I have been building custom database systems for clients across North America since 1998, using the wildly popular FileMaker Pro database software.

I had established an initial niche in the graphic design industry, creating solutions that tracked finances and shop floor activity on a per project, as well as an aggregate basis. In 2003, FileMaker Inc. hired me on a nine-month contract to do quality assurance on their then-unreleased FileMaker Developer 7 -- the most advanced release in the history of the product.

Since then, I have been developing databases for my growing client base, as well as sub-contracting for some of the most respected FileMaker development firms in North America.

Some of the many solutions I've created:

• Project task management and financial systems for graphic design/communications firms.
• A grant-tracking system for a government department.
• Project management systems for the communications departments of some government agencies.
• A manufacturing scheduling, payroll, materials management solution for a furniture manufacturer.
• A contact and convention management solution for a worldwide peer counseling organization.
• A sales and insertion order system for a publishing company.
• A time card system for a non-profit organization.

Before turning to database development full-time, I spent six years as a bookkeeper/accountant, and earned a college diploma in manufacturing systems.

Paul Spafford is a FileMaker 8 Certified Developer. Spafford Data Solutions is part of the FileMaker Business Alliance.