Mobile App Options for Tracking Time

A challenge for some users is having the discipline to faithfully record time spent on projects. There are a number of applications which are designed to be digital diaries for recording time which are either included with reviewed applications or are available as separate apps for individual timekeepers, including the following:

• OfficeTime – This app, available on Windows and MacOS computers ($47) or iOS mobile devices ($7.99) allows users to create clients, projects, and service codes. Users enter their time directly into the desktop and mobile applications. Data is synced between the two devices, and users can export data into a file format for import into most time and billing applications. More information is available at www.officetime.net.
• Chrometa – The time tracking tool in Chrometa, which is a Windows and cloud-based time and billing solution (our review of it appears at www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/11190114, runs in the background on a user’s Windows personal computer and creates a log of every application and document accessed by the user on that personal computer during the session.

  Mobile apps for Android, iPhone, and BlackBerry will automatically capture data on the phone calls made and received on the device, and sync it to the cloud. This detailed log makes it fairly simple to reconstruct the tasks performed in a busy Monday morning in which you failed to log a single time entry. Chrometa is available in three plans starting at $19/month per timekeeper. More information is available at www.chrometa.com

In addition to these two applications, most applications for invoicing clients (both practice management solutions and time & billing applications) include a timer which is designed to assist timekeepers with tracking their time by allowing them to enter the client and project, and then begin a “timer” which records the amount of time spent until the user enters the next task.