When a client retains you, your work process could (or should) work similarly as an attorney who is paid in escrow and then submits an invoice for the hours worked. Even if you do not submit that invoice to the client, tracking your hours is a good way to make sure that you are fees are in direct correlation with the amount of work you are putting in to each account. These apps will help you track your hours in a consistent manner, which is great for hourly and flat rate work. These are also great options for your staff if you pay your employees hourly.
The first is Compuccino. It is an Adobe AIR app (simply means it can run on a variety of platforms—Windows, OS X, Linux) that tracks tasks, time and projects. It also works with Basecamp if you use that as your virtual office/project management resource for your clients. It’s sleek interface rests on your desktop as you work, allowing you to keep track along the way.
Toggl is another program, and although not an AIR app, it can be embedded into code into the website of you choice along with the a downloadable desktop dashboard. There are free and paid versions and will also boast a new design in the upcoming weeks. It also works with “one-click tracking”, which means you can switch from task to task easily while working.
Coming Soon….
Dukt Time Tracking is another Adobe AIR app that also allows you to track your time working on projects. It is not released yet, but be sure to sign up so that you can be notified when it is ready for release. With an OS X like interface, projects can be grouped and expanded in folders.
Let me know what you love and what works for you!
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6 users responded in this post
This is great. Though I don’t bill hourly, it would help me to better nail down my standard rates and provide an exact time it takes me to accomplish my work. Thanks!
Thanks for these resources. I currently use a fairly complex spreadsheet that shows me what I’ve been spending my time doing on a monthly basis but there is still a lot of manual data entry. I will definitely check out these apps.
Great resources! I’ve been looking to use something like this… so far I’ve relied on a timer to keep me in check on not going over, for example during meetings, I set my phone on vibrate and set the alarm(s). It’s a subtle reminder to me to keep things on time that it’s time to wrap-up, or move on to the next item.
You should definitely try out Paymo ( http://www.paymo.biz ), i think you’ll like it
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