These precise tools have allowed freelancers to successfully work in a wide variety of industries, including project management, services, healthcare, software development, and more.
Time tracking for freelancers: business benefits
Among other benefits, time tracking apps are a great way to organize your workflow regardless of your industry. This is an integral part of the work of freelancers on projects of any complexity. It's not just about reporting to customers and invoicing. Equally, if not more important, qualities such as:
- Streamlining and ensuring the stability of the workflow.
- Transparency and trust in customer relations.
- Guaranteed timely payment for projects.
- Facilitate task management and secure data storage in one place.
- Achieve a successful balance between work and free time by optimizing routine tasks.
All this requires accurate time tracking, and it is impossible without a reliable tool.
Time counters: the choice of freelancers
In this article, we have collected 10 popular devices for calculating working hours. All of them are perfect for the needs of freelancers and help to improve personal productivity.
MinuteDock
MinuteDock is a very convenient working hours counter, which means freelancers can spend less time calculating and more time making a profit. Users rated MinuteDock a "10 out of 10" in the "usability" category.
In addition, the device offers the following options:
- Determination of billable and unpaid time.
- Billing.
- Time tracking on a mobile device.
- Setting up different billing options.
- Complete project reporting.
Cost : $ 19.00 per month for one user.
The main advantage of MinuteDock for freelancers : a variety of reports that allow you to instantly analyze the time spent on various tasks. This greatly contributes to the profitability of the business. The app integrates with Quickbooks, Zero, Freshbooks for easy billing and syncing with clients.
TMetric
TMetric is a time tracking application ideally suited to the neatness and functionality needs of freelancers. The tool provides accurate information in real time, allowing you to assess your own productivity, and also generates reports on the use of time.
The user-friendly graphical interface also offers such useful options:
- Billing and billing.
- Work without an Internet connection.
- Detailed reports.
- Calculation of the budget for each project.
- Automatic time tracking with visualization of general data for the day.
- Screenshots to display activity.
- Versions for Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, Mac platforms.
- Integration with Quickbooks, Asana, GitLab, ZenDesk, Zoho, Trello and 50 more services.
Cost : Free for a team of up to 5 employees. Additional features are available for $ 5 per month.
The main advantage of TMetric for freelancers : the ability not only to keep track of the time spent on solving problems, but also to calculate the budget and expenses. From TMetric, you can create and send an invoice to the client with a detailed breakdown by time up to a minute. Reports are generated in one click, and the freelancer immediately receives data on the work. It is a great tool for assessing the return on investment of a project
Bonsai
Bonsai is a powerful tool for keeping track of the time spent on each project. With its help, you can easily determine both costs and revenues, rounding, if necessary, numbers, as well as invoice the client in one click.
Among the capabilities of the device, the following should be noted:
- Providing general information on projects.
- Invoicing templates.
- Support for various platforms.
- Templates for the conclusion of contracts.
- Perfect match to performance metrics.
Cost : $ 16 per month for the paid version of Bonsai Plus, billed once a year.
The main benefit of Bonsai for freelancers is that it makes work organization and billing easier. Calculations are available in US dollars, Canada, Australia, pounds sterling and 180 other foreign currencies.
Tick
Tick is a highly versatile counter for multiple tasks. It is great for a situation where a freelancer works remotely but is part of a team.
Tick functionality includes the following:
- Assigning projects to individual team members.
- Private status - the project is available only to the employee who is working on it.
- The ability to run several counters at the same time, so as not to waste a single minute.
- Time elapsed data access.
- Setting up a budget.
- Analytical reports.
Cost : free version for one project, cost of a version for ten projects - $ 19 per month.
The main advantage of Tick for freelancers : the tool helps to achieve excellent results thanks to several counters for individual projects. The app has reports on schedules, activity maps, settings for projects and tasks, and calculates budgets to keep control of profitability.
HourStack
In addition to automatic time tracking, HourStack allows you to schedule tasks and get accurate reports without wasting hours. The mechanism for visualizing tasks on a separate "board" is very convenient for tracking work progress.
Among the available options, the following deserve special attention:
- Integration with major project management platforms and communication tools (Slack).
- Reporting on individual data segments.
- Import of projects and notes to them from other tools.
- Automatic accounting of the spent working time.
- Support for mobile devices.
Cost : $ 7 per month for Personal Plan.
The main advantage of HourStack for freelancers : scheduling features with color-coded tasks, which allows you to better monitor your own productivity and more accurately follow the schedule.
PayDirt
PayDirt is a counter for easy and continuous tracking of time spent. Using the tagging system, you can easily sort the data and search for the desired information on projects by entering keywords.
Key functional benefits include:
- Intuitive interface.
- Creation of personalized reports with your own branding design.
- Tracking payments received.
- Free extension for creating invoices in the Google Chrome browser.
- Online invoicing with PayPal or Stripe payment options.
Cost : $ 8 per month - version for three users
The main advantage of PayDirt for freelancers : thanks to the integration with PayPal and Stripe, you can automatically issue and send invoices to clients, making payments in more than 50 currencies. This greatly speeds up the payment process. In addition, the app helps to automatically track payments. If you, as a freelancer, need a tool with the perfect billing module, PayDirt is the best option.
Toggl
Toggl has long been the market leader in time counters - user-friendly, with creative designs and many options to make time tracking easier. The free trial allows you to evaluate all the possibilities for improving your time management. Toggl also advocates the idea of "unlimited" time data entry, and a freelancer can manually enter the time data after finishing work.
The available features include:
- Integration with the calendar.
- General dashboard with data on the ratio of used time to planned.
- Time tracking on any platform or device.
- Customer reporting.
- Project reporting.
- Ability to add notes to projects.
Cost : $ 9 per month per user using Starter Plan.
The main advantage of Toggl for freelancers : full control not only over the spent working time, but also over the project budget. There are a variety of options for managing projects and expanding the client base. With all the additional opportunities for strategic planning, the application remains a time counter, not overloaded with unnecessary functions.
My Hours
My Hours is an all-in-one time tracking tool for improving your efficiency. The set of available features includes the automatic creation of invoices that can be sent to customers immediately.
Other features of My Hours:
- Automatic accounting of the time spent.
- Time tracking on a mobile device.
- Setting up hourly rates.
- Billing.
- Billing.
- Detailed reports on completed tasks.
Cost : $ 7 per month for one user. Free trial available for 30 days.
The main advantage of My Hours for freelancers is the ability to set up a work schedule to record the time spent on completing tasks. Data is also available in real time. With the mobile version, you can work on projects on different devices without interruption. There is also a common panel for viewing, searching and exporting the required information.
Clockodo
Clockodo is a handy counter with a huge number of settings, making it easy to adjust to your personal needs. It makes time tracking and activity analysis much easier.
Other features of the tool include:
- Setting up a working calendar for the team. This way, you can plan your work and achieve results without rush and stress, especially if freelancers work remotely.
- Timer recording to track the exact amount of time spent on different tasks. For convenience, the information is organized in a table.
- The ability to set budget limits for the project. The tool will automatically notify you immediately when the budget is exceeded.
Cost : $ 6.50 per month per user
The main advantage of Clockodo for freelancers : organization of work routine tasks and detailed reports broken down by project, client, employee or time period. Thus, the freelancer can sort the information and choose what is necessary and relevant to a specific project.
Trackabi
Trackabi is a tool that helps you deal with all the issues of the correct use of working time. The application records the time automatically, you can also enter data manually. In addition, in Trackabi, you can invite a client to observe the project in real time and provide him with access to relevant information for the sake of greater transparency and trust in business relations.
Some of the available tool options are worth mentioning:
- Detailed reports.
- Data import.
- Time tracking online.
- Integration with various systems, including importing elapsed time data from other meters.
- Private overview dashboards with shared data with access to recent projects.
Cost : Starter Plan - Free for unlimited projects.
The main advantage of Trackabi for freelancers : the ability to work with various clients (up to 10 people) and participate in large projects remotely, collaborating with teams.
Outcome
The main task of time counters for freelancers is the ability to easily and efficiently organize the work environment. By incorporating time tracking into your daily routine and analyzing how it is used, you can increase your business productivity and income. Any of the above counters is an excellent time management solution in any circumstance.
Whether you prefer short-term or long-term projects, the right meter will always allow you to report your work and get paid on time. Thanks to these tools, you no longer need to constantly check the consumption of time and waste time on calculations - you can focus solely on work tasks.