4.6. Importing data from IGG Software's iBiz

IGG Software have announced that they are officially ceasing the development of iBiz, their time tracking and billing application. To help iBiz users move to a new solution and keep their old iBiz data, we've created an import module that converts an iBiz (4.1.4 and older) database to a Fanurio repository.

This guide tells you everything you need to know to migrate from iBiz to Fanurio: how to migrate an iBiz database, what to do if conversion errors occur, how iBiz data is imported in Fanurio and finally a detailed analysis of how each iBiz feature is supported by Fanurio.

4.6.1. How to import an iBiz database

You can import an iBiz database when you're setting up Fanurio for the first time or when you're creating a new repository (File » New Repository...). The steps are the same but the following screenshots are taken from the New Repository setup guide.

First, you need to select the Create a repository from an iBiz database option when you reach the Select Source step.

New Repository - Select Source

Click Next to go to the next step, Select iBiz Database. This is where you specify the iBiz folder and a few more settings.

Note

Usually you don't have to select a folder because Fanurio will detect it automatically but if you're installing Fanurio on a new computer that doesn't have iBiz, you will have to create an iBiz folder from an iBiz backup file. To do this you need a backup file, let's suppose you have one called backup.ibizbackup that's saved on your Desktop. Rename it to backup.zip and then double click it to extract the iBiz folder from the archive to your Desktop. You can now click the Browse... button to select it as your iBiz folder.

iBiz doesn't have explicit values for currency and distance unit so you need to make sure Fanurio detects them correctly. Fanurio can handle multiple currencies and it can track distances in both miles and kilometers.

Besides currency and distance unit, Fanurio needs a few more settings like the tax names and whether they are compounded or not to import the iBiz database. These settings are read from the iBiz preferences file. If Fanurio doesn't find the preferences file, you must set them manually. Of all these settings, the setting that indicates whether taxes are compounded is very important because if it's not set correctly, the invoice totals will not be calculated correctly by Fanurio.

New Repository - Select iBiz Database

Click Next to go to the next step, Convert iBiz to Fanurio. This is where the iBiz database is converted to a Fanurio repository.

Just click Convert to start the conversion. Once the conversion starts, Fanurio will display what it does in the Log area. Conversion errors (if any) will also be displayed in the Error area.

  • If the conversion fails, the status label next to the Convert button will tell you that it failed (see below for instructions in case the conversion fails or if it succeeds with errors).

  • If the conversion succeeds, the status label next to the Convert button will tell you that it succeeded.

New Repository - Convert iBiz to Fanurio

Note

Please keep in mind that even though Fanurio reports a successful conversion, there may be differences that we are not aware of yet. We do our best to provide an accurate import module but since iBiz was not developed by us there may be things that we've missed.

To make sure your data is imported correctly, you should create reports both in iBiz and Fanurio and compare them. For instance, you may want to check the total amount of all invoices is the same in both applications. In Fanurio, you can see this amount in the Invoices view at the bottom of the invoices table.

Click Finish to close the guide and open the new repository that contains the iBiz data.

4.6.1.1. What to do if the conversion fails?

If the conversion fails, click the Save Log... button to save the conversion log, then send it to us. We'll analyze the error and send you instructions on how to fix it.

4.6.1.2. What to do if the conversion succeeds with errors?

Sometimes, even if the conversion succeeds, you may see conversion errors displayed in the Errors area. In these cases, you should click the Save Errors... button to save the errors and then click Finish to open the repository. You will then have to open the errors file to see the errors that have to be fixed.

From what we know so far, these errors are caused by invoiced projects that were moved to other clients or by invoiced job events that were changed after they were invoiced.

Moved invoiced projects

If you invoiced a project and moved it to another client then Fanurio will not be able to import the invoice for that project. In such cases, you need to use iBiz to move the project to its original client and run the import wizard again.

Altered invoiced job events

If you have a $100 job event and you invoice it, the invoice total will be $100. But once you create the invoice, you can change the job event to $50 and the invoice will remain unchanged. Because iBiz doesn't lock a job event once it's invoiced, this may lead to conflicting situations where a project job event has a different value ($50) than the invoice job event ($100) although they are the same job event. When Fanurio imports an invoice from iBiz, it uses the project value of a job event and not the invoice value.

Here's how this error looks like:

ACME: The amount for invoice 001/invoice-uuid doesn't match. iBiz = $100.00; Fanurio = $50.00

Unfortunately, these errors can't be fixed automatically so you need to fix them manually. Use the client name (ACME in this example) and the invoice number (001 in this example) to locate the invoice in iBiz and Fanurio and compare them to see what's different. To locate an invoice by its number in Fanurio, go to the Invoices view and use the search field above the table to search by invoice number.

You can either fix these differences in iBiz and run another conversion (recommended) or you can fix them in Fanurio. To fix them in iBiz, you should compare the invoice with the project and fix any project job events that are different. In the above example, the invoice would should a job event with a total of $100 but the job event from the project would have a total of $50. The project job event needs to be changed to $100.

If you need help with this, please contact us.

4.6.1.3. Which iBiz elements are imported by Fanurio?

Fanurio imports the following elements:

  • Clients. Contact details are imported from Apple Contacts only if it contains them. If you import your iBiz database from a backup file on a different computer that doesn't have your clients in Apple Contacts then Fanurio will not import any contact details, it will import only the client's name.

  • Projects

  • To Do items as non-billable tasks

  • Global job events (Timed, Quantity, Flat) as task categories

  • Job events (Quantity, Flat) as tasks

  • Job events (Timed) as tasks with one time entry. The time recorded on the timed job event is added to a task as a time entry with the same time.

  • Job events (Mileage) as trips

  • Job events (marked as expense) as expenses

  • Invoices

  • Statements with late fees as regular invoices with one item for the late fee

  • Payments

  • Taxes

  • Preferences (if iBiz is installed on the same computer as Fanurio)

    • tax names

    • whether taxes are compounded

    • time rounding rule

    • beginning of fiscal year

    • invoice due days

Fanurio doesn't import the following elements:

  • Timer logs. They can't be used to determine the actual time recorded on a timed job event.

  • File references from the File Cabinet.

  • Invoice reminders

  • Estimates and estimate job events. A solution would be to import them as separate projects.

  • Taxes when an invoice uses one tax for some events and another one for the others, in other words not all events use the same taxes. A solution would be to import such taxes as separate invoice items.

For more details on how Fanurio is different from iBiz, see the following section.

4.6.2. How is Fanurio different from iBiz?

This section contains a detailed analysis of how each iBiz feature is supported by Fanurio and is meant to help iBiz users switch to Fanurio faster.

Some features are not supported yet but we're constantly improving Fanurio so if you want to see them implemented in future releases, please let us know. The more people request a certain feature, the more likely it is it will be implemented in a future version.

4.6.2.1. Clients

iBiz needs Apple Contacts to store the contact details of its clients but Fanurio doesn't. Fanurio stores everything in its database. However, Fanurio allows you to update the contact details of a client stored in Apple Contacts manually. Fanurio also has additional fields for its clients that allow you to record registration information like business number or tax number that you may want to include in your invoices.

iBiz considers a client inactive if it doesn't have open invoices or outstanding balances on its billing account. Fanurio allows you to mark a client as active or inactive.

Fanurio doesn't have an equivalent for the iBiz client pop-up inspector. You can find out how much money a client owes you in the Invoices view if you filter invoices by client name.

Fanurio doesn't have client groups.

To learn more about how Fanurio deals with clients, see the clients section.

4.6.2.2. Projects

Fanurio projects have the same fields as iBiz projects (name, number, status, notes, start date and due date) and a few more such as description, reference and tags.

In iBiz all projects are billable but in Fanurio billing is optional, you can have both billable and non-billable projects. If a project is billable, you can specify a default billing rate for its tasks.

Fanurio has two project views, a tree view and a table view. The table view is similar to the projects view available in iBiz and is recommended for former iBiz users.

Fanurio doesn't sync projects automatically with iCal but it can import time from an iCalendar file and it can export projects to an iCalendar file.

To learn more about how Fanurio deals with projects, see the projects section.

4.6.2.3. Job events

iBiz uses a list of job events to record various things on a project like hourly-rated or flat fee activities, expenses, items bought or sold, and mileage logged on a vehicle.

Unlike iBiz, Fanurio doesn't use a single list of job events of different types but different lists for each type of element (tasks, expenses, trips, and products). Using multiple lists instead of just one list allows you to record specific information for each type of element, for instance tasks can have due dates while trips can record distances. In iBiz all types of job events have almost the same fields (name, type, rate, taxes, notes) except for the quantity field which has a different name depending on the type of the job event (time, quantity, mileage). Prior to version 3.0 Fanurio used a single list model as well but this model has some limitations and we decided to replace it with a multiple list model. You can read more about this decision in the release notes.

Here's how each type of job event can be represented in Fanurio using tasks, expenses, trips and products.

  • Timed

    According to the iBiz manual, this type is used to "bill according to an hourly rate" and that "time can be entered manually or logged automatically with timers".

    An iBiz timed job event has a Time field that contains its total time and two fields (To and From) that record the start and finish dates of the job event. The total time is not always the difference between From and To and can be changed manually to an arbitrary value. A timed job event could be used to record a single working session (for instance 'replied to email, 15 minutes') or multiple working sessions (for instance 'wrote text for brochure, 6 hours in 3 days'). iBiz can also round time but once it rounds it the actual recorded time is lost and replaced with the rounded value.

    In order to replace timed job events, you need to use tasks and time entries in Fanurio. Fanurio uses tasks to help you manage and bill work for your projects. A task has one or more time entries that represent the time spent working on it. For instance, if you have a service called 'Phone support' and you need to bill 15 minutes then you have to create a task and a time entry for the 15 minutes of work. In some cases, this may be more work because you need to create two objects (a task and a time entry) but recording time as a separate object also has some advantages especially if you need to round it.

    Fanurio can handle complex time rounding rules like "round time to the nearest 15 minutes interval but bill at least 30 minutes". When a billable task rounds time, it doesn't lose the time recorded on its time entries like iBiz. The actual recorded time is different from the billable time.

    We recommend using fewer tasks with multiple time entries. For instance, if you need to keep track of how much time you spend on the phone with the client for a certain project, instead of creating a task each time you talk to him or her, you should create a single task and then add time to that task for each call.

    When you invoice a task, its time entries can be displayed by the invoice (it depends what template you're using) so you can show a detailed log of what you did.

  • Flat rate

    According to the iBiz manual, this type is used to "bill according to a flat fee, whether it be for services performed or goods purchased for the project".

    If you need to bill services then you should use tasks billed in units. This allows you to track time for yourself.

    If you need to bill other goods then you should use products.

  • Quantity

    According to the iBiz manual, this type is used to "track sales of goods and bill on a per-item basis".

    Fanurio uses products to record the same information. If your projects don't have a products list, go to Business » My Business Details+Projects to enable them.

  • Mileage

    According to the iBiz manual, this type is used to "track distance traveled in a vehicle and bill on a per-mile/ kilometer basis".

    Fanurio uses trips to record and bill the distance you travel with a vehicle. If your projects don't have a trips list, go to Business » My Business Details+Projects to enable them.

  • Expense

    According to the iBiz manual, this type indicates that "the job event represents a cost that you paid on behalf of the client, which you are passing on to the client as part of their bill".

    Fanurio uses expenses to record money that you spend for a project. If your projects don't have an expenses list, go to Business » My Business Details+Projects to enable them. Fanurio also allows you to mark up an expense.

  • Non-billable

    According to the iBiz manual, this type indicates that "the job event should not be included on estimates and invoices" if you "want to track expenses without passing them on to the client, or for logging extra time that is not meant to be billed".

    Tasks, expenses, and trips can be marked as non-billable in Fanurio. Products are always billable and can't be marked as non-billable. If a project is not billable, you can mark it as non-billable and all its elements will be non-billable.

  • Deduction

    According to the iBiz manual, this type is "applied automatically when a job event is created with a negative rate".

    If you want offer a discount for your services then the best solution is to apply a discount to your tasks. For any other deductions, you can create a product with a negative price.

4.6.2.4. Job event groups

Fanurio doesn't have an equivalent for job event groups. It's not possible to group tasks, expenses, trips, nor products but you can use tags to organize tasks, expenses and trips. You can also use categories to organize tasks and expenses.

However, if you used job event groups to define major activities of a project and timed job events as the specific times when you worked on those activities then you can get the same result if you use tasks (instead of job event groups) and time entries (instead of job events). For instance, if you have a job event group called Brochure with three job events called Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 then you can create a task called Brochure and add three time entries (Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3).

4.6.2.5. Custom job events

In iBiz, custom job events allow you to create job events with the same settings faster.

In Fanurio, you can create tasks faster if you define one or more task categories. The list of task categories can be managed from Business » My Business Details+Projects+Tasks. Also, you can create products faster if you define one or more catalog items. The list of catalog items can be managed from Business » My Business Details+Billing+Catalog.

4.6.2.6. To Do items

iBiz uses To Do items to track activities that don't need to be tracked as job events. Compared to job events, To Do items have some specific fields like due date, priority and they can be marked as completed. To Do items can also be synced with iCal.

To track the same type of activities in Fanurio, you should use non-billable tasks. Tasks allow you to set a due date and they can be marked as completed when they're done. Just like iBiz shows completed To Do items in gray so does Fanurio.

If you need to see your tasks in Apple Reminders, you can export your projects to the iCalendar format.

4.6.2.7. Timers

iBiz has two types of timers: job event timers and quick timers. A job event timer can only be started for an existing timed job event and its time is added to the job event as the timer is running. A quick timer on the other hand doesn't require a job event and time is added to a job event when the timer is stopped.

Fanurio has only one type of timers which is similar to the iBiz quick timers. When you start a timer in Fanurio you can start it for a specific task or for no specific task. When the timer is stopped, Fanurio creates a time entry and adds it to the task. Time entries are similar to iBiz timer logs except that they can also be added manually to a task. They only way you can record time on a task is by adding one or more time entries to it.

Fanurio allows you to access its timer from the menu bar, the menu bar icon and from the toolbar.

Unlike iBiz, Fanurio doesn't allow multiple timers to run simultaneously. There can be only one timer running at a time. iBiz works the same way if the "Starting a timer stops all other timers" setting is enabled from Preferences.

In Fanurio, time rounding is not a timer feature but a feature available only on billable tasks. Fanurio can handle complex time rounding rules like "round time to the nearest 15 minutes interval but bill at least 30 minutes".

Fanurio can detect idle time just like iBiz can but it also has a few other reminders to help you start, stop and resume timers.

To learn more about how you can record time in Fanurio (manually or using a timer), see the time entries section.

4.6.2.8. File Cabinet

Fanurio doesn't have an equivalent for File Cabinet.

4.6.2.9. Estimates

Fanurio doesn't have built-in support for estimates but there is something you can do to create one until this feature is implemented.

  1. Create two projects, one for the estimate and the other for the actual work.

  2. Add one or more products to the estimate project.

  3. Click the estimate project to display the contextual menu and select New Invoice.

  4. Add all the products to the invoice.

  5. Instead of clicking Create to create a new Invoice, click Preview. This allows you to export the temporary invoice and use it as an estimate. You will also need a slightly modified invoice template that says Estimate instead of Invoice to export this invoice.

4.6.2.10. Invoices

Fanurio can create project invoices like iBiz but it can also create regular non-project invoices. Project invoices can bill one or more projects and they can include project elements from a specific date range.

Fanurio can export invoices to HTML, PDF, Microsoft Word 2007, OpenDocument and other formats so they can be printed or e-mailed. Invoice templates can be created manually, with a visual editor (Adobe Dreamweaver, Microsoft Word or LibreOffice) or with the built-in template editor.

Fanurio doesn't post the due date of an invoice to iCal. Overdue invoices are displayed in red in the Invoices view.

4.6.2.11. Invoice Reminders

Fanurio doesn't have invoice reminders. Overdue invoices are displayed in red in the Invoices view. You can export an invoice again at any time if you need to resend it to your client.

4.6.2.12. Statements

iBiz uses statements to show the details of a billing account (invoices sent, payments received, and any remaining balance due ). Statements can also have late fees (flat or percentage-based) associated with them.

Fanurio doesn't have a separate concept for statements but you can include one with every invoice that you send to your customers. The invoice template editor allows you to show a statement at the bottom of any invoice. If you need to charge for late fees, you need to create a regular non-project invoice with one item for the late fee.

4.6.2.13. Taxes

iBiz can use up to two taxes on its job events and each job event can have its own taxes. iBiz also allows you to configure how taxes are calculated: on each job event or on their sum. There's also an option of compounding taxes.

Fanurio can handle taxes as well but it does it a little differently. First of all, taxes are optional and have to be enabled at business level. This saves you from seeing tax information if you're not using taxes. But if you need to use taxes, Fanurio can use three or more taxes (compounded or not).

4.6.2.14. Payments

iBiz allows you to record payments in your clients' billing accounts. You can also split a payment across several invoices and/or payments.

Fanurio records payments per invoice and they can't be split. Also, all billable clients have a deposits account. You can use this account to record money you receive in advance for your work.

In order to make Fanurio work like iBiz, you should record your payments as deposits. Then you can use money from the deposit account to pay the invoices.

4.6.2.15. Templates

iBiz can handle two file formats for its templates: RTF and HTML. Fanurio doesn't support RTF but it supports HTML and many other formats like Microsoft Word and OpenDocument Text (LibreOffice, OpenOffice).

Fanurio doesn't migrate iBiz templates but if you are an expert user, you can convert them relatively easy. The template syntax is similar. A list of all placeholders supported by Fanurio (or tags in iBiz terminology) is documented in this manual. To learn more about templates, see the templates guide.

Fanurio comes with a default invoice template that can be configured using the template editor.

4.6.2.16. Reports

There are two ways you can create reports in Fanurio:

  1. Since most views are table-based, you can use the filters above the table from each view to see only certain things. For instance, in the Timesheet view you can use the Date filter to see what you did last month. Then you can ctrl-click the table to display the contextual menu and select the Export action to export the table to CSV or Microsoft Excel.

  2. You can also create template-based reports for projects, time, tasks, expenses, trips and sales.

4.6.2.17. Document Monitor

Fanurio doesn't have an equivalent for the iBiz document monitor.

4.6.2.18. The workday pane

Fanurio doesn't have an equivalent for the workday pane

4.6.2.19. iBank integration

Fanurio doesn't integrate with iBank.

4.6.2.20. Applescript and Automator integration

Fanurio can't be used with Applescript or Automator.

4.6.2.21. Networking

Fanurio can't handle multiple users yet. A multi-user version is currently under development.

If you are just one user who needs to use Fanurio on multiple computers, see this section for a few solutions (we recommend solution B. Shared folder).

4.6.2.22. Platforms

iBiz 4 requires Mac OS X 10.5 or higher.

Fanurio runs on Mac OS X 10.5 or higher, Windows and Linux.