Time tracking software for web consulting?

[bobot]

I'm looking for a time tracking package for my web consulting business.
Some requirements:

Hours billed per client, broken out into fully-editable categories
(like "Monthly Billing -> Project 127", "Bugs -> Project 127-> Bug
#901"). Said categories should be editable by all levels of users (so
some poor sap doesn't end up with the admin role of maintaining
everyone's categories). Reporting should be per client, or "category
across clients" (look at app support hours for the month of June for
all clients, for instance). Must be web-accessible, not a desktop app.

I'm more looking for recommendations of things people are actually
using, not just links to spec sheets of different products. So this
isn't just a request for you to use Google for me =) I would like your
personal opinion on how you're solving this problem.

Thanks a bunch, folks!

[Paul Welty]

I've used and looked at a lot of these. I won't go through the list of
choices that didn't pan out. The last one I used extensively (for years with
a 15-person group I managed) was TimeFox by FunctionFox. In fact, several of
the features it currently sports were my requests.

It works pretty well and is customizable. Only problems are that it's
sometimes awkward to customize or change things, especially after the
initial setup. It's not super-compatible with all browsers (but mostly works
fine). Also, it's (to me, anyway) pricey. The best single feature was the
data output as CSV. That came in handy to do more data analysis as well as
archiving.

At any rate, check it out at <http://www.functionfox.com>. Hope this helps,

-Paul Welty

[neilio]

Operating system?

That said, I use Studiometry to handle this -

http://www.oranged.net/studiometry/

... which I believe to be cross-platform. It's not perfect, but it's
close - project management, invoicing, time tracking, etc. It's pretty
much a one-stop shop.

[bobot]

"Operating system?"

Whatever we end up will have to be web-based (or run on Linux, Windows,
and OS X)

[Unicorni]

HI,
I suggest Sidejobtrack http://www.sidejobtrack.com/ . It's web-based +
free

[Unicorni]

HI,

[Julie Johnston]

Another vote for sidejobtrack.com.

--
Julie Johnston
Graphic Designer Extraordinaire
720.936.0364
--
Stampin' Up Senior Associate

[Jeff Shell]

Basecamp offers time tracking on some of their higher levels ($49 /
month). It's not fancy nor exhaustive, but I've found that as a user,
simplicity is key for me to enter in my time on projects. Many years
ago I used something at my old job that was just too cryptic to use,
and it only lasted a couple of weeks. The monthly cost of Basecamp may
be offputting, but it's nice to let someone else deal with hosting the
application and taking care of uptime, access, etc.

For entries from the "everything basecamp" weblog about time tracking,
from announcement to some tips and tricks, see below:

http://basecamphq.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?search=time+tracking

[Mark Hurd]

I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions on services but be VERY
cautious of applications that you don't run on your OWN SERVERS. I've
heard plenty of horror stories of mission-critical applications going
down, and in my experiences you're a lot more likely to have success in
terms of problem resolution time with your webhosting company, rather
than going through two levels - the owners of the application, and then
their webhosts.

I'd even go so far as to suggest running on a local server in your
office. If it's truly going to be critical you can't afford to have it
down for even short periods of time.

[Edward Vielmetti]

On 11/5/05, Mark Hurd <mark...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'd even go so far as to suggest running on a local server in your
office.  If it's truly going to be critical you can't afford to have it
down for even short periods of time.

Some of us were systems administrators
in a previous lifetime and would gladly
pay a few dollars a month to be relieved
of the burden of keeping a system hosted
and maintained by professionals in addition
to the stuff that's on our local servers.

--
Edward Vielmetti in Ann Arbor, MI 48104
+1 734 276 5910

edward.v...@gmail.com
http://www.vacuumgroup.com

[Mark Hurd]

Haha, you've got a good point.

Unfortunately for a company I used to work for, there were many many
times where something would go down at the colo and we'd be waiting 45
minutes to an hour for the minimum-wage reboot monkey to get us
operational again when we could've rebooted the machine ourselves in
under 2 minutes.

So, pros and cons either way. I guess I'm just cynical after letting
the "professionals" handle this - and this was with a fairly well-known
and well-liked colo company.

[Vicki Brown]

I've used Project Timer. There are Lite and Pro versions.
Project Timer Pro is $50.
Lite is $20 (and doesn't print invoices)
Mac OS X or Windows versions
http://www.scriptsoftware.com/projecttimer/
--
- Vicki

ZZZ
zzZ San Francisco Bay Area, CA
z |\ _,,,---,,_ Books, Cats, Tech
zz /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ http://cfcl.com/vlb
|,4- ) )-,_. ,\ ( `'-' http://heatercats.com
'---''(_/--' `-'\_) http://cfcl.com/vlb/weblog

[Jacques Turbé]

I've used for years Above&Beyond (Windows). Can be used on usb (or even
a floppy !!)
Does real time dynamic scheduling, and (among many features ) produces
timesheets with details for each project, what's billable or not, etc,
and reports (you can work further in Excel).
www.1soft.com