I was thinking... Maybe someone has a great way of tracking payments so we could all start of the new year with a great tracking device. I used a desktop calender and when I received an order I would right down the Town, Company assigning it and the Fee. Then I would know at the end of the month how much I should be receiving the i would cross them off as I received the checks. Anybody have a better idea?

I use an Excel spreadsheet. I have a page for each company. I list the date, address and amount. When I receive the check I move the amount due to the paid column and highlight the light in green so I can easily see what is paid and what is due. I also have a total sheet for amount due, recieved, goals and ect.

Most people use something like Quickbooks, but I like my old but easy system.

I use Excel. Someone on this message board has a pretty good set up on how to keep track. Forgot who. I copied his.

That's a little unsophisticated. I've been keeping a spreadsheet with Date, Company, Address, and Fee. But that's only good for telling me how much I did in any given month. This year I want to add columns for order numbers (because some companies don't give you the address on their checks), Date Paid, Amount. And I'm considering having a separate page for each company so I can keep better track of how long it's taking to get paid, and to make sure I (and they) haven't overlooked paying me for anything. If I were savvy with Excel (which I'm not) I think I could link the pages so entering the data on the master spreadsheet would also enter it into the lesser spreadsheets. Or maybe I need to fire up my old Microsoft Money program. I know I need something better this year, because I'm working for so many more companies than last year. Hire a bookkeeper?

RE: because I'm working for so many more companies than last year.

Yeah this seems to be my delema also trying to track 2-3 companies is easy with a pad of paper but with 14-18 companies it is a train wreck I am getting great info so far i hope this helps eveyone.

I use an excel spreadsheet with a formula plugged in that automatically tells me how much I made that month. It has columns for company, date completed and fee and of course I can add columns if I need to. I upload the sheet to google docs so wherever I am I can just log on and add new bpo or payment or whatever I need to add. This little feature is great cause then I don't have to go back to my own computer to update info.

I also use Excel. I have one page with just a running total of the BPOs I do and I total it for each month. I only keep minimal information like date I submitted it, order #, address, company name, fee and the date it gets paid. I have another page with just the ones I haven't been paid for yet so I can quickly see if someone is getting behind on their payments. When I enter the BPOs I did that day one the 1st sheet, I just copy it to the "unpaid" sheet and then when I get paid, I delete them from teh 2nd page.

I use an Excel spreadsheet. Used to do one page by month, but found tracking my payments challenging when I am signed up with over 20 companies. Re-did the spreadsheet with a worksheet for each company and a page that keeps the total for each company by month and YTD. I highlight different colors for what is paid and what isn't.

I also keep a copy on my Centro phone in case I get assignments while running around and need to verify an address before I accept if it seems familiar for one I may have done in the last several months.

I also use excel spreadsheet. It seems to make it alot easier.

I use an old reliable device called a wife. This device knows where every last penny is and if you are owed money it automatically tells you to call for your payment. The only downside is you don't get to handle or see much of the money you make. Also if you try to update her with anewer program she still takes half your money.

I use quickbooks. Tracks my accounts receivable and I am ready to pay Ceasar that which is Ceasar's at the end of the year. I create the invoice at the time I receive the order then reset the date when completed. Allows me to track timeliness of payments which in turn allows me to work on the BPO's of the fastest payors first . . . which by the way is Freddie Mac for me.

I use broken pencils and toilet paper.... Crayons when the pencils aren't sharp.

Clear Capital pays lightning fast. I got my first check from them in about 7 biz days and during the Xmas/New Year holiday

nice post CFL REO.... Why do you bring it up? We are sharing accounting techniques...

CC seems to be self promoting on BPO forums all over the place. Odd since nobody seems to say anything bad about them.

[quote=neudot]That's a little unsophisticated.

Why the sarcasim? I noted it was old school, but it works for me. I also have all the other details you mentioned, just didn't think it was that necessary to mention them all. They got the idea. And I am savy enough to have written my own formulas.

My BPO spreadsheet (I now use Excel, used to use Quattro Pro, and before that Lotus 123 ...... I guess that dates how old I am!) has a different page for each year with the year listed on the tab. First column is the date completed, second column is the client name, third column is subject address, fourth column is agreed fee, fifth column is date paid, sixth column is any misc notes. In the heading across the top I have a total box which sums all the agreed fees. Blank boxes in column 5 tell me who I need to expedite if payments are over due. Columns 2,3 & 4 get filled in on receipt of the order so I know what is ahead of me work wise, column 1 is filled in when the report is submitted, column 5 is filled when the payment is received.

Very easy to keep current and know status at a clance!

I use Excel similar to how Mr. Foreclosure does. It's fun to check your list to see how many orders a company has given you and how they paid last prior to accepting orders. I've had companies who paid me $75 six months ago try to get me to accept the same type of orders for $45. I just remind them that my quality has not been reduced and neither should my pay! It helps me in getting increases in pay & tracking outstanding payments.

Cool Guy.. I may be the one you are referring to. I posted a screen capture of my tracking system and posted it here a while back. Here's a link: http://www.agentsonline.net/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=152836#Post152836

Leanne, my original post stating that something was unsophisticated was not in reference to your post but to the op's suggestion of using a desktop calendar. That question prompted such quick responses that while I was typing mine, a couple others got there more quickly. My thanks to you and other posters for suggestions regarding using spreadsheets to track information. I am in the process of incorporating these suggestions to improve my own method. Since the discussion started last night, I put Quickbooks on my computer, found it way too complicated for what I'm trying to do, and took it off again. The KISS method is just fine for keeping track of what we do.

I keep all my orders for the month on a spreadsheet one page for active, one for finished... and I have that spreadsheet on my Treo.

I total the finished orders by company. I handle all of my payments in QB.

This works good for keeping me on track with my active orders, and I compare company totals in QB sometimes, but the truth is, I don't have a real good track of actual orders paid. I could create invoices for orders, but I don't, I just create an invoice for the amount of the check when it comes, and the order count. Since some get done in one month and paid in the other, it's not real exact.

I've got an idea for making invoices from the spreadsheet... but I haven't gotten around to doing it yet.

In excel, I have a "pending" worksheet where orders are shaded until complete (actually I have a system where when certain things along the way are completed, a certain field for that order is unshaded). Complete orders are unshaded. Once they are paid, they move to the "paid" worksheet. I have "paid" worksheets for each year.

I have a worksheet for patterns (by week and month) including $ and # of orders.

On my "pending" page, I keep track of the current week, month and year, outstanding payments (I estimate date of payment expected) where I know how much income I can expect in coming months, blah, blah, blah.

I have also started keeping track of my general value on each order. I plan on using this for marketing (Such as: Lenders trusted me to value $X.XX billion in properties last year. Who would you trust to value your home, market it, blah, blah).

I like this idea. Thx for sharing!

1. When I get an order, I print out the first page of the email or website as an order sheet, to make notes on in the field.

2. Until I complete the order, it sits on my desk in a prominent spot so that I do not forget to complete it.

3. At midnight, or whenever I get done with entering the order, it gets placed in the "to bill out" box in my office.

4. When the pile gets thick (every week to 2 weeks) I enter the orders as invoices in our Quickbooks system. We note the order number or address of the BPO on the invoice.

5. We then file the paper in our archives in the back room. While it would be more elegant, it is too much trouble to scan all of that stuff in and recycle the paper, when we have plenty of storage room that is not costing me anything. It is not organized that well, but it is rare that I have to pull an order that is older than a day or two old. Sure, I want to have them available, but it is no handicap to take a while to search through an unsorted file box when I only have to do it a couple of times a year. This searching (mainly by my assistant) amounts to less total time than it would be to organize it more systematically, as we used to do.

6. When a payment comes in, it gets recorded as paying the correct invoice. It is then seamless to record deposits, and it keeps everything straight for my CPA, who gets a disk once a year with everything on it. The check stub also gets put into the current big archive file box of the moment.

7. Every so often, I will look at the outstanding invoices and make sure that nobody is too far behind. If someone is late, I have my lovely and talented assistant check into it. If one of us needs to get ugly with a non-payer, that is me.

This works well for us. If we were doing greater volume, it might not.

These are great posts to start off the year. I use Quickbooks and I have a little black appointment book that I write all the orders due dates down. It shows me the week at a glance so I know when everything is coming. I prefer my palm for that task but I cannot get it to show me what is due for the week.

I went office depot and picked out an appointment book that fit my needs. I really wish there could be an automated way I could see the week.

why not outlook?

I use a modified version of your spreadsheet too. I tweaked it to suit me a bit, but it saved me money when I bought my Mac, since I didn't have to buy QB for Mac. So, thanks!

As I've reviewed the responses it appears most of us are doing a lot a like but with some having more detail and "frills" then others. I think we need to keep in mind our objectives and avoid being overly elaborate with too much detail.

That's why I like Gulfwinds' spreadsheet. I'm very proficient at QB. I owned a rather large plumbing company back in another life and ran the business end of it. I don't need all of that to do what I'm doing now.

I enter my jobs in the spreadsheet, and when I get my checks, I pull the BPO's and mark the orders off of the check stub with a highlighter. I then stick the stubs on top of the BPO's and stick them in a box. I then pop that in my attic. That's how high-tech I roll.

Actually, Houston, I like the idea of attaching the stubs to the appropriate bpos. Good suggestion. Although I have one file box/year and file the bpos by address within the box. That way it's easy to pull one if there's a question.

I don't even do that. I use those boxes that reams of printer paper come in (because Lord knows, we use enough of that) and mark on the outside of the box a date range.

It's not perfect, and I've had to dig through more than one box to find what I need, but I can't think of a better way, when you're doing work for multiple companies.

I'm always open to suggestions though!

On REO reimbursements I attach the check stub to the reimbursement request. On BPOs, since one check may cover multiple orders from the company, I just file the stubs separately rather than make duplicate copies to have a stub for each BPO.

REO reimbursements? How do you get those? I am still trying to learn that.

I made an excel spead sheet. When I started doing BPOs on a regular basis, I would just note the address and fee so I could see the calculated amount for each payday (it was only EML BPOs back then). Next year I got fancier and added dates I received the BPOs so I could do an analysis on volume etc. Then I added the due dates so I could use the form to track the deadlines daily. I'm now to a point where my excel sheet has grown into a really nice little program that tells me when I have to do what and how big of a check I'm getting. Love it!

I also have an excel spreadsheet. I put the date I completed the order, the company, address, fee and then when I receive the check the paid date.

I use Quicken Home and Business. It alerts me when a BPO payment is passed due, plus I can import everything into TurboTax at the end of the year if I wanted to (Honestly though, I don't use that feature because I am not quite sure how). It is nice for the end of the year reports which I do use for my taxes though.

I use Ebrokerhouse..love it