Numerous sectors of the economy, including those that use hourly and contract labor, use the program. Employees can log the time they spend on jobs or projects using time-tracking software, which falls under this category of computer software.
Furthermore, it is employed by experts that charge their clients on an hourly basis.
The time-tracking tool may be used separately or combined with other programs, including project management software, customer support software, and accounting software. The digital equivalent of the conventional paper timesheet is time tracking software. In addition to timesheet software, time-tracking software also consists of time-recording software, which employs user activity monitoring (UAM) to keep track of the activities carried out on a computer and the average time spent on each work and project.
Features of Time Tracking Software
Time tracking
Typically, this key component tracks actual worked hours on a timesheet, down to the minute. A precise payroll calculation or customer billing may be done using the timesheet. You may also see tasks as a timeline. Estimating deadlines and completion dates is helpful for project managers or leaders.
Online timesheet
It collects all tallied billable hours but is not a standard component of every time-tracking software. The timesheet functions as an attendance record, keeping account of absences, vacation time, and holidays. It is frequently exported to PDF or CSV for payroll or invoicing.
Project administration
Despite the fact that many time-tracking software systems are part of bigger project management systems, some time-tracking applications do offer simple project management functionality. For instance, they enable you to prioritize activities, arrange tasks by projects, and establish deadlines. Additionally, you may create budgets for each project and monitor the progress of a project at time intervals like daily, weekly, and monthly. A time tracking tool works well for brief and straightforward assignments.
Online billing
If you bill customers by the hour or minute, you must have this capability. According to your choices, including billable time and rates, the function accurately counts all hours worked and creates invoices automatically. With the use of this application, you may charge clients in a transparent manner and prevent disagreements. Additionally, the program automates pay computations, which is a huge time saver for small enterprises. All that is required from employees is a clock-in/clock-out device for the time to be recorded on a timesheet and entered into the payroll system.
Alerts
There are several ways to use notifications. When employees fail to check in or out, for instance, a reminder is issued to them. When the group is running late, you can also get a heads-up. Similar to that, your team can receive notifications about due or urgent assignments. Automated notifications may be delivered to a variety of devices and channels, including email, SMS, and dashboards.
User management
You may do this to organize users into teams or departments and manage groups of users.Assigning assignments or creating reports by group is made easier by doing this. You can assign a team leader to complete certain responsibilities for the group. In order to control system access, this functionality makes use of permissions for various user categories, such as managers, staff, and administrators.
Analytics and reporting
It enables you to quickly generate reports and summaries for the analysis of a wide range of task-related data. You may, for instance, look at the overall time spent on a project, dig down to details like monthly and daily metrics, or examine the time spent on each activity. Additionally, you may analyze your spending and identify opportunities for cost-cutting. To facilitate speedy searches, reports are shown as charts and graphs. Templates with modification possibilities are also offered by the majority of solutions.