost Zetzsche). Rather, we are advanced users, so rest assured that if we can figure out this business-essential software, so can you.
Don't forget to get your Translation Times reader discount -- no strings attached. We really don't know how we managed to run our business without TO3000. If you are only going to purchase one piece of software this year, make it TO3000.

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