Ditch the hourglass; maximize your timetracking efficiency with WORKetc CRM.Timetracking used to be a pretty painful affair, and I admit: I used to hate doing it.
I remember this really old timetracker that I used well over a decade ago. All it could do was create a text file of everything I entered into it.
Yes, every entry had a timestamp, but there was no way to automatically attach specific entries to specific clients or projects.
It was just slightly better than paper timesheets, really.
Fortunately, modern timesheet apps have evolved way beyond that old app, but to really grow your business a simple timetracker—even a modern one—isn’t enough.
You need a complete business management system that lets you track time against everything from your sales leads and support cases to tasks and projects, and turn that data into billable invoices—all without having to keep switching between separate apps.
Here’s how you can use WORKetc to quickly and efficiently track time while maximizing the benefits your business gains from doing so.
1. Track Your Time Anywhere, Anytime
You can use WORKetc to easily keep track of any and all timesheets your team logs every day.
It doesn’t even matter whether they’re in the office or out in the field; your staff can log these items quickly and easily using either the web app, the desktop timer app, or the mobile CRM apps for iOS and Android.
The desktop timer and mobile apps replicate the timetracking functionalities of the web app. Any timesheet you create can automatically be attached to a client, a lead, a project, or support case.
You can also set different rates for different activities or even people. A consulting firm, for example, might have senior consultants with a higher hourly rate compared to their more junior colleagues.
The web app goes one step further by giving you access to the calendar, line entry, and group entry timesheet views and creation.
Line and group entries are especially useful when you want to quickly enter timesheet data without having to track exact start and stop times.
Timesheet line entry in WORKetc CRM. Click to zoom.If you need to enter exact times, you can either use the calendar timesheet tab or simply create and attach a timesheet to any WORKetc item (a contact, lead, project, support case, invoice, and more) using the ubiquitous “Create New” dropdown menu that’s on most WORKetc pages.
The “Create New” dropdown can be seen in almost every WORKetc page. Click to zoom.For ease of use, nothing beats the desktop timer. It’s a standalone app, so no need to worry about accidentally closing a browser window and losing track of your progress; it’ll always stay on your computer screen.
It also has multiple features that help it stay top-of-mind. You can set it to stay on top of other windows, change the behavior of the close button so it minimizes to the taskbar instead, and popup reminders for users who regularly find themselves forgetting to create timesheets.
The timer is also especially useful when you need to record time in blocks. If you enable the “Record time in blocks of” feature, WORKetc will automatically round up time recorded to the nearest increment of whatever value you’ve entered once you save your timesheet.
For example, lawyers commonly keep track of time spent with a client in 6-minute, 10-minute, or 15-minute increments to maximize revenue.. Plus, it wouldn’t be practical to track time in constantly varying measurements.
With the “Record time in blocks of” setting, a law firm can use the desktop timer to automatically record time following whichever increment system they use.
If you set the timer to record in 10-minute blocks and you let it run for 39 minutes, for example, the timer will automatically round up to 40 minutes.
It lets you track time in the exact way you need, while making it easier for your billing department to create accurate invoices.
In the screenshot below, for example, we’ve set it so the timer would record time in 10-minute blocks. You’ll notice that even though the desktop timer ran for only 6 minutes, the timesheet saved in WORKetc shows 10 minutes.
Upon saving, WORKetc automatically rounds up time recorded to the nearest increment of the value you entered.Finally, the WORKetc mobile apps are your go-to tools for when you need to create accurate timesheets while you’re out of the office. Like for a technician who’s out on an on-site job, or a consultant who needs to travel cross-country for a client.
Just like the web app, you can create and attach a timesheet to any WORKetc item from practically any screen of the WORKetc mobile app.
You can also choose to either have the timer run in the background on your phone or enter your timesheet manually.
Any running timers will also be visible on your phone’s notifications screen, making it easy to pause or stop them whenever you need.
Timesheets in WORKetc’s mobile apps.2. Put an Approval Process in Place
You can use WORKetc to easily keep track of any and all timesheets that your team logs every day.
Of course, you need to make sure that all of the timesheets your team adds into the system are above board.
If an employee logs an overtime timesheet, for example, you need to verify that he or she was indeed scheduled to work overtime during that date.
You also need to be able to spot any errors in timesheet details, such as the timesheet being attached to the wrong project or task, for example.
To help do that, you can implement a simple approval system using WORKetc’s custom fields.
Creating the timesheet approval custom field using drag-and-drop interface. Click to zoom.Simply create a new custom field group using WORKetc’s drag-and-drop interface and set the new group to show in timesheets.
If you plan on giving multiple people approval powers, you can also add a dropdown field where the approver can select his or her name so you can track which person approved which timesheets.
Set the custom field group to only be editable by those who have authority to approve or reject timesheets, and you’re good to go.
A sample timesheet approval custom field. Click to zoom.3. Pin Timesheets for Faster Logging
Pinning a timesheet line entry means you don’t have to create an entirely new line entry every single time for tasks that you do regularly.
Let’s say you’re in charge of company leads, and you review your company’s current sales leads every day to qualify them.
For this recurring task, you can simply create and pin a line entry for your daily sales lead qualification tasks. The pinned row will stay on screen with the data you entered (except for the hours worked) no matter the date selected.
Once the line entry has been created and pinned, all you need to do from now on is enter your hours. No need to create a new line entry every single day to log time for a recurring task.
4. Slice and Dice Timesheet Data with Smartlists
All of the timesheet data you collect won’t do you any good if you don’t have any way to quickly and easily review and analyze it.
WORKetc’s smartlists, highly-customizable reports that you can create using literally any type of data in WORKetc, let you do just that.
Let’s say you’ve followed tip number 2 and created an approval custom field for all timesheets. If you want to see all timesheets that haven’t been approved, for example, you can simply create a smartlist that filters for all timesheets where the Timesheet Approval custom field has the “No” value.
Creating a timesheet smartlist that filters for custom fields in WORKetc CRM. Click to zoom.Need to see only those non-approved timesheets from a specific period of time that were rejected by a specific person? Just specify the date range in the Timesheets section on the smartlist creation page and the approver name in the “Approved by” field on the “Fields for Timesheets” section.
Use the date range filter with the “Billing Status” filter and you’ll be able to see any and all billed, unbilled, or non-billable timesheets for any given period of time.
You can also filter only for timesheets from specific employees or timesheets created for specific clients. And if you regularly use custom tags for your timesheets, you can create a smartlist that filters for or excludes specific tags too.
Smartlist filter options for timesheets in WORKetcCRM. Click to zoom.Smartlists let you slice and dice your timesheet data in many different ways, giving you more insight into how your staff (and you!) spend valuable company time.
And with the many easy ways WORKetc lets you track time accurately and regularly, you’ll be in a much better position to use that timesheet data to identify bottlenecks and streamline your business processes for increased productivity.
