Ever wonder if your job accounting is accurate or if your losing money? Time is money, and time is more valuable than ever now days.  Time tracking for jobs and using unreliable time tracking systems is literally a billion-dollar problem to have. Some of the biggest time tracking mistakes is waiting until the end of the day, or end of a week. If you’re really, bad you wait until the end of the month.  I hear excuses all the time on why someone doesn’t use a time tracker to track their jobs. My favorite one is “it takes too many steps”.

Live time tracking will make employees more focused, accountable and more productive. You will be able to identify problem areas of the jobs and focus on the important part which is actual numbers instead of guessing. Let’s say for example you have an employee whose job is to create a contract for a client. This contract should only take about an hour. By the time this person gets a drink, uses the restroom, goes to the copier a few times, and socializes on the way you’ve just billed your job double the time. This is the reason for the time tracking. Use it to your advantage see why something as simple as an hour-long contract took several hours. You might be surprised by your findings. Maybe that dedicated employee isn’t so dedicated.

As a Virtual Assistant, I use Hours Tracker. It’s easy to use and the app goes right on my phone. I can put in as many jobs as I want and I can add task and notes to each job. You simply just click the clock in and clock out on your phone. At the end of the week, you transfer your report and you have real-time accounting.  There are many different apps you can get. Some go on your phone only, and some have interfacing with your computer. The best part is most of them are free. You can make it as simple or as difficult as you’d like.

You might be interested in an article that Forbes wrote called “20 Of The Best Time Tracking Tools To Increase Your Productivity”. In their article, they call out the best time tracking apps from 2016. Just think of how many have been created since then. Like mentioned above I like Hours Tracker it’s very user-friendly and easy to use. Yes, the hardest part is getting used to it, but once you see the value in it you sure don’t forget anymore.

Written By: Jennifer Payton

JD Solutions, LLC

1/26/2018