Over the last few months, we’ve been working busily behind the scenes on a massive overhaul of Freelance Total. We’ve taken Freelance Total in a direction that sets it apart from other apps, and we’ve listened to your feedback to add features that you asked for.

Now I’m excited to announce these features are live in all accounts as of now!

Here are some of the changes we’ve made.

New Design

The most notable change you’ll see is a complete redesign of the application interface. Not only does the new design look much nicer, it’s also more intuitive and easier to use. We spent a lot of time getting emphasis and the flow of the application right, so that using Freelance Total becomes a more enjoyable experience.

Dashboard overhaul, frames and gadgets

You’ll notice some changes to the dashboard. The monthly statistics have been moved into a second column, and in their place there is a “frame”.

Frames are a massive part of the new Freelance Total, and they are situated all throughout the app.

Frames are blank slates that can have any number of “gadgets” place on it. At the moment our only gadgets are task lists and notes, but soon we’ll be adding files, photos, and down the line we’ll be adding many more gadgets like links, reports, feeds, statistics, forms, etc. Since a frame can be a part of any object in Freelance Total, everything has become much more flexible.

Project management improvements

Projects now have a client collaboration area (a frame), and a private frame. The collaboration area can be used to communicate with clients in a hosted environment. We will be improving the functionality further with file and image uploads, so that a Freelance Total project can house all materials and communications relating to a project.

We’ve also split up project management into three tabs. First you have the project details tab, which has basic details like price estimate and deadline. Then there is a workroom, which contains the public and private frame. Then there is a time tracking and billing tab, where you can track hours spent, or expenses incurred on the project.

Like before, projects can be converted into invoices based on the hours and expenses that have been tracked.

Lead management improvements

Leads is another area that has been dramatically improved. Now leads can be drag-n-dropped as they move through your pipeline, giving a complete picture of your sales funnel while still being able to quickly access specific details.

Like everything else, each lead has its own frame where gadgets can be used.

We’ve also added the ability to convert leads into projects, which completes the “from sale to getting paid” seamless integration in Freelance Total.

Settings improvements

Managing item types and taxes are now much easier, and can be done without the page needing to be refreshed each time.

All the settings have been moved into one settings page, with panels to make it easier to navigate.

Client area improvements

The client area has also seen some mainly aesthetic improvements. This was a big focus for us as we know how important it is to portray a professional image when you deal with your clients.

Quick jump box

We found people liked to jump between clients quite often, so we’ve implemented a quick jump box, where you can start typing the name of a client, select the client from an auto complete list, and quickly jump to it.

General workflow improvements

We’ve worked through every screen in the application to improve workflow. You can do more things from more screens, without unnecessary clutter.

We hope you enjoy these enhancements, and as always, we’d love to hear your feedback at our feedback forum.

We’ve just added a new video to the helpdesk – a quick video that gives an overview of how the reminder system works on Freelance Total.

Follow up invoices using the reminder system – A video tutorial

We’ve just added a video to our help section that shows how to setup a project, use the project management tools, create invoices and how the payment process works.

From project commencement to getting paid – A video tutorial

We’ve just created a help section on the website which will grow to include articles and videos on every section of Freelance Total imaginable.

The first video is setting up a Freelance Total account.

We’ve just pushed an update that has a few improvements to the client area.

Clients can now quickly see their account balance, payment instructions, current invoices and paid invoices.

Client facing area

Some tips on maximising the client facing area to get paid quicker:

• Let your clients know about their account area. It is sent automatically in emails with invoices and thank you emails, and you can also find it by going to “clients”->then clicking on a client.
• Use the in built reminder system religiously
• Set up payment instructions by going to “Settings” under the “Invoicing” section. Offer as many ways to pay as possible.

It’s important to say thank you to your clients.

That’s why we’ve just added a thank you feature when you receive payments for invoices.

To use the feature, click “Mark as Paid” on an invoice.

Then you have the option to customise the note.

Click “Send”, your note will be sent, and the invoice will be marked as paid.

A quick and easy way to let clients know you appreciate them.