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Recommendations for Time Tracking?

A friend of mine is a consultant that charges his clients by the hour. He needs a simple tool that records time spend on tasks / projects that will allow him to bill his customers more accurately.

I know that old-time lawyers have a stop watch and a pad of paper next to their phone.

Is there a 21st century equivalent??
 
Asked by Arthur Meadows, November 2009   -  Contact this person

3 Answers

  1. Hi Arthur,

    I've had one suggestion via twitter from a friend who runs a consultancy business: http://www.proworkflow.com/PWF_PRO_overview.cfm

    Phin
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    Answered by Phineas Wenlock, November 2009   -  Contact this person
  2. It has been some time since I looked at this area. If you do a search on the net you will find numerous examples. Before choosing one though I would suggest your friend considers how and where they will need to use the application. There are packages that work on the desk top, but that then presupposes that you will not need to use it while out of the office, and as consultants tend to be mobile, that can cause an issue. Even if it is on a laptop, it is not always convenient.

    If your friend uses a PDA, Blackberry or some such device, if they look at the add-ons for their model and choose one that will allow them to download and consolidate information on the desktop, it will probably give the best compromise. If they do not want to use a third party package, they could create a spreadsheet and simply enter the data as they go. Spreadsheets will also work on most PDA's these days so they could simply copy their own sheet over.

    As a freelance consultant, I have tried these but I reverted to paper and pencil. In the end it was a lot less hassle for me. Either way it is about being disciplines enough to record the time against the correct project and activity code.

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    Answered by David Harland, November 2009   -  Contact this person
  3. David, Phin,

    Thanks for your answers. I found lots of tools too.

    Here's one of the better lists with lots of great recommendations in the Comments too:
    http://freelanceswitch.com/productivity/6-cool-tools-to-track-your-time/

    David, you make a good point about integrating with the tools that you use already. For example, Microsoft Outlook has the Journal functionality which would appear to do the basics plus integrate with Calendaring / Email and MS Office as well.
    http://cbt.brainstorminc.com/microsoft/help.php?file=outlook15
    http://cbt.brainstorminc.com/microsoft/help.php?file=outlook16

    I'll direct my friend to this page!

    Thanks,

    Arthur.
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    Answered by Arthur Meadows, November 2009   -  Contact this person

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