I've tried using MyHours and Fresh Books, but after 15 years doing it manually on a pad in a law office, that just works best for me. My old boss gave me pads of the time sheets a few months ago (they changed the name of the firm, and they didn't want the old partner's name on ANYTHING any more - long, dysfunctional story), so I inherited them. I've got enough time entry logs to last me until I'm 277.

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Dana Fortier
Fortier Business Solutions

Time Manager is like a clock. When you are working on project it keeps track of your time per project and you can schedule it to ask you what you are working on now within minutes, half hour, etc. This is a great program because you can let your clients know how you do keep track of the their projects and the amount of time you spend on each one. I use quickbooks for my actual time entry logs

Thank you all for this wonderful information

I am so glad you asked this question because I was wondering the same thing too.
I think that is what I am going to start using as well.

Thanks for the advice.

I've been using the timer on my Quickbooks and I find it very handy for billing.

Marta Costa
www.va-4-hire.com

Thanks for all the helpful info! It's so nice to have recommendations from people who have used the programs so I don't have to search the web for something that will work for me (or worse- have to do it manually, which is what I had planned to do!!)

My husband and I are working on a program for tracking time and invoicing. I've been working with the first version since June and we are getting ready to program it to live on a web hosting service rather than our server. When it is done it will be available by subscription and I'll be looking for a couple of VAs who would like to test it for free. I'm hoping it will be ready in the new year; DH has a full-time job so he'll be doing the programming in the evening. I've also asked him to build in functionality to handle retainers (and for VAs concerned that I'll have access to their client info, not to worry - the users will be able to encrypt their clients' names and contact information and we won't have access to the encryption codes).

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Julia

Originally Posted by va-4-hire

I've been using the timer on my Quickbooks and I find it very handy for billing. Marta Costa www.va-4-hire.com

Does Quickbooks then import that automatically into a billable invoice for the client?

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Christie

And also, if you happen to be doing work from another computer for whatever reason (that does NOT have Quickbooks installed), is there a way that you could use a different time tracker, and then input your time into Quickbooks when you get home?

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Christie

Originally Posted by Kailu

I was so grateful this morning for all the time tracking tips, I went to myhours and signed up, and then I also found livetimer.com. It's a free 30 day trail, and then only $5 per month for each user, and right now it's just me. I have been using it for my work this morning, and so far I really like it, it's right up my ally, and when I need to stop, and then go back it just tracks all of the time, and I feel like I will be able to give my clients that I work virtually for, a more accurate time table when billing each month! BTW, I love this forum, I wish I would have happened upon it back in February when I started with just one client. Kailu

Thanks for the great info, I've been looking for something to just try out until I find out if this is all gonna work Much appreciated!

Hello all,
I was just viewing this thread because I was just thinking of how to do this more efficiently the other day. My husband is a CFO and is very proficient in Excel, so he was planning on setting up a spreadsheet for me. Sometimes, I can't even follow his spreadsheets! I was just on the myhours website and was wondering from those who use it, do you have 'employees' other than yourselves? This seems a bit more than needed for just one person, is that true?
Thanks for the original post.
-Diane
Office Ally

MyHours can work for both single VA practice or multi-VA practice. It can be set-up as simple or as complicated as you make it. Clients will want to know the tasks that make-up the time billed. If implemented properly, MyHours captures what you do through-out the day minute by minute. If you use MYHours as you work, you do not have to go back and reconstruct your day. If you wait, you're not going to capture everything. When supporting multiple clients, this is pertinent.

Here's a simplistic example - lets say you support three clients. You spent the morning setting of social profiles for Bill on various networking sites. You started MyHours when you began your project. At 10:00 a.m. you have a scheduled call with Sarah. Sarah wants to spend some time discussing a research project. With three clicks, you've gone from tracking time on Bill's project to Sarah's brainstorming call. Off the call, you end the timer and enter a quick synposis of the call and then you check your email. You see an urgent request from Dave. Three clicks and you're now tracking Dave's project once you take care of Dave's project it's back to Bill's social network profiles. Three clicks.

At the end of the month, you run your reports, totals are calculated for you. I use Quicken SimpleStart. I download the MyHours details of each project into Excel, customize it with my logo etc. and attach it to my invoice from SimpleStart as a PDF and it's done.

I capture all my time as it happens. I don't have to think about tracking the time, writing it down, etc. By tracking the time while you work, you always have an overview of hours spent for each client. If you have retainer clients, this is important so that you can also give them a heads-up of where they are at, at a moments notice.

HTH

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Kim Alvis, Managing Director
Cardinal Point Business Associates

I've always found www.paymo.com to be very simple to use and effective. It's totally free and works with both WIndows and Mac.

I have used Trax Time. It is simple to use. There is a free trial of the program. You can add several clients to the program.

Shawn

I use Trax Time also. The trial version seems to work forever, so I'm not planning on paying for it soon, although at $39, it is really reasonably priced. It is simple to use.