Timesheet software - any recommendations ?

[spencergate]

I'm looking for timesheet and expenses management software, for a client who will have 25 fee-earners to keep track of.

Ideally it will be able to integrate with their Sage 50 professional.

Just asking really what others are using, what advantages/disadvantages you've found.

TIA

[Carsie]

I can supply this for you, I supply ERP systems for project based businesses and this is obviously a key element.

Typically these are software modules that bolt into the main software.

I note that you asked for Sage integration, are you just looking to automate the expense and billing routine or feeding this into part of the overall job costing sytem. Is this Line 50 or 200?

Are you looking to achieve anything else? e.g Client Note attachments, project phase linked to costing/time Resource Planning? Smart phone useage or deskbound?

I'd like to earn your business, if you could drop me some contact details I can evaluate your options.

Regards. Mike

[spencergate]

I can supply this for you, I supply ERP systems for project based businesses and this is obviously a key element.

Typically these are software modules that bolt into the main software.

I note that you asked for Sage integration, are you just looking to automate the expense and billing routine or feeding this into part of the overall job costing sytem. Is this Line 50 or 200?

Are you looking to achieve anything else? e.g Client Note attachments, project phase linked to costing/time Resource Planning? Smart phone useage or deskbound?

I'd like to earn your business, if you could drop me some contact details I can evaluate your options.

Regards. Mike

Hmm Mike, Thanks for your response, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for.

I'm looking at some of the existing timesheet products (such as CoreTime, Timesheet Xpress, Timesheet 247 etc), and want to hear some opinions from their users.

There are several accountants on here, and I know that some of them must be using these software packages.

I'm not looking for something custom written, I'm afraid.

[Doug]

Hi there,

When our consultants go on site (IT) we use a system called replicon to enter the timesheets. It then feeds through to the accounts system. Find it pretty effective and easy to use. They have different systems for "project and billing" and "time and attendance" depending on what you need.

Can't paste links but they are 1st result on google.

All the best.

[Carsie]

No, I wasn't suggesting anything custom written, as you rightly acknowledge there are a myriad of different systems out there, there's no need to re-invent the wheel.

I don't come at it from an accounting perspective, albeit I seem to spend half my life in Accounts Dept's sorting them out lol! My background is in business management, running large business units with all of the vagaires that that brings. My perspective is about understand the implications and ramifications of different systems and how they interface with one another.

I've implemented a lot of timesheet and ERP packages

Be glad to help out if you require.

Regards

[MBS Accountants]

Might not be of much help but I looked at a lot of these back last year.

I was looking for software where I could enter timesheets into a simple system against each client. I was already billing fixed fees so I didn't want the software to bill out the time logged but to be able to bill what I had agreed with the client and then report on my recovery rates. This would then help with the accuracy of future quoting.

The result of my search which covered lots of different packages was that none did what I wanted. Some were really easy to use and enter the information but were bad at reporting others were completely the other way with great reporting but were awkward to enter info into.

My ultimate decision was to bin timesheets altogether. It was a fantastic decision and I've saved a lot of time that was spent recording and analysing my time.

This may not necessarily be a solution for the company in question but I hope that this can go some way towards helping you.

[spencergate]

Might not be of much help but I looked at a lot of these back last year.

I was looking for software where I could enter timesheets into a simple system against each client. I was already billing fixed fees so I didn't want the software to bill out the time logged but to be able to bill what I had agreed with the client and then report on my recovery rates. This would then help with the accuracy of future quoting.

The result of my search which covered lots of different packages was that none did what I wanted. Some were really easy to use and enter the information but were bad at reporting others were completely the other way with great reporting but were awkward to enter info into.

My ultimate decision was to bin timesheets altogether. It was a fantastic decision and I've saved a lot of time that was spent recording and analysing my time.

This may not necessarily be a solution for the company in question but I hope that this can go some way towards helping you.

Ian, thanks for that information, It speaks volumes !!! It also backs-up my initial thoughts on this issue.

However, my clients do need something to record and report this info. They do a mixture of fixed fee and hourly rate work, and offer some pretty high value services (incurring high costs for some consultants), so we really have to find something that will go at least 80% of the way to solving the problem.

I'm surprised there haven't been more responses to this.... maybe it's because those who have such a tight grasp on their billable hours don't waste time replying to queries on fora ??

[David Griffiths]

I'm surprised there haven't been more responses to this.... maybe it's because those who have such a tight grasp on their billable hours don't waste time replying to queries on fora ??

Or because for many people timesheets are a thing of the past?

[accountancyextra]

We are one of those firms that have "trashed the timesheet", so I can't comment on personal experience.

However, a couple of years ago we did look at implementing a solution (similar path to MBS). In particular i liked journeyx timesheets, but was also caught by thinking that a desktop timer may be a good idea and considered both 4x4 time and Paymo, which is a web based solution and would probably have been my preferred choice.

[MyAccountantOnline]

Or because for many people timesheets are a thing of the past?

They certainly are at My Accountant Online and much better for it.:)

[Carsie]

Hi again :)

Spencergate, I wonder if what I suggested before was the way to go ? Timesheets are not the solution they're just the mechanism to achieve the result.

Somewhat akin to choosing an accounting package you need to understand the business drivers and the commercial environment that it's to be used in.

If you're operating in a professional services environment then project billing, phased payments, project related expenses and billeable/non billable hrs are part of the remit to establish and report profitability.

As I said, I would be very happy to work with you and then you can then direct forward to your own Client .

Regards. :)

[benstege]

Getharvest and Tickspot are user friendly web apps, the latter not supporting expenses I believe. I have not used these apps myself apart from a quick evaluation a while back, but they seem well build and very much usable apps. They are both build to support a fair number of users as opposed to a lot of the applications out there that seem to be aimed at self employed people.

Hope this helps.

[Leonardo Anderson]

I would like to offer one useful Timesheet Management Software and CRM . I started using it and found plenty of great advantages. . Any user of Google can integrate WorkforceTrack.com with Google apps, as Calendar or Google Docs, also you can share and integrate all your documents on one common platform. It so useful! I would recommend you to try it!:);)

[spencergate]

given that my original query was 11 months ago, you've missed the boat on this one, I'm afraid