Suggestions for DB setup

I'm going to start developing a tracking system for my business clients. I want to do it w/ PHP & mySQL as I find it will be easier than doing the same in Java... Besides, I'm really enjoying learning as much as I can with PHP!

I'm trying to figure out the best way to setup the database... Essentially, what I want to do is setup a system that will allow me to store and track client information including contact info, passwords I've assigned, domain names, etc... but I also want to track the costs I've charged my clients for my services, as well as a way to send myself (and possibly in the future, the client) a reminder to send an invoice for recurring charges (ie: hosting, etc...).


So far, I've come up with this db structure:

Clients Table
clientID | clientName | clientAddress | clientPhone | clientEmail | clientURL | clientPasswords

Costs Table
itemID | itemName | itemCost | clientID |

Reminders Table
reminderID | dateOfNextBill | clientID |

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I'm not sure if I have it setup properly, or whether I should go about it another way... Any suggestions/corrections would be much appreciated! Thank you!

that looks good so far, but maybe you could create a orders table, which stores details for each order, then make the costs table link back to that:???? just a idea

I'm not sure if I understand fully... Do you mean almost like an "ordering system" where I select the items the client is ordering?

I use Quicken for all my financial transactions (orders, etc...), but I wanted to create this system to keep track of simple things that are too painstaking to keep track of in Quicken. It's not that Quicken can't do it, but I would find it easier to create my own system and customize it to my own needs.

Any details on your suggestion would help!


Thanks!

yeah, basically that would create a mini ordering system

Clients Table
clientID | clientName | clientAddress | clientPhone | clientEmail | clientURL | clientPasswords

Order Table
orderID | orderAddress | contactNumber | DispatchDate | OrderTotalCost | orderDate | clientID |

Costs Table
itemID | itemName | itemCost | corderID |

Reminders Table
reminderID | dateOfNextBill | clientID |

This way all orders can tracked to see what items and where its been sent to. also the date of when it was sent.

hope that makes more sense, this way you'll be using your own system more, which give you a better advantage, since you know exactly how it works

Okay... I think I have an idea of how this can shape up. Just to clarify:

orderAddress: Customer's Address (in the case of goods, the shipping address)?

dispatchDate: Is that the shipping date?


As for the "dateOfNextBill"... If I was to bill the customer every six months, would I just add 6 months from the date of the bill, or would it be best to be able to choose the timeframe? If so, how should I go about doing that?


Thanks for the help!