In a Gallup poll conducted in 2007, almost one-third of workers feel they waste 1-2 hours per day. On average, this amounts to ten hours per week. If you are running a small business, you must enhance productivity. A time tracking software can help you. In this article, you’ll find everything about the best time tracking software.

What is Time Tracking?

The technique of documenting time against activities refers to as time tracking. Time tracking is a term used in the business world to describe recording an employee’s working time against the activities assigned to them.

We can track time using the time tracking software in both scenarios, including time-keeping tools and analytics and reports that provide insight into personal and team productivity, expenses and profits, time distribution across activities and projects, etc.

What are the Benefits of Time Tracking?

• For the Companies that provide hourly and part-time jobs:

When you pay your employees by the hour, you can see how valuable their time is to you as an employer. Keeping track of their hours allows you to gain insight into their time expenditures and greater control over project costs.

• Hourly billing companies.

Time monitoring is nearly essential if you bill consumers on an hourly basis. You can have a precise record of the exact amount of work your employees accomplished on specific projects instead of depending on unreliable and often incomplete data from notes or, god forbid, your employees’ memories. This time tracking will ensure that no work goes unbilled, but it will also allow you to develop a more fair and honest connection with your customer by letting them know what they’re paying you.

• Freelancers.

Working for free is the last thing you want to do, whether you freelance or manage a one-person business. Time tracking can help with this. With even the most basic timesheet application, you can keep track of your time and guarantee that there is a record of every hour of work billed to your client.

• For employees working from home:

As a remote employee, keeping a timesheet is an excellent method to keep your manager and team informed about your progress and contributions to a project. If they ever suspect you of slacking off, you can always show them your time sheets to prove that you’re putting in the same effort as the rest of the team.

What is a Time Tracking Software?

Time tracking software helps billing, payroll, operations, management, and staff record work hours. Time tracking software helps automate payroll or customer invoicing by capturing time spent on tasks. They can also provide insights into your processes, such as which tasks are consuming the most time and money, allowing users to manage project budgets.

Features of Time Tracking Software

• To keep track of time.

This critical component, in general, collects real-time worked hours down to the minute and records them on a timesheet. Timesheet software provides accurate payroll and billing functions. 

• It is possible to fill out timesheets online.

An hourly timesheet centralizes the recording of billable hours without including them in every time tracking system. The timesheet serves as an attendance report and records absences, time off, and vacations.

• Management of a project.

Although many time tracking software solutions are part of a more extensive project management system, sometimes tracking apps include lightweight project management features. They allow you to group tasks, set deadlines, and prioritize tasks by project. You may also track the progress of a project by time element, such as daily, weekly, or monthly, and establish budgets for each project. A time tracking tool can suffice for modest and easy assignments.

• To Invoice over the internet.

This function is a must-have if you bill clients by the hour or minute. The tool accurately counts all worked hours and creates invoices based on your parameters, including billable time and rates. This solution enables you to invoice clients transparently, avoiding disagreements. In addition, the program automates wage computations, which is a huge time saver for small enterprises. Employees clock in and leave, and their time gets recorded on a timesheet that is then input into a payroll system.

What are the factors we can consider while investing in Time Tracking Software?

• Is payroll integration possible?

Many solutions include a payroll module or link with third-party payroll systems. Ascertain that the program can assist you in automating the entire process of capturing billable hours to creating payslips or invoices. The app should interface with other critical business solutions, such as project management, accounting, productivity tools, and payroll.

• How to use them without an internet connection?

At some point, internet connectivity will be a concern. Offline-capable apps provide you with the flexibility to adjust to internet outages. When you return to the internet, the data syncs and updates automatically to ensure that you don’t miss anything.

Final Words

We hope that this post has given you a better understanding of time tracking. With the help of this guide, it will be easier for you to choose the right Time tracking software for small businesses.