Hannah, I can't tell you how much I love the cake boss software. Have you watched the videos on their website?
There is the video tour but to me the How To's really show you how the software works which is just awesome. It's super easy to use.
The video tour is here
http://cakeboss.com/VideoTour.aspx
The How To videos are here
http://cakeboss.com/HowTo2010.aspx
To answer your first question...YES! It will help you determine how much you should charge.
First it calculates your direct cost for making the cake. This includes ingredients, materials such as cake boards and boxes etc. This has really help me hold my own on my pricing.
There is also a section where you specify what you would like to be "paid" for labor per hour. Then for each cake you estimate the number of hours you will work on the cake. I am pretty bad at estimating my time because this is a very small side business for me but it's still helpful in calculating cost.
The software also managers orders, recipes and shopping lists which is just fantastic for me.
Just to be fair let me give you the cons:
The initial load of the information does take some time. You have to load up your ingredients and how much they cost you...so start saving your basic receipts. You will also have to load up the cost of your materials such as boards and boxes.
You also have to type in your recipes which is worth it because this is how it calculates the cost of an order.
The only other con I have is that the invoice form is a little difficult to customize. It's not impossible...just not super intuitive. If you like the invoice as is it's super easy. Otherwise you have to print it to RTF (rich text format for something like Word) and once you do that you can change the fonts etc.
Also you have a 30 day money back guarentee so if you do order it make sure you load up at least a couple of sample recipes and ingredients and do some test run orders.
On a last positive note, their customer support is fantastic!
Anyway, I'm wondering if it would be beneficial for me to get the Cake Boss software. Would it be helpful in determining prices to charge? Plus, what are some of the other benefits of having it? I would really appreciate any input in this matter! I don't want to spend the money on it if it is not worth it. Thanks!
