Time Tracking : Freckle

In the working world, there are several ways to make money. Many of us trade our time in order to get paid. In the service industry, billable time comes at a premium price. During our billable time, we get our work done for our clients and try to keep them happy. The rest of the time, we are either finding work, or trying get paid for that work.

Getting paid for work may involve tracking your time per client and per project, generating invoices, and sending a PDF via email. This itself is a huge
improvement over using paper time sheets and invoices. With technology, it is easier to do these steps. Spreadsheet software may work for you, but if you can take a risk of using new software, you might save yourself a lot more time. I’ve used several time tracking systems. Some of which were hosted internally at a company and part of an “enterprise project management and billing solution”. Others were Software Services (SaaS) such
as BaseCampHQ, or FreshBooks.

Freckle is by far the best one I’ve used. Here are the reasons why I think it’s better.

1. One entry spot for all time.
2. Easy Reporting of Tags and Projects
3. Great Mobile iPhone interface. Almost as easy as the Web Interface.
4. Easy to use Timer.
5. Has an API for External Integration.
6. So fun to use, I want to use it.

You should take the tour if you aren’t convinced.

Freckle Time Tracking

I didn’t think time tracking could get better, but it certainly has through Freckle. Their “manifesto” states well what “Good Software” should do.

Good software should:

• respect your time. Long-lasting login sessions. Mouse-free time entry forms. Quick-loading, simple screens. The power to log time—or run reports—from every page. These things are just some ways that we made freckle to respect you.
• make no demands. Good software exists to serve, not make requests. We got rid of everything (& every configuration screen) between you and your work. Log time immediately: no setup required.
• understand your job. You’ve got a job to do, and we’re guessing that your title is not Chief Executive Time Tracker. freckle has baked-in support for consultants’ minimum billing increments and other goodies that other software just doesn’t understand.
• anticipate your needs. We’re freelancers, consultants, and rogue agents, too. We saw where other software let us down and we built freckle in exactly the opposite way. There are little touches everywhere to help you do what you have to do in order to get back to what you want to do.
• surprise you—in a nice way. Good software is better than you expect it to be.

In the future, more and more people will work for themselves. It is software like Freckle which will make it easy for them to do so.
I hope they continue to operate and offer this service for years on end. As we build Appleseed, I would like to see a module for Freckle because it would make working just that much easier.