Time Card and Billing Software

[Anonymous]

Some time ago there was a brief discussion of AC users' favorite TIME CARD software. Some liked the simplicity of one and others appreciated the inclusiveness of another.

QuickBooks was too complicated last I looked, which was in 2007. Now I see they offer an Online version. Hmm.

I'm looking for a way to keep track of the working time and "office miscellaneous" time for a three man office with occasional part time workers. Input must be simple.

Comments?

[Anonymous]

I use Bento which is an easy to use data base developed by Apple's FileMaker Pro division. It's $49. They have free templates to download. I use the one called, The Bento 3 Project Manager. It keep time, files, contacts, etc. and is linked with the mail, calendar, etc. Check it out.

[gpowless]

I found myself in need of the same and after sampling a number of trial time and billing software, I turned back to Quickbooks.

The Quickbooks Timer is a stand-alone software that can be run on any computer, independent of Quickbooks accounting software. It attaches to a Customer file through an import / export procedure (or new customers can be created on the fly within the Quickbooks Timer) and can record time (and calculate the billables), project and tasks. It can also act as a weekly time sheet with respect to the projects and details worked on.

I'm still exploring and using Quickbooks Timer but it seems like it might be exactly what I need.

[Karl Ottenstein]

Hi guys,

One of my many hats is a QuickBooks nerd ... just finished alpha/beta for QB 2011 Mac and Windows, both of which were announced two days ago...

Do note that despite the same name ("QuickBooks"), NONE of their products is the same. It is nothing like ArchiCAD, which behaves the same on Mac and Windows.

The Quickbooks Timer that gpowless mentions is a Windows application, so will not help you, Jay. This windows app has been around for 15 years or so and lets any number of people accumulate time/job on their own machines - to be later merged into the books.

On the Mac, the similar mini app was introduced last year and is called My Time, but it can only run on the same computer as QB Mac - and, worse, for only a single individual and a single company.

So, if using the QuickBooks app for Mac, you'd have to accumulate time using some other method and have someone enter it into QuickBooks.

Something like Bento, as Mark suggests, might be an interesting idea. (Especially since Bento now runs on iPad/iPhone too and communicates live with your database on the server over wifi.)

There are also other online time tracking tools.

QuickBooks Online is an option, as you say. But, the basic (cheap) version does not offer enough features, and the full version costs too much IMHO compared to a boxed product.

Since invoicing is related to time, there were some various ideas in the LinkedIn "Apple Professionals" group that might be helpful where someone was looking for an invoicing app for Mac. Take a look there.

The problem I see with time tracking only, is that somebody then has to manage that data into a customer:job database for invoicing and job management, much less payroll. Any purchases that accrue to a customer:job vs overhead have to be managed somehow. Etc. An integrated accounting system (such as QuickBooks) keeps all of your data linked - much like a BIM model and gets all of the numbers flowing to all of the right places with whatever markup is needed. You then have accurate and meaningful invoices and reports for analyzing your business, tracking your receivables, bills, payroll, preparing tax returns, applying for bank loans, etc.

Cheers,
Karl

PS Both my wife and I are on Macs, but run QB Windows under Parallels because of the vastly stronger feature set vs the Mac version.

[Aaron Bourgoin]

how about something for your iPad: http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/time-master-billing/id310289408?mt=8

[Eduardo Rolon]

I use Billings as a single user to track time. They just released a multiuser option.

http://www.marketcircle.com/billingspro/

[Thomas Holm]

TimeLog http://www.mediaatelier.com/TimeLog4/
is quite good, especially if you like me want to use the iPhone as input front-end to the Mac app. Several users possible.

[Anonymous]

We have used JobOrder for a number of years, but I am not sure of it's availability at present. There are pros and cons to it, but it can be quite detailed if that's what you're after.

[Anonymous]

We've been using Archioffice. I don't do the billing but I know that is also done in Archioffice and somehow it works with QB for accounting. I think... I don't know the QB part at all. Though I'm certain it is QB for pc not mac... I'll never understand why Intuit can't or won't make QB cross platform compatible.... it is crazy...

[Dave Jochum]

I started using Timeslips 20 years ago. They quit supporting the Mac several years ago, so now I run it on Win XP under Parallels. I tried every app I could find running native on Mac, but never found one that did everything I needed.