1DayLater - The Blog

Server downtime - should be resolved shortly

Apologies to any of our users who are experiencing downtime or slow speeds at the moment. Our hosting supplier Rackspace recently issued the following warning:

“At approximately 1:15 PM CT, the Rackspace Cloud Operations team identified a network traffic issue. Currently customer sites may be down or experiencing latency in their connectivity. Our operations team is actively working to resolve the issue”

Rackspace have always worked diligently to resolve these kinds of issues in the past so we expect that the downtime should not last long. Thanks for your patience.

The 1DayLater Team

Designers, now you can create customized 1DayLater invoices

Regular 1DayLater users will have noticed several improvements to 1DayLater’s PDF invoicing tool over the last few weeks; but what news for our designer community?

Well, we listened to popular demand and made it easy for designers to create their own invoice templates. We even wrote a short user guide to help. Non-designers should be seeing more customization options next year.

A case study: Digitalized Web Design

Web design company ‘Digitalized’ wanted to create an invoice which their clients would recognise immediately. They amended the standard 1DayLater template to include their own colour scheme and business logo.

The result is a sleek and professional looking template which can be populated straight from the PDF invoice tool in the ‘business tools’ section of 1DayLater.

Needing some inspiration for your design?

If you need some ideas to help you get started, we recommend you check out 1DayLater’s Flickr page. Here you can find all of the current non-customized templates for 1DayLater, including some from our friend Balazs Ertl Bakos.

Have you designed an invoice template which others would use?

Get in touch and send us your design. If we think other 1DayLater users would use it, then we will give you a free premium licence to thank you for your hard work - Send this to designs@1daylater.com

The 1DayLater user guide is now online

The simpler things are, the better.

And while we’ve tried to make sure that 1DayLater is as simple as can be, we appreciate that new users may find some things a little confusing at first!

For that reason we have put together a basic user guide, which includes everything from logging an entry, to searching your activities and the more advanced stuff such as creating your own invoice templates.

https://sites.google.com/a/1daylater.com/1daylater/home

For regular 1DayLater users we’ve also included some of the lesser known tips and tricks. In fact I’m pretty sure that there will be something new in there for everyone.

We hope this helps you get the most out of your 1DayLater experience.

Thanks,

Chris

Some recent improvements to 1DayLater

Well it’s been a little while since we updated the blog; I figured it was about time we told you about some of the recent improvements that have been made to 1DayLater.

The main thing that our users have been asking for is a mechanism that allows customer details and invoice defaults to be saved. And that’s what we’ve done…

Invoice defaults

Now each time you select a client or project you will get an additional option to save details. As well as saving the client address, this will also save any other pertinent information such as your hourly rate for that client.

Although this is a fairly minor change we think it will make the invoicing tool much more functional. We’ve already had some positive feedback from regular users, saying that it’s saving time when working on multiple projects.

Templates

The other main improvement is with our templates. We’ve teamed up with our new pal Balazs Ertl-Bakos from Hungary to improve 1DayLater’s range of templates and we can now offer a customised service for users who need something extra.

Although this aspect of 1DayLater is still in its infancy, Balazs has shown great talent and skill and we think that user will be impressed by the new service.

Check out the new range of templates

For any users who want something a bit more personalised, please get in touch and we can introduce you to Balazs. If you need one of the standard templates in high resolution then please contact support@1daylater.com

Well that’s it for this blog post, but hopefully more updates and improvements coming soon!

Cheers

Chris

Carpooling - Considering “Mileage Per Person” rather than Miles Per Gallon

Last week we summarized 5 tips to help you track mileage and improve your cars Miles Per Gallon (MPG), but what about other options? If you’re environmentally conscious then maybe Carpooling could be a great alternative to driving everywhere on your own.

Considering the environment

Here’s some interesting food for thought. According to WorldBank (World Development Indicators), there were at least 462 passenger cars for every 1000 people in the UK in 2008 (and a similar amount for the USA). In Monoco it was as high as 732 cars per 1000 people - that’s almost 1 car per person!

No doubt this figure has risen considerably in the past 3 years, but that’s certainly enough to make me stop and think about my own car use.

Start Carpooling

Carpooling (aka car-sharing, lift-sharing, ride-sharing and covoiturage), is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car.

The idea is that, if you’re driving somewhere and have some spare seats in your car, then why not let others travel with you. On the flipside, you might want to find a lift with someone driving your way.

Any tools to help me get started?

One great website which we’ve found is CarShare. It’s free to sign up and shows you (in map view) any Carshare journeys happening in your area.  

There’s also a pretty detailed help section which should alleviate some of those worries you might have after watching slasher-films like The Hitcher ;-)

Of course if CarShare seems a bit daunting, you could always look at setting up your own CarShare with workmates. Not only will you be saving yourself some money, but you’ll be doing your bit for the environment too. Just don’t forget to get everyone to chip in for petrol!

6 budgeting and money tracking tips to keep your bank balance healthy

If you are newly married, saving up for a big expense or trying to claw your way out of debt, then managing a tight budget could be the answer to your problems. With money-related stress affecting us all at some point in our lives, it’s great to know that there 6 practical tips that can help us through the hard times.

1) Maximize Your Savings

Figure out how much money you can realistically save each month from your budget. Set up a standing order to deposit this into a savings account each month. This will serve as a handy buffer if you fall into any difficulties later on.

2) Use cash for essentials

Taking a pen and paper, work out exactly how much money you need for your everyday living costs (eating, travelling expenses etc). At the start of each week, withdraw this amount and divide it equally into paper envelopes. Name each one: “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday” to serve as a reminder.

Just remember not to use your card as this is the quickest way to lose track!

3) Ditch your “bad habits”

If you’re a smoker or a drinker, alchohol and cigarettes are an obvious expense to cut from your spending. This could be a great opportunity to make some positive changes to your health as well as reaching your financial goals. Other bad habits like gambling can go too!

4) Pay down your credit card debt

The high interest rates on credit cards make them one of the worst forms of debt. But there are some logical steps that you can take to pay them back effectively and quickly:

• Focus on the credit card with the highest rate of interest.
• Pay back as much as you can each month without getting yourself into further difficulty.
• Pay the minimum balance on any remaining cards - this will stop you from getting any bank charges.

5) Track your Money

The biggest hurdle to overcome in making a budget work is self-discipline. Once you’ve been budgeting for a few weeks it can be easy to fall back into old habits. Keeping track of your daily spending is a great motivator and can give you an early warning sign if any expenses. Track your money with 1DayLater

6) Analyse your spending habits

You’ve tracked your spending habits, now its time to make some practical use of this knowledge. Figure out if any of your expenses can be reduced or removed completely. Are you spending a lot of money on restaurant food each month? Could you be saving money on gas? (check out our earlier blog article on finding the cheapest gas prices in your area)

Lastly, don’t lose faith!

Keeping a budget is pretty hard work. It takes discipline and self-motivation, so focussing on your goals will be key to your success. I’d suggest attaching a photo of that big expense or dream holiday to your fridge or somewhere else where you’re likely to see it. Now good luck and don’t give up!

PDF invoicing is now in Beta

Hello everybody, I’m Chris and I’m new around these parts. Rather than describing what it is that I do, I thought that I’d reveal some new 1DayLater features which I’ve been working on. Much better!

PDF Invoices

So it’s been a good while since there have been any major changes to invoicing within 1DayLater. The simple option of being able to copy and paste information from an excel spreadsheet has suited many of our users just fine.

Users will soon have the choice between excel and PDF invoice formats

Although a simple spreadsheet invoice may be adequate for most people, myself included, I figured that it would be nice to give 1DayLater users an alternative option and throw some PDF invoices into the mix. 

An early peek into the PDF invoices which 1DayLater can generate

What we’ve tried to focus on is creating a professional-looking, hassle-free invoice layout which will appeal to users all across the globe. With slight variations in what international users are accustomed to seeing on their invoices it’s no small feat!

We’ve already opened this feature up to our 100 most active users so that we can gather some critical feedback. I have to say that the response so far has been great -  and you guys really speak your mind which is always great from a developer perspective!

Of course if anyone else fancies having their say, now is the time. To access PDF invoices:

1) Log in to 1DayLater as usual

2) Visit the new Beta dashboard - http://1daylater.com/dashboard_beta

3) Go to the ‘Business Tools’ section

4) Click ‘PDF Invoicing’

(note: you will have to be signed into 1DayLater before accessing this link - otherwise you will be taken to the old dashboard)

After we’ve gathered everyone’s feedback (and assuming there are no major issues) we’ll be launching the feature en-masse in a week or so. I can’t wait!

Thanks all, look forward to your comments / critique

Chris

Some cool websites that will help you find the cheapest petrol in your area

I’ve been trawling the world wide web recently to find some useful resources for 1DayLater users. I figured, hey as well as giving you a snazzy tool to log mileage, how nice would it be if we could show you how to save mileage too!

So here are the absolute best sites I’ve found to help you compare petrol prices in your area.

Gasbuddy - as the name suggests this is one from our American friends - but a local search seemed to work just fine for me (see below). You can drill into the map and and get a run-down of petrol prices in your area - how cool is that!

Petrolprices - another great site that tells you the cheapest petrol stations in your area for diesel, unleaded and LPG - you just enter your postcode and how far you’re willing to travel.

The great thing about this site is that you can also get text alerts which notify you of any price changes. There’s even an app - although I haven’t had a chance to look at this yet

So those are two pretty awesome tools which I hope you find really useful! Please drop me any other suggestions if you know any and I’ll add them to my list

What is the proper way to enter time, money or mileage into 1DayLater?

If you are using 1DayLater.com to track your business activities, you might have noticed that values can be entered as either: positive (+ve) or negative (-ve).

Although our positive and negative conventions will seem straightforward to accountants and bookkeepers, I thought an informative blog would be useful for everyone else!

Logging Time

• (+ve) - used for everyday time activities
• (-ve) - used for amendments

Logging Mileage

• (+ve) - used for everyday mileage entries
• (-ve) - used for amendments

Logging Money

• (+ve) - used for income
• (-ve) - used for expenses

If you’re still confused or would like to give us feedback on this or any of our other features, please get in touch using our online feedback form!

5 things you can do before driving to improve your mileage efficiency

Here are some practical tips which can help you save mileage before you even set foot in your car.

• Plan your route well - Take a look at Viamente, a great web-based software which can help you plan routes with multiple destinations - http://www.viamente.com

• Lighten your load - Carrying an extra 100 pounds of weight can increase your fuel consumption by 1-2%. This is especially important if you stop and go often. Light cars also perform better for mileage, something to consider when you are buying a new one! 

• Properly inflate your tyres - Keep your tyres fully inflated as much as possible as this can reduce fuel consumption by up to 3%. Most tyres lose about 1 PSI per month, so checking your tyres monthly at the garage isn’t a bad idea.

• Use synthetic oil - Using synthetic oil in your car can help you save around 5% gas on average

• Figure out your cars optimum speed - Different types of cars perform better at different speeds - this is usually around 50mph. Your cars optimum speed is the minimum speed your car is running at in its highest gear

Next week - 10 things you can do during driving to improve your mileage!

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/1daylater

Is HMRC cracking down on people who submit fraudulent claims? Can people really get away with it anyway?

There has been some talk online recently that UK tax body, HMRC are cracking down on fraudulent mileage claims. I tried to find a decent independent source to confirm this but I’m having no luck so far - I’ll update this blog once I do.

It’s fair to say though, that fraudulent mileage claims represent a real problem for HMRC (and for large companies). Mileage Auditing firm; The Miles Consultancy said that in a recent survey of their company database, 25% of employees admitted to giving fraudulent mileage claims.

Now I imagine that once upon a time, people could probably get away with sneakily bumping up their mileage claims for the taxman. However now that we all live in a world of software and automation…I reckon that we are all just blips on a bell curve somewhere…waiting to be analysed!

Thinking back to what I remember about statistics from school, I would hazard a guess that when all of our data gets pulled together by the powers that be, it looks a little something like this graph.

Now I just couldn’t resist a bit of random statistics (non maths-nerds - close your eyes for this bit)

When you have a normally distributed graph like the one shown above, the majority of the population (around 99%) lies within 2 standard deviations of that average centre line. Oooh I remembered some of my school lessons! The gist being that an HMRC statistician could easily identify any people on these extremities!

So, if you’re a taxi driver or a haulage person, your average will be way over to the right hand side as you drive further than most people each week. But of course HMRC will know all of this as they have data from millions of people in all sorts of different professions….

It’s the guys on the far right hand side who the tax office will have their watchful eyes on of course. If you’re over on the left then you’re not claiming enough and should be using mile tracking software; 1DayLater to track your business miles!

Anyway, so the short answer to the question “Can I get away with submitting fraudulent expense claims” = no (in my opinion) shouldn’t be scared of real eyes watching them in this day and age, it’s the statistical eyes that they need to be afraid of!