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Timesheet Constructor

Do you feel time-tracking is a waste of time? Then it's about time you started using Timesheet Constructor. Try now!

 

 

Why keep track of time?

The saying goes: 'time is money' and for freelancers this certainly applies. Every minute that you don't keep track of is a lost one.  You would be amazed how much more you can bill at the end of the month by using a timesheet program.  Don't take our word for it, you can download a fully-functional trial so you can compare your results at the end of the month.

 

There are several reasons why to keep timesheets:

  • At the end of the month you have an overview to give to your client.  Even if they don't require one, they will appreaciate it and it gives your company a more professional image.
  • At any time you can check how much have earned.
  • You will no longer forget, or don't bother, to register a task because it takes very little time to note it down.
  • You can compare your hours of a month with those of last month, or last year.  Generate charts to visualize your hours.
  • Keeping timesheets is great for future planning.  You can easily lookup a task to check how long it took you last time.
  • Your income depends on your billable hours, it's as simple as that.  more billable hours means more income!
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    How to keep track?

    Now that you're convinced of the necessity of timesheets we'll discuss how you can keep track.  Maybe you already use timesheets and then you'll probably know the drag it is to make them at the end of the month.

    Usually the making of such timesheets takes a lot of time, mostly due to the following fact: you'll probably want to enter your performances as soon as you finish them but it can't take more than a couple of seconds to insert them.  So you'll prefer a visual outlook kind of system that enables you to easily move around in a timesheet and enter the performance.

    The disadvantage of this approach is that at the end of the month, you'll need to calculate how much time you worked, and for what project.  Unfortunately outlook can't handle this, so you'll need a spreadsheet.

    This is where Timesheet Constructor comes in: it combines the ease of outlook with the calculating strength of a spreadsheet.  It allows automatic creation of reports, fast entry and much more.

     

     

    Comparison between Timesheet Constructor and an Excel based solution

    Some people use Excel to maintain timesheets but don't know the many benefits of using Timesheet Constructor for this task.  Timesheet Constructor was designed for this while Excel is a spreadsheet program.

     


    Timesheet Constructor 
    Excel-based timesheets 
    It takes 5 seconds to choose a project and specify start- and end time. 
    In excel you need to enter the begin and end hour together with date. 
    Projects: create them with a defined rate/hour and add activities to them. You can select which projects to calculate the totals with a few mouseclicks. 
    You will need to use different worksheet to keep projects apart or use filtering. It takes much more time to set up a filter. 
    Attach costs (like mileage) to an item. 
    Since excel isn't a relational database you cannot do this. 
    By using a tray-icon the program is always quickly accessible without taking up a lot of space on your desktop. 
    To be effective you need to continuously have your Excel sheet open which takes up space on your desktop. 
    With one look you get an overview of what you have performed during the week. 
    You need to work your way through all the rows in order to find what you have done on a certain time. 
    Create professional looking PDF reports to send to your clients. 
    Your clients need Excel if you they want to read your timesheets. Maybe they contain macros and your clients won't be able to open them. Or you could export to html but that just doesn't look nice. 
    Use predefined activities (like 'customer support') for very quick input. 
    No predefined activities possible. Excel does have a auto-complete function but you can't choose what to auto-complete. 
    Very fast calculations automatically grouped in categories, customers, projects, costs with totals all with one mouse click! 
    You will need to built long formulas in order to look up totals of a project or you need to refer to different worksheets. 
    Integrated customizable charting to immediatly compare months, days or even years. 
    Excel also supports charting but try to do this in Excel: Give an overview of performances sorted by week. 

     
    Last update on: Tuesday, April 3, 2007
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