The Benefits of a Simple Time Tracker

Whether your employees are working from home or you are working with a freelancer whose hours you want to be tracked, there is a lot of different time tracking software available these days. Some of this software is more complicated than others, and having a simple time tracker can be a big time-saver for employers and employees alike.

What is time tracking software?

There are a few features that any basic time tracker needs. Clocking in and out is easily the most important part of using a time tracker. However, there are additional features that can make a great time tracking app. As the employer or client, being able to monitor your team's hours throughout the week and seeing any important notes about their projects is important. The ability to add time manually, edit existing logs, and delete time logs is also important. Now that you know a little more about what makes for a good time tracking system, let's look at some of the benefits of using a good, simple time tracker.

Accurate Billing

A time tracking app can be used to record your time when you are online working, so you will have an accurate record of your work hours that has all of the pertinent details you need to provide your employer or client when it is time to submit an invoice. You never have to worry about billing incorrectly again. If the time tracker is simple to use, you eliminate a large point of stress when it comes to your billing.

Many time tracking tools come equipped with the capability to generate your invoices for you, and some can even be set up to send out invoices to clients for you; this can help you ensure that invoices are accurate before they get sent.

Improve Productivity

Using a time tracking app can help you see how often you get distracted and potentially what is slowing you down during the day. This will help you plan your week better and address both personal and operational inefficiencies. Once you see patterns in what might be distracting you or slowing you down, you can plan to address those issues and increase your productivity. Sometimes, simply knowing that your time is being tracked is enough to help motivate someone and increase their personal productivity.

When someone who has not used a time tracking app before begins using one, they are often surprised by what their timesheets tell them about their working habits. You may not be aware of how long it takes you to sift through your emails on Monday morning and send out appropriate responses or how much time you spend in meetings or on calls. Once you see that your team is spending so much extra time in meetings, you can look into cutting down on them to improve efficiency. Someone might see that they do not spend enough time on deep work during the day or need to organize their workflow for the week better. Even just little improvements can make a big difference, and a simple time tracker can help you make these.

A simple time tracker will also allow you to determine if individual projects are worth taking on. You can see how much time your team spends on certain tasks and compare them to the potential tasks a prospective client is asking of you. You can then determine if what they are asking for is feasible with the budget they are proposing.

Help Convince the Boss You Need a Bigger Team

Even if you are not a freelancer or in a remote working situation, time tracking software can be helpful to you. If your department is receiving more work than they can handle, you can use time tracking to make your case for a new hire or to help you push back when you are being sent too much work. This data can be helpful simply for that alone, even if it is not something your organization would normally use or need.

Project Management

A time tracking app allows you to track how you allocate your resources when you are working. This can help you put together more accurate predictions in your proposals for future projects as well as for planning your time during your workweek. You can also track tasks that are typically more invisible than most. This includes things like travel, meetings, calls with clients, and even task management. You can easily integrate a time tracker into the digital tools your team uses daily.

Another part of helping boost your productivity is that you use your notes in the time tracking app to provide clients with a fully itemized breakdown of exactly what was done, helping them see where their money went. You can provide much more detailed reports with a time tracker. If a project takes more hours than you initially quoted a client, they are going to ask why you are billing them for so many extra hours. With a time tracking app, you can explain to the client exactly what took the extra time instead of giving them an estimate.

Improve Profitability

A simple time tracker can also help you increase your business's profitability, since you have a highly detailed list of how your team will allocate a budget and resources. If you can show someone a breakdown like this, their confidence in your organization will increase, and they may be willing to spend a little more on your services.

Sometimes, a project is completely unprofitable, but you are unaware of this without time tracking software. Once you begin to track your time accurately, you can get a better estimate of if a project is worthwhile for you. You will also be able to determine if a project is going to be coming in over or under budget in real-time, so you can talk to your team to ensure you do not go over budget on a project.