Best 6 Hourly Billing Software To Increase Your Productivity
If you're looking for a way to manage your time and maximize productivity, then it's time that you start using hourly billing software.
Hourly billing software is designed to give freelancers, professional services companies, and contractors the ability to keep track of their hours (or more generally, intervals) at which they work on tasks.
These tools are used primarily because they offer digital clock-punching features that quantify how long workers take to complete assignments.
If this sounds like something you would be interested in learning more about or implementing within your business model - Don't wait another day!
Why do you need it for your business?
The hourly billing software industry is growing rapidly. This should be an obvious indicator that time tracking tools and software, full time equivalent (FTE) can provide a lot of benefits to your business!
These services are typically used by businesses whose workers work on tasks or projects for clients, especially through freelancing or contracting opportunities.
Since these individuals often don't have employees working full-time within their organizations, they need a way to track and monitor the time they spend on tasks or projects in order to bill clients accurately. It's never been easier than it is today with all of the amazing solutions available.
Hourly billing software is perfect for:
- Freelancers and contractors
Whether or not you're a solopreneur, hourly billing software provides the ability to track your time on projects and tasks that are billed at an hourly rate.
This allows individuals who work on these types of engagements (or even those who perform consulting work) to accurately track their hours, produce invoices quickly and efficiently, and ensure they are maximizing billing opportunities.
- Professional services firms
Similar to freelancers or contractors who take on hourly projects, professional service providers need the ability to bill clients for time spent providing them with consulting or other types of work.
Billing rates can vary depending upon the service agreement, but hourly rate billing software helps streamline the invoicing process and ensures that companies are being compensated fairly for time spent.
- Businesses with salaried employees
Small businesses will also benefit from using a tool like this as it can be used to monitor employee productivity throughout their workday.
Some of the Best Hourly billing software
There are a lot of options available on the market. The best hourly billing software will depend upon your specific requirements, how many employees you have or plan to have using it, and what features you need most in order to meet those needs.
1. Time Doctor
Time Doctor is an award-winning time tracking software that offers real-time monitoring of employees' activities, allowing you to see how much time is being spent on specific tasks.
It also provides managers with the ability to monitor their workers' productivity levels in order to keep track of their work hours and ensure that they are able to complete projects within allocated budgets or deadlines.
2. Clockify
Clockify is another popular time tracking tool that can be used for both individual and group billing. It is a SaaS-based solution, which means you are provided with access to the software immediately upon purchase - there's no installation needed!
The features include customizable invoicing options, integration capabilities (including integrations between other productivity tools), employee monitoring, and reporting features.
3. Toggl Track
Toggl Track is uniquely designed for freelancers and contractors, allowing you to record time spent on tasks or projects that are billed at an hourly rate.
It includes features like customizable reports (which can be exported into a variety of different formats), integrations with other productivity tools, employee monitoring capabilities, etc.
It's a great option for those who are working on an hourly basis, especially if you're looking to maximize your productivity and increase billing opportunities.
4. Timely
Timely is another great time tracking software that focuses specifically upon increasing employee accountability.
It provides users with the ability to monitor their own work hours by allowing them to track their tasks throughout the day in order to ensure they are meeting their goals.
The app can also be used to help managers monitor the productivity of their employees and provide them with accurate insights into how much time is being spent on specific projects or tasks that have been assigned to them.
It provides a similar suite of features as other options, including integrations between third-party tools, customizable invoicing options, and reporting features.
5. Quickbooks Time Tracking
Quickbooks is popular accounting software, and it goes hand-in-hand with the company's time tracking capabilities.
This tool allows you to track your employees' hours so that you can bill clients for their work or ensure that they are getting paid fairly based upon their contracted agreements.
The features include invoicing options, project management capabilities, reporting features (including the ability to generate reports on time worked by individual employees), and integration options with other popular productivity tools.
6. Hubstaff
Hubstaff is one of the most popular tools available on the market, and it is used by a wide range of different types of businesses.
It takes screenshots of your employees' computers on a regular basis, which allows managers to see what they are doing while logged in - this ensures that you can bill clients for accurate hours and keep track of productivity levels.
It can detect the number of times the keyboard and mouse are used every day, as well as the applications that are being opened or closed.
It keeps you in the loop at all times, so you never have to worry about your employees wasting company time or working on unauthorized projects.
There are a lot of options available on the market, but these ones have been identified as some of the best currently on offer.
What are some of the Benefits of using Hourly Billing Software?
In addition to being able to bill clients or customers for services rendered more easily, there are a number of additional benefits offered from these tools:
- Employee Monitoring
By monitoring employees' work throughout the day, you can ensure that they're not taking unscheduled breaks and are staying on task.
This is helpful for small businesses with a handful of workers as it allows them to better manage their workforce and avoid unnecessary expenses or disruption in workflow due to wasted time.
- Productivity
Once workers are able to keep track of their time, they'll be more likely to complete projects on schedule and within the budgeted amount.
This is helpful for businesses with many employees or freelancers who work independently without direct oversight.
Managers can also use this tool to help measure the performance of their team members as hourly billing software allows them to see how long it takes for employees to complete specific tasks or projects.
The ability to benchmark productivity levels and time spent on assignments helps companies determine which workers should be given priority, develop realistic deadlines based upon task completion times, and maximize output levels.
- Client Invoicing
When professionals can easily generate invoices at the end of each day, they'll be able to better bill clients for their work.
These invoices can then be sent electronically, allowing you to get paid faster and streamlining the billing process in general. It saves your time and your business money.
- Task Management
The right time tracking software provides organizations with the ability to manage projects more efficiently.
With this tool, you can generate reports that break down exactly how much time was spent on specific tasks and what progress has been made towards the completion of ongoing initiatives.
This is especially helpful for businesses with multiple ongoing projects as it allows managers to easily prioritize which assignments should be given the most attention.
- Reports and analytics
Hourly billing software often provides businesses with reports and data analysis tools that allow them to efficiently measure their workforce productivity levels.
This is especially helpful for those within SMBs as it helps companies gain insight into how long tasks or projects should take, which can help managers better schedule employee work hours, allocate responsibilities more effectively (since they will have a better idea of how long it will take employees to finish tasks), and help managers measure worker performance levels.
What are some of the Drawbacks associated with Hourly Billing Software?
Unfortunately, not all time tracking tools available on the market today have been designed equally which means that there are a couple drawbacks worth noting before making your final decision:
- False Readings
The best time tracker software will be able to accurately record time spent on specific tasks, but some tools may not provide 100% accuracy.
In the event that a worker does take an unscheduled break or spends more time than originally planned completing a job, you'll want to make sure your tool is capable of revising these reports in real-time.
- Inaccurate Tracking
Some tools may not be able to track time spent on specific tasks with 100% accuracy.
For example, keyboard and mouse activity can sometimes get mixed up in the process of tracking keystrokes and how long certain projects take - which results in inaccurate information that needs to be revised later down the line.
Though these drawbacks aren't quite as common, it's important to consider them when making a final decision.
Conclusion
The time tracking software can help you optimize your workflow by offering insights into how long specific tasks or projects should take, while also helping to minimize the risk of disruption in workflow due to wasted time.
This type of tool is especially helpful for companies that need more efficient methods of keeping track of employee performance levels and project completion times.
With this information in hand, managers can then allocate responsibilities more efficiently and determine which tasks should be given priority.