I am just startign out. And I now have booked up until november ( I just do cookies)

How do you organize future orders? In a binder organized by month?

Personally, I would get a large organizer - one that gives you PLENTY of writing space. I'm sure that there are ways to do it on computer also but personally I'm an organizer girl. I'm sure everyone has their own way of doing it, you just need to figure out which works best for you. Good Luck

yes I use a binder organized by month, I should use my cake boss program I bought but I never got the hang of typing everything in and working it really quickly.

I do the same thing with the binder. I have it broken up by month also. Behind each monthly tab, I have a monthly calendar where I just pencil in the orders, and then I have my order forms and contracts behind the calendar.

My Cakeboss program. It is the only way I can keep organized at all. If it doesn't make it into the computer I will forget it. It is my go to place for all my orders at a glance. Love love love this software!

thanks everyone!

I use a binder as well, with monthly tabs. Within each tab, I have clear "job jackets" (just a clear sleeve). This way, I can keep all paperwork, envelopes, deposit checks, etc., in one place.

I have a pretty, accordion type binder/box thing. It's already marked for months. Then each order's paperwork (worksheet, invoice, swatches, contract and copy of payment) goes into a manila folder and then into the accordion box.

thanks leah! I like that idea!

I just use a Word document to list orders...we can usually fit a week's worth on one page, and we put that first page up in our commercial kitchen as a reference.

Invoices are all saved digitally, and signed invoices are put into a filing cabinet.

I don't have a business, but from the problems we have at my job, I've already thought out how I would want to organize my order forms. I would use an accordion style box like leahs has with a slot for each month. In addition to that, I would have another box for orders that current month. One for each weekend of the month. Why look at orders for the whole month when you only have to worry about that weekend?

I used to keep them in a binder, but it got too heavy. I now keep folders by month. When a customer places an order, I write out the order form and keep that in the monthly folder when the cake is due. If I do a sketch or they have a picture, it gets stapled to the order form. Once I create the invoice in Quickbooks, it gets printed and stapled to the cutomers order form. So, each customer has a packet of information in the folder for the month the cake is due. So, I can pull out December and immediately see everything for that month.

I also keep every cake order and appt in my iphone. I can see immediately whats coming up so I don't miss anything.

The majority of my business is also cookies, in addition to chocolate work and other baked items. I keep all my orders clipped together by week, and the last clip has all the "long distance" orders (time-wise). I will spread the coming week's orders out individually on my order board each Friday so I can see what needs to be done and make my grocery list.

BUT, I've also learned to keep an eye on the orders coming up 2 weeks out -if I need to special order anything, or make something that takes lots of time. As I get the orders in, I add to my on-going "need to buy" list, so I'm not continually making online purchases (no cake supply store here). Nothing worse than having a Tuesday cake order, and realizing I need to Overnight a special color of luster dust on Monday!!

I have a large desk organizer with all the orders written in it. At the beginning of the week, I make a sales order slip (you can get them at Sam's in bulk) and put them on the fridge with magnets so I can see the week at a glance. When I finish and box an order I take that slip and stick it under the ribbon so I'll know what's inside. Also serves as the invoice.

Does the program also have a calendar in it so you can see the months orders at a glance? Just curious. It seems like such a great program. I'd like to give it a try.[/quote]

Yes it does I have that software too and love it as well it keeps me very organized it was well worth the purchase for me!!!!

I have CakeBoss, too. I love it. It does have a calendar that you can see the whole month on it. When you first open the program, it goes to your "Dashboard" This will list out each order you have due in the next 7 days, as well as any outstanding payments that are due.

From there, one click will take you to your monthly calendar.

It's really a neat program with lots of features.

Cool! Thanks for the info. I love organizational tools!

I have detailed info such as orders/swatches/etc in a folder and then a "monthly" calendar (you know one with a picture for each month). I write down the last name of each order and a code for each cake order (2BC for example is 2-tier buttercream cake) on the cake's pick up day so I can see how booked I am when someone contacts me. It only works though if you take a limited amount of orders like I do. I also throw in any personal events that may cause me to take fewer orders that usual that week or weekend.