Call this a blog or a rant, but really… Isn’t it about time one of the great IP software companies came up with an easy way to create beautiful reports for the millions of characters we’ve all typed into their docketing software? Arrgghh!
I’ve used so very many docketing software applications over the years: CPA Alecto, CPA Memotech, CPA FoundationIP, PATTSY, WebTMS, CPI, and will begin using Anaqua soon. Truthfully, while I have a favorite so far, even my favorite doesn’t have great reporting capabilities.
In the “old days” (don’t ask), we would download the docketing data for our report into a spreadsheet format, link the spreadsheet to Microsoft Access database software, map the spreadsheet fields to database fields in a report format we’d previously created, and prepare lovely reports. Really! I wish I had one now to show you. They were clean and professional…and took a lot of time. However, when you wanted to give your clients a beautiful portfolio report to show how their money was being spent, it was worth it.
I suppose I could do the same thing today. It’s completely doable, but with the cost of all of this specialized docketing software, why should I need rig up my own reporting system? Do you ever find yourself saying, “One day I’m going to start my own company and…” This is what I found myself saying today about reporting. What about you? Does your docketing software have amazing, easy reporting capabilities requiring no (or very little) cleanup? If so, please share…and quickly!