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When you look at InfoManager's main menu, you will find that most ofthese 18 submenus are self-explanatory by their titles.

The "Event Information" menu is probably the most complex, and per-haps the most useful to the wedding photographer. It includes everythingyou ever wanted to know about a client and the photo sessions related tothat client.

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A typical VIP housekeeping menu, "Asset/Inventory." The program evenprovides room for a scan for insurance purposes.

Studio Access uses seven pull-down menus across the top of the screen.Setup of the program is accomplished using the "Setup" pulldown menu.

Studio ManagementSoftware

Successful photography is a good blend ofphotographic skills and a well organizedphoto studio. In today's world of high-speed technology, computers have becomenecessary business tools to keep up with thecompetition. One of the key pieces of soft-ware for a photography business is studiomanagement software. When computersfirst came on the scene, a billing programwas about all mere was to studio manage-ment. As computers have become moreand more sophisticated, so have the pro-grams. Today, when you shop for businesssoftware, you will be overwhelmed by theselection available. General business soft-ware will often not do the job adequately, asphotographers have many intricate needs.

Several specialized programs have evolvedthat cater to the specific operations in aphotography business. Before I introduceyou to a couple of these programs, let's takea look at a few reasons why you need man-agement software for your business.

Redundant Tasks

In every photo business there are opera-tions that are repeated time and time again.You should not have to waste time lookingfor information on tasks every time yourepeat the job. An information database ina management program keeps track ofclient information, cost of listed services,client contacts, equipment inventory, labdata, accounts receivable, accounts payableand it can even track time. The more theseinfonnation pods are linked to each other,

the faster you can access specific informa-tion about your business.

Without that type of organization, youwould have to look up a client's name,address, and billing information every timeyou did a job. As you typed the billinginformation, you would then have to go toyour price list and look up the price of eachservice used by the client. Every time youwanted to contact someone you wouldlook in the yellow pages, or your Rolodex,or on little scraps of paper stored on a cor-ner of your desk. Without accurate recordkeeping, you may have to run film tests,bracket or take a wild guess each time youuse a specific piece of photographic equip-ment. When you get to the end of themonth and income is slim, you will haveto hand-search your billing sheets to seewho didn't get a bill or who isn't paying

48 RANCEFINDER • MARCH 1998

on time. When you centralize infonnationinto one system, you cut down on time,eliminate mistakes, and make the sameinformation available to everyone in thebusiness. Organization pays off when youlook at the bottom line.

Backup Insurance

No one wants to think of what wouldhappen if you had a fire, flood or break-in.With a backup copy of your records in aseparate building, you can be back on-linein no time. If you doubt me, just think for aminute about what you would do if youhad a fire and lost all your records. Howwould you know who owes you money?How would you reconstruct your client list?Would you have to re-test all your photosystems for exposure or color balance?What are the serial numbers on all your labequipment? What did you pay for that newpiece of equipment? How much did youget when you sold that film processor?These are questions you should be able toeasily answer if you have a backup copy ofyour business records. This informationmay just save your bacon when it comes toexplaining things to the IRS.

Marketing

Everyone thinks they know how welltheir business is doing. In truth, most pho-tographers spend so much of their timecreating images, that they don't have timeto analyze just how things are going, untilit's too late. With a good management pro-gram, you can quickly access data on a spe-cific service, client or your bottom dollar atany point in time. When you use this typeof program to evaluate your business, youcan easily analyze, streamline, modify andimprove the way you do business. This col-lective information will tell you whatmakes the most money, which services arecosting you money, or show you whatwould happen if you were to expand yourservices into a new area. If you want to staycompetitive, you need management soft-ware to make wise marketing decisions.

InfoManager Vip 2.0

InfoManager is a Windows-based man-agement program for both videographersand photographers. Eighteen modulesmake up this extremely versatile businessmanagement program. When you first startthe program, you are faced with a basic toolbar at the top of your screen, and 18 menu

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buttons that take you to various parts of theprogram. When you access any of the sub-menus, a new expanded tool bar appears atthe top. After you have completed the task,you can close and return to the mainmenu. Each submenu has its own specialtoolbar and more buttons that refine yoursearch in that specific area.

Menus include the following categories:

Daily ActionInvoicesEvent PackagesAddress BookAccts. ReceivableCheck AvailabilityContractsAssets/InventoryLetter Writer

Items VenuesEvent Information

Accts. PayableInfoViewer

Employees/ContrTravel Log Expenses

Music ManagerReports

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Once this step is complete, you thenmove to the "Customer" pulldown menuwhere you enter a name, address and phonenumber and save it as a specific customer'sfile. As you do jobs for a customer, you addaccount data, job schedules, and any specialinformation related to the job. The key tothis program is that most of the dataentered into the program is centered aroundthe customer database.

Job schedules are maintained with the"Schedule" pulldown. Assignments and jobsare listed by month, week, day and time ofday. There is also room to note the durationof the shoot, type of shoot, who is the pho-tographer and any additional comments.

When you pull down the "Inventory"menu, you are offered a variety of crossinformation about the items to be recorded.Item identification, name, manufacturer,cost, retail price and discount code are just afew of the descriptions used to create yourinventory. If you want it really simple, youcan just skip the blanks you feel you will notuse.

The money reports are found under the"Report" pulldown, which subdivides intodaily cash, invoice reports and sales taxreports. These reports pull data from the var-ious entries made in the customer base in-formation records.

The "Billing" pulldown brings up a menuthat lets you run all the billing, just one billor a manually input bill. The billing screenrefreshes your client information, invoicedue dates, moneys due, interest and thetype of billing you are making. Each billinginvoice can be manually edited for specialprices or unusual billing situations.

Comparing the Two

The big difference between these two pro-grams is that InfoManager puts all its menusup-front, while Studio Access streamlinesthe look with hidden menus that you maynot often use. Both programs have their ad-vantages, and I think most photographerswould be split on which program is the bestsuited to handle their particular businessneeds. Each of the programs have plenty ofversatility and can easily adapt to service allunique photography businesses. The mainpoint is that to survive in this highly com-petitive market, you need to use all the toolsreadily available. Photo management soft-ware should be at the top of your list.

Scott Adams is a freelance journalist/photographerliving in the Pacific Northwest.

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More Info..

InfoManagerCustomware Systems, Inc.2220 Coit Road Suite 480-111Piano, Texas 75075(972) 867-7729http://www.cwarenet.com

Studio AccessAccess Computer Software SystemsP.O. Box 2SOSweet Home, OR 97386Sales: (800) 633-9777Office: (541) 367-7900Fax: (541)367-4549e-mail: infot" acssinc.comhttp://www.acssinc.com

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