Blog · Status update
The foundation is laid
Time for a first status update on the development of Declaruur. It’s coming along nicely. So nicely, in fact, that the app already looks pretty much finished. It definitely isn’t; you only notice that when you press a button that doesn’t lead anywhere yet. To put it in building terms: the foundation is laid. The roof isn’t on yet and the window frames are still in the van, but you can already stand on it just fine.
Below is a short overview of what has already been built, and what still needs to be done. Spoiler: that second list isn’t any shorter.
What Declaruur can already do
Tracking hours
- Enter hours per client: from–to, break, description, billable or not, also for an earlier day.
- A note with formatting, photos and files for every job.
- Own work: hours without a client, such as admin or tidying up the van. You choose the description from your own list, and your business name appears in the overviews.
- Hours are rounded to the quarter or half hour if you want, and the default break is filled in for you.
Overviews
- Today: what you did today, with the total hours and amount, and your logo.
- Week: the current week from Monday to Sunday, browsing by week and by day.
- History: find, filter and sort everything, edit or delete several lines at once.
- Export to Excel, optionally with the notes, photos and files in a zip.
Clients
- Up to 25 active, unlimited inactive.
- Private or business, with name, short description, contact person, email, phone, address, Chamber of Commerce number, hourly rate and VAT.
- Look up an address, and the distance and travel time from where you are, with one click to Apple Maps or CarPlay.
- Smart search on everything, typos included.
- The latest job and all previous jobs per client.
- A warning for duplicate names or email addresses.
Settings
- My business: details and logo, with checks on phone number, Chamber of Commerce number, VAT number and website. The logo can also be fetched from your own website.
- Hours: rounding and default break.
- Clients: private or business by default, own work on or off, and distance and travel time on or off.
- Display: animations on or off. Advanced: ‘Continue where you left off’.
- iCloud status: whether everything is in sync, and on which Macs, iPhones and iPads Declaruur is running.
General
- Everything is kept in sync between your devices via your own iCloud.
- A trash bin with a warning, and windows in the app’s own style that you can drag around.
- After a restart, you continue where you left off.
- A test button to add dummy data or erase everything; it will disappear before the App Store release.
A look inside the app
For those who prefer looking at pictures to reading lists (very understandable). The app is in Dutch, so the screenshots are too:
Click an image to view it full size.
What still needs to be done
Still in Settings
- Sign-off: the client signs for approval on your iPhone or iPad.
- Calendar link: jobs automatically in your calendar.
- Auto-save, as an option.
Major parts
- Expenses: materials, recurring items, mileage and receipts.
- Timesheets: a neat PDF in your own style, emailed or printed straight away.
- Reminders: a nudge when you haven’t entered any hours yet.
- Self-employment: a counter for the Dutch hours criterion (1,225 hours), and a warning if you work too much for one client (risk of false self-employment).
- Timer: start and stop, also in the menu bar.
- First launch: a welcome screen and choosing a colour theme.
- Feedback & suggestions, plus a manual and release notes on declaruur.nl.
- Trial and purchase: 15 days free, then €19.95 once. In TestFlight everything is unlocked, with a test menu.
Finishing and release
- Testing the iPhone and iPad versions, in portrait and landscape, and later also on the foldable iPhone.
- Removing the test buttons, and submitting Declaruur to the App Store.
Meanwhile, the marketing department (that’s me too) is going all out: the business cards have been ordered, and I’ll soon be leaving flyers at DIY stores, among other places. Spot a Declaruur flyer somewhere between the screws and the sealant tubes? Feel free to take one. Or two, for a colleague.
I still expect Declaruur to be in Apple’s App Store on 1 December, but unfortunately there are no guarantees. I’ve already done some testing, and Apple’s ‘Review’, the approval (or rejection 🥺), can sometimes take quite a while. Somewhere in California, someone decides when my baby is allowed out. I just hope that person slept well that night.
In short: watch this space! And don’t forget to sign up below, it’s really simple, and you’ll get a heads-up as soon as Declaruur can be downloaded. One email address, one button, zero spam. Easier than tracking your hours. Well, easier than tracking your hours without Declaruur.
For now, the app is in Dutch. English is also being considered: leave your email address and we’ll keep you posted.
