Freelance Software for Upwork Users

November 23, 2020
William Miller
upwork user

New Software makes it easier to run an Upwork agency

I have been using Upwork for many years now to find FileMaker and web clients. It has been a useful tool, although not without its weaknesses.

Since I am a FileMaker developer, I decided to write my own software for tracking my clients and projects. As I did so, because I use Upwork so much, I incorporated several elements into this freelance software to make my use of Upwork easier. Now that we have released this software to the general public, I know there are others out there who are running their own freelance agency on Upwork. They could be helped with this software.

There are several modules within the software which make reference to Upwork. Those modules are:

  1. The Worklog section
  2. The Invoice secion
  3. The Customer / Finances section

Let me explain each of these:

The Worklog Section

One important part of Upwork is making sure that one has been paid by the clients. If you use manual billing, as I often do, then it is easy to lose track of whom you have charged for various tasks. So in the HighPower Freelance software, Worklog module, there is a special column with checkboxes to marked as having “charged” for the work. Once you bill the client through Upwork for a particular Task, you check that off in the Worklog. When you are doing hundreds of billable Tasks per week, this is a lifesaver.

The Invoice Section

The billing system which Upwork has, is not the greatest, and I often get questions from clients about how much they were billed, and for what, and when. I have found that referring them to the reporting system within Upwork does not often yield the answer which they are looking for, so they ask me. Because of this, I have built a very robust invoicing system into HighPower Freelance. Part of this includes a checkbox to indicate whether or not this client has requested invoicing from us, in addition to the invoices which they receive via Upwork. This way I know every week when I do my invoicing whether or not a particular Upwork client also needs an invoice from us.

The Client / Finances section

In HighPower Freelance, every Client of course has their own data entry screen. One of the many sub-division tabs on that screen is for Finances. In this tab we indicate various financial details such as their rate, previous rate, and future rate. And also, if we found them through Upwork, then we also indicate their Upwork rate. As you know the Upwork rate which you are paid shifts as you complete a certain number of hours of work. It shifts from 20% fee to 10% fee to 5% fee. The purpose of the Upwork rate is to track this shifting percentage.

So, as a freelance agency that uses Upwork a fair amount of time, we have found the need to incorporate certain features into it which make it easier to track Upwork clients and fees within our own internal software system. This system, by the way, was built entirely using FileMaker Pro, a fabulous application development environment.

Contact us for more information about incorporating HighPower Freelance into your agency.

( We are not affiliated with Upwork; we just use their service.)

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