TIM27  $220 now!!? The price keeps going up it seems. Better off supporting an online solution like Basecamp.  
(Version 6.1.9)

ZOONINI  I've been a devoted Studiometry user since 2005. Before Studiometry, billing clients was a tedious task I would put off doing for as long as possible. Switching to Studiometry made it incredibly easy to track how much time I'm spending on each project, and makes invoicing for that project a snap. It handles complex Canadian tax scenarios with ease and generates professional-looking invoices. Studiometry has run smoothly and without issues for four years. When I recently ran into a problem when upgrading, Orange Software's customer support was exemplary. I received a response to my ticket promptly, and a full resolution to my problem in less than one business day, with personal service by phone and email. I would not hesitate to recommend Studiometry to anyone looking for a full-featured desktop time-tracking and invoicing program.  
(Version 6.1.8)

ANDREW ROSS  Studiometry provides a very solid platform for freelancers/small business's who need a simple trouble free method of doing book-keeping and a way of tracking their related projects with ease, as a real bonus; it is very adaptable to your personal business needs, even as my work flow changed, Studiometry managed to adapt with ease and small changes. This is why I have been using Studiometry over many years in my overall work flow.

SUPPORT

The guys at Oranged.net offer a really incredible support service, they provide a very often immediate response, it's truly second to none service and this has got to be a real benefit for any small businesses or freelancer.

as an example, I was having some problems with freezing and speed when when I used Studiometry, on contacting Oranged.net, they went straight into solving the root of the problem and offering an immediate solution and then spending the next few weeks to taking the issue seriously and actually solving it properly in this update 6.1.3. while all the time keeping me informed on their progress and testing my files before the new release.

PERSONAL NEEDS

What I like is that I can keep a very tailor made system to track and bill clients with minimal problems, prior software I used to generally would always require a lot more time for me to fit in with their software framework rather than understanding what my needs are, this really allows me to concentrate on my core work of my business and not just being consumed with daunting book-keeping that seems to be a job in itself!

WORLDWIDE FLEXIBILITY

Also I should add; I work with different clients across different regions, also working out of different countries during the year, which at times can be quite complex with tracking payments and project times etc, but this software has to be one of the few that can cope with what I need on a daily basis, e.g. dealing with different tax regimes, currency conversions, mixed payments currencies and ultimately keeping it logged in iCal for me, very convenient.

q.v. Also by adding "Accounted" software that Oranged.net provide, you have a great back-end to how your business ultimately adds up.

Highly recommended for the humble freelancer who needs to keep it simple and adaptable to your changing business needs, probably not recommended for accountants who make their money out of complexity of your book keeping!

-A  
(Version 6.1.3)

ADAMAFLYNN  I've been using Studiometry for a couple months now and it's been excellent for my needs. Makes tracking work and invoicing a LOT easier than it was with my old accounting software. It lets me track everything that I need to track for my development business (invoices, expenses, vendors, etc) for taxes and such, but simplifies out a lot of the accounting details that just burned time.

The company itself is great as well. I recently needed a way to export data from the program in a certain way to prepare a tax report that I couldn't seem to do easily with the existing features. A few days later they replied to my ticket and told me they built the feature for me and it'll ship early the next week. I'm extremely satisfied by the support I've gotten from them (much, MUCH better than my last accounting package, where you get a support rep from India just trying to get you off the phone).

I'd STRONGLY recommend this product!  
(Version 6.1)

SEAN DRAKE  I used this application since it first came out and i believe the price was 40.00.

it was always slow, and where as it got a little better over time, however the price

went up as well. ITs a very heavy application on your system. I feel its

a bit outdated with the technology going on and the use of web apps though.

I tried basecamp in tandem with freshbooks and its great as

people can log in to projects from anywhere with web browser

and the accounting with fresh books is great too.

no i don't work for them.

sean

creativemafia.com  
(Version 6.0.4)

STEFANO CECERE  i used Studiometry 4.0.. it was the one that had the basic features i needed... but it was too buggy and UI wasn't very good...

i didn't upgrade to 5 since it didn't fix any of the basic things i needed, while i moved to Billings+Filemaker.

i'm not totally satisfied with them, so i keep coming back to studiometry..

tried 6.0 but i still found many bugs and UI headaches!!!

(yes i noticed the vertical price bumb.. but it would not be a problem since i use it for work...)

my conclusion: OS X still misses a good integrated time tracker/invoincing/project manager for freelancers/small companies

it is strange, isn't it?  
(Version 6.0.3)

ESPIRIDION  Regarding price, it wasn't as bad when it first appeared. Interestingly, version 6's price is 6 times as much as the first version. :)

Version Price Increase

1 39.99 NA

1.1 54.99 37.51%

2 69.99 27.28%

2.1 79.95 14.23%

3 99.95 25.02%

3.1 129.95 30.02%

3.2 149.95 15.39%

4 169.95 13.34%

4.1 189.95 11.77%

5 209.95 10.53%

5.1 219.95 4.76%

6 239.95 9.09%

Of course, these are prices for new customers. Upgrades are another story.

From what I remember, a great alternative back then was Studio Boss. Unfortunately it seems it hasn't been updated since 2005.

I ended up using Activity & Expense Tracker Plus for a few years. The interface is a bit ugly, but worked fine for my needs years ago.

$240 is not that much from an organizational perspective, but still this is not a program that I would consider buying.

It does have some nice 5-star reviews from people who had never posted any reviews ;)  
(Version 6.0.2)

XPLICIT  Way overpriced.  
(Version 6.0.1)

ROBL  Studiometry has been in use in my office since v1.2.3 when I had a one person setup. We've now got five clients and one server and we've just upgraded to a site license. The reason we upgraded to the site license was two fold - 1. We were having problems with what seems to have been serial number conflicts that meant one of the clients wouldn't open without saying it was a trial version. 2. Because of the time of these issues and what was an upcoming release of v6 we could upgrade to the site license in v5 and get a free upgrade to 6 when released.

Back to point #1:

Over the years I have experienced problems of varying degrees, some of which have been mentioned in other comments here, but at every stage of the way I have found the developers to be very responsive and determined to resolve any issues I've had. Simply open a support ticket and they get to work on it pretty fast. Worst case scenario its taken them 24 hours to respond with a solution best case scenario they have gone back and over several times in a day to help trouble shoot with me. I would have to give the development top marks for their efforts on the support end of things.

As I mentioned in point #2 I ran into difficulty with Studiometry 5 and I thought it was going to be the end of my studio using it to manage out information, there is a lot of it and I wasn't looking forward to changing program! Nick from the development team worked with me through their support system to try and find a solution for the problem I was having. This first became a serious issue for us on 6th June and he continued to work on this until 8th September when I upgraded to v6. This might seem like a long time to try and solve a problem but I took a holiday in the middle of it and when I came back there were several responses from Nick waiting for me, plus I like this program and didn't want to give up on it.

Ultimately I decided to upgrade to a site license becasue of the serial number issue at v6 pre-release which meant I got a site licence for v5 that when v6 was released was upgraded for free.

This was the best thing I could have done. Let me say that again "This was the best thing I could have done".

Studiometry 6 is heads and shoulders above previous versions of the program. The initial loading takes a bit longer than usual but this is because it is converting it to work with its new database structure. From then on it opens in 10 - 15 seconds in my experience on several different macs in the office. More importantly (ask my staff) it closes at speeds Usain Bolt would be proud off, so they get to go home without having to wait and see if it closes before the go out the door shaving several minutes of the world record time for leaving the office at the end of the day, in fact several personal best have also been broken since the upgrade - there is talk of random drug testing but I think its just an improvement in technology thats the difference. ;)

If you haven't done it upgrade to version 6 - I'm not getting anything for saying this - but the positives (speed, improved features, etc.) far out weighs the negative (price, which isn't bad compared to what's out there).

Some other things:

Invoicing:

Take a bit of time to understand how to set these up and it will be a better investment than any bank or stock (even in better times). It is incredible powerful so read/watch tutorials, create and test some yourself and find the solution that works for you. This programs flexibility is one of its greatest strengths but it is also one of it biggest hills to climb when it comes to the learning curve… keep trying and don't forget their support team.

As somebody mentioned earlier take the time to figure out how your current workflow operates and set Studiometry up to work with you set up. A little bit of time here will bring its own rewards later.

I've been using this for some years now and I'm still learning, but I see that as a positive.

For anybody thinking about trying this out I would really recommend it.

5/5  
(Version 6.0.1)

IGORAZ  Studiometry has been a part of my design practice work flow since version 4. I have used it primarily to keep a database of clients, projects and invoicing. The software has been easy to set up, with the only exception of invoice and report templates that took some getting used to. The software has improved over time quite a bit, and the follow through on getting new features and resolving bugs has been very good, especially in the past few months. With version 6 estimating is becoming a viable part of the software for me, with the added ability to create itemized and highly detailed estimates. I would highly recommend this software for freelancers, one person studios and professionals in creative fields. The price point is excellent - compare $219 price tag with PrintSmith at a few thousand dollars. Additional seats do seem expensive, compared to the cost of initial license, but still very doable.

A few tips:

Overall:

Write out your work flow before setting up the software. Run a few projects in your mind and follow each step to see how the software may be of assistance or use during those steps.

Read help, watch tutorial videos. Really. There are a lot of features in the software, and it is one that is the backbone of the practice - so knowing obscure features could help a lot.

Make additional backups of your data files, template files to a CD or removable drive.

Invoice/Estimate templates:

Create your invoice/estimate first in a desktop publishing software to know all the things you need to include and understand the flow of it.

Print out a list of variables to have it handy when you are editing in visual template editor. It helps a lot especially when you are mixing text and variables.

Make backups of your templates you're about to edit through export feature in the visual template editor

Debt/Credit Categories:

Very useful when you have different rates for different clients, discounts, common expenses, etc - those are set up in Preferences in Categories.

Tech. Support/Bug resolution

Contact the developers - post bugs and questions on the support system - no other way they'll get resolved. I've used Studiometry support about 5 times in past few years, always to find resolution and quick answers.

Personal wish list:

InDesign plugin that would allow creation of nicely laid out and typeset documents with data from the program.

Trade/Barter billing setting would be wonderful, a lot of accounts that I have employ partial trade or barter and would be good to see which vendors you have credit with at a glance.

A more evolved system of discounts - percentages, automatically applied, etc.  
(Version 6.0.1)