Yesterday, IGG Software announced iBiz 4, an update to its flagship timekeeping and billing software that adds several new features for freelancers and small groups.

iBiz 4 includes an all-new library of invoice templates, payment reminder and expense tracking functionality, faster editing and entry, and a new way to back up and restore your iBiz data.

The software extends its Mac OS X integration to include creating billing events from items in iCal. Previous versions of iBiz were already integrated with Address Book, but iBiz 4 lets you further organize clients into groups. It also has a spiffy new charting engine based on Core Animation.

iBiz Professional has also been updated, and includes a server component and two client licenses. iBiz Professional allows small teams to coordinate their time and to-do items across a Bonjour network.

iBiz 4 is $40, iBiz 4 Professional is $100, and both are available for download at IGG Software's website. Both include a 10-day free trial. Users who purchased iBiz 3 after January 5 also qualify for a free upgrade.

Marketcircle just released version 3 of Billings last week, greatly expanding the functionality of the time-tracking and invoicing application. One of the major reasons I've chosen Billings in the past for my invoicing is the professional-looking documents it can create for electronic and paper delivery. Billings 3 adds new templates and new features, making it an application which any professional individual who needs to manage estimates, invoices, statements and collections should take a look at.

Billings 3 started as a ground-up rework of the program's foundation, focusing on future extensibility, workflow improvements and the user interface. Billings has always had time-tracking and invoicing features, with an easy-to-use timer window, menubar timers and professional invoice templates. This version expands those areas, but it's got a bevy of entirely new features designed to make the lives of self-employed individuals, freelancers and small business owners easier. Read on for an overview of what's new.

I just noticed that my favorite freelancing app, iBiz, is now in a v3 beta phase. At first glance the most notable change is that brushed metal has been given the pink slip, but there is a veritable storm of new features under the hood, including:

• a Document Monitor so iBiz can keep track of project files and how much time you spend on each
• iCal syncing via Sync Services - goodbye to manual lifting
• a Billing Section for more better tracking of invoices, estimates, payments and deposits
• new job events to help track commute mileage, as well as 'non-billable' for the freebies
• AppleScript and Automator support - if they keep this up, your clients won't even need you anymore
• Quick Timers and an improved menu bar utility
• HTML templates with full-blown CSS support

and a ton more. iBiz went universal a while ago, and users of previous version can upgrade to 3 for a mere $19.99, though its retail price has increased from $29.99 to $49.99 (in my opinion, from tinkering with this beta: it's still more than worth it). iBiz Server, for multi-employee and computer environments, is $89.99, which includes two client licenses.