Originally Posted by Paulette

What billing software are you using? Most billing/invoicing programs come with a timer so you can track exactly how long you're spending on a project. I use Freshbooks.

Quick Books offers a free basic version called Quick books simple start. This is what all my subcontractors use for billing and keeping for the services rendered to us. I actually use QuickBooks Pro and My Case for my client projects. However, both My Case and Quick Books Pro are paid software. If you are looking for an invoicing and time keeping program all-in-one program I would suggest you try the Quick Book simple start.

Hey ladies! I don't want to hijack this conversation but add to it. This is driving me crazy and I've been literally in Google for two straight days looking for a solution and am finding nothing.

Like a few here, I use Toggl and have been for years. I love it. It's inexpensive and simple but has some really powerful features that my clients like. Like the Bookmarks. I can save a live link for them to just check their time whenever they want to. They rarely use it but like it.

Anyway, my problem is I need a better app. Toggl doesn't make it easy to track time AGAINST retainers. I currently enter retainers as non-billable and enter the amount of hours purchased. So, for instance, I'll add an entry for 20 hours @ $800 and tag it as a retainer under the client name. And then I log time as I work on stuff. But Toggl is not like Excel; it doesn't know to subtract hours from that retainer amount so I end up having to run two separate reports OR manually calculate.

It's not especially hard to do, it's just not optimal and now with more clients, it's driving me crazy.

Are any of you working with applications that track time against retainers well? The only one I've found thus far is GetHarvest but I haven't tried it. But even that one seems to only track against invoices. I send invoices through PayPal so I don't work that way. Just need a time tracker that can subtract.

Wouldn't it seem this would be easier to find? Law firms bill this way all the time but I certainly couldn't afford a full-blown software package like that. Not just yet.

Thanks all! I'll stay tuned and hope you'll have some input here. It's 2:30 a.m and this girl needs a cookie to deal with the stress. LOL!

Cordially,
Patricia

You know something? I solved my problem and even sent an email to Toggl telling them about it. Just use Projects in Toggl for retainers and track time against there.

Whew. No need for a cookie now. LOL!

Blimey, the way I'm recording time is so basic. I use an online stopwatch to count down the hours and then note it on an excel spreadsheet at the end of each session.

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I used http://www.paymo.biz and had no issues.

I use Actitime http://www.actitime.com/ and have done for the past 7 years, there is a FREE version for up to 5 users. The support is fantastic, you always receive an instant reply with clear directions.
The whole set-up is easy and clean. ActiTime contains all that I need.

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Thanks for the help. I've been off-line for awhile working at my other job while I get this going but I'm getting back at it.

Hi All
I worked for a Virtual assistant company before branching out on my own. We used OnePlacehome.com, a great place to track time, create a task management invoice, that you can log your time and show your client what project you worked on and how long it took. It also has a feature that allows you to export the sheet and I use it to add to my invoices that I sent to clients. I use OnePlace to track time and keep track of projects/clients and then use PayPal to send invoices. Both services are free and great if you are just starting out. I has a client who uses Freshbooks and I think I will use that once I get a good amount of clients built up.

Hope that helps!

Rebecca

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm trying out Toggl now.

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Toni McNulty, Virtual Assistant
Email, Website

There is a new vendor called T Sheets that has an amazing time tracking system. Probably more beneficial if you have a team of people you are tracking but the clients I have on it love it. Also the customer service there is Amazing.

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Cindy Schroeder
Bright Bookkeeping

So glad I ran across this post. I was just wondering about which programs most VAs use for time tracking on projects. It seems that everyone uses whichever works best in conjunction with their project mgmt software. I'll take a look at a few of the suggestions here and see which may work better for me.

I have used TimeSlips by Sage in the past; however, while it is a great program with a lot of options, it requires a lot of work to actually learn the program. I use the time tracking option in QuickBooks now and find it to be a lot easier and user friendly.

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Ronda Manuel | Tayman Business Solutions | www.taymansolutions.com
"Providing the missing piece in your business equation"

So I just wanted to say I started using Harvest (30 day trial) and I LOVE it. I love that I can have all of my clients in one spot and see where they are all at a glance wit their hours and a total $ amount so far. I used to do all of this math manually...even creating invoices and I am SO glad I decided to look into this. I highly suggest everyone check it out. Its been love since set up for me!

I use Paymo and Freshbooks, both for tracking time and billing. The first I use to track time of my husband's office assistants and the second I use for my own services. Freshbooks had more advantages (like allowing the client to pay with a credit card via PayPal, right form the eInvoice they receive), but Paymo is catching up now. I have also tried Apptivo.com and it has so many features that I only use a few of them.

What I like most is that they have apps that I can use to track my own time, without having to go to the website, log in and activate the timer.
But, if I didn't have all these options, I would probably use a stopwatch

Thanks for sharing all the options.

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Debbie Fung-A-Wing
Quality Multilingual Business & Web Services

I think it all depends on the client I'm working with, I work on Odesk a lot, so they have their own time clock. Another client uses minutedock. It's just client dependent. I'm glad to see there are so many options though so that if I need to pick up another option I can.

Originally Posted by AmyKozak

I have toggle on my desktop and phone - https://www.toggl.com/

I also like using Toggl.com, and an agency I contract with has a team account (you can have up to 5 team members, including yourself/admin) which works great for me, since I do project management for them, I can export everyone's hours each week for the client billing.

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- Bobbi Jo
Mouthy.org | B.J. Woods: Task Wiz | My intro post

I didn't realize there are so many time trackers out there.

After reading this thread, I think I will look into Freshbooks and toggl.

Thanks everyone for all the great info.

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Gabi