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Consultant time tracking software helps to organize and find out proper working time “how much time consultant work for a particular firm. With the help of DeskTrack consultants and organizations get a proper report of working time and make a payout detail. Just install DeskTrack time tracking software for the consultant to remove the conflict and save time wasted calculating consultant time.
No matter whether you are working in a small or large industry, maintaining time and accuracy in the workplace is the most essential aspect. In this fast-moving era, every organization wants to serve the best, but this can’t be possible without any proper hierarchy or management. So, companies are hiring consultants for more deeper analysis of business operations, and many of them are affecting their enterprises. However, it is found that most firms are not interested in using time-tracking software for consultants, and consulting companies are not poles apart. However, it may be absurd if consultation companies and businesses hiring consultants do not chase the triumph.
Nowadays, it’s been a sensation to use timekeeping software for consultants to track and manage time on a project basis with its complete data, which increases profitability and organizes resources properly.
Therefore, implementing the best time tracking software for consultants not only allows companies to track the time of working hours but also delivers clarity into the work strategies. Also, it helps to deliver reports on the projects that employees are performing with their time duration and the assignments that usually get ignored.
Therefore, when employees get to rely on working with the time tracking tools, the company leads to an increase in responsibility and billing accuracy. Also, the software helps you to boost overall productivity by getting the billing, invoicing, and payroll automatically.
What are the Operational Difficulties in the Consulting Industry?
The changes brought by the pandemic have caused multiple challenges in front of not only in the consulting industry but also in IT, embedded services, professionals, and many others. For instance, companies moved to remote work or work from home which means they have to serve their clients virtually. Therefore, companies have faced ongoing stress to maintain a remote or hybrid workforce productive, linked, engaged, and effective.
Here are some of the most common operational difficulties faced by the consulting industries:
- 50% of consultants do not contain proof of expense and budget of a project.
- Up to 56% of consultants do not track the profitability of their customers.
- 45% of consultants do not have evidence about billable hours.
- Approximately 61% of consultants do not hold insight into a faithful difference in a project.
- Only 10% of consulting firms use time tracking software for consultants.
- Only 45% of managers who are handling the projects have in-depth information about what their team members are up to and their working patterns. Whereas most consulting companies do not have an explicit picture of the actual billable hours.
Organizations have faced a lot of issues in billing the payable amount and getting paid accurately because it has been challenging to pay the consultants with complete visibility while they are working remotely or in a hybrid culture.
The challenge is to confirm that all billable hours are recorded properly and in a manner that drives it fast and manageable to invoice customers punctually and get paid. So, understanding the productivity and working patterns of the employees is very important for companies to improve it because the consultancies have always been into finding new methods to boost their overall productivity for a better outcome.
How Time Tracking Software Overcome These Difficulties
Consultant time tracking software can not only help them track their time but also help them improve their overall productivity, workforce engagement, employee efficiency, and many more. So, here is how the consulting time tracker overcomes the difficulties
- The best time tracking software can help consultancies to overcome difficulties by making client billing easy, supervising and engaging remote employees, and getting paid on time.
- Studies have shown that consultants enjoy working separately, as they have to travel to the client’s place and work or they work remotely. Appropriately, they need proper tools and software like consulting time tracker that can help them deliver updates on their work measures whether they are working outside of the office or on-site.
- Time tracking software for consultants helps users in multiple ways with total ease and comfort in a visible and searchable manner to efficiently report time spent on different sorts of assignments.
- An appropriate timekeeping software for consultants will help track the time with complete accuracy and help companies bill their clients properly. If the employees do not feel comfortable using the software then they will avoid using it and that leads to less precise reporting, resulting in late billing and possible lost earnings.
Features of Consulting Time Tracking Software
It’s important to know how much time you spend on your consulting business. The best way to do this is by using employee time tracking software. These tools have many different features that will help you get the most out of your time while working on different tasks.
Comprehensive Viewing
The best consulting time tracking software allows you to view all aspects of your project in one place. This will allow you to see how much money is being spent on each aspect of the project, including client payments and travel expenses. You can also see exactly what tasks are taking up the most time on each project.
Manage Clients & Projects
The best consultancy time tracking app helps manage clients and projects by allowing you to assign tasks to employees or clients as well as track their progress throughout the completion of those tasks. You can also see how long it takes employees or clients to complete their tasks so that you know whether they’re meeting deadlines and meeting expectations for each client or project.
Accurate Tracking & Reporting
The consulting time tracker tracks hours accurately because it includes built-in time clocks for both employees and clients so that no one can claim they worked more hours than they did!
Easy Setup
The first step in using any time tracking software is to set it up and get started. This is typically done through an easy-to-use interface that walks you through setting up new projects and tasks, creating reports, and setting up recurring events for recurring tasks.
Reporting
Time tracking software also lets you generate reports on where your time goes each day. This helps you identify areas where you can improve productivity or efficiency.
Remote access
With remote access, you can access your time tracking software for remote teams from anywhere in the world by simply logging in to your computer or phone. This means that you will not have to worry about being stuck at work when it comes to accessing information about what you have been doing during the day.
How to Choose the Perfect Consulting Time Tracking Software?
Have a look at these below-mentioned factors of time tracking software for consultants before considering any of them for your organization:
The Nature of Your Work
Before choosing an employee monitoring software for consultants, it is essential to know the nature of your work. What if your employees travel a lot? This needs time tracking as well as the location tracking feature to record all the data. Also, the software should have the ability to record offline meetings with the client at any location.
Technical Needs
Choose a technically progressed software that can provide you the productivity reports and a dashboard and supports Linux, IOS, Android, and Windows. Also, check out whether the consultant time tracking software can easily integrate with the existing apps and can help you with accurate payroll and invoicing.
Usability
Search for the software that provides you with an uncomplicated time tracking UI rather than the features it delivers. As the consultants are going to use the consultant time tracking software daily, it should be easy to operate across devices.
Budget
It is the most essential aspect one should think about as the budget is the only thing that will consider your purchase. Therefore, the pricing should be relying on the features you are choosing as per your requirements. There are multiple options available in the market with different prices, so you can choose the timekeeping software for consultants accordingly. Also, you can test the free trials before selecting the paid ones.
Top 5 Time Tracking Software for Consultants
Here are some of the best time tracking apps for consultants:
1. DeskTrack
DeskTrack is software loaded with unlimited features that will assist you in organizing your team and projects that help boost the productivity of the overall workforce. It is the best option for all types of industries, including Work From Home, Remote, Freelancers, and In-house Teams. Below are some of the best features of the software:
- Error-free payroll and invoicing
- Accurate time tracking
- Productive, Unproductive, and idle time calculation
- Detailed reports
- Location tracking
- Analyzing tracked hours
Remarkable support system and value-for-money solution. Discuss customized quotes and volume discounts. Also, you can try it free for 14 days.
Availability: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS
2. Time Doctor
Time Doctor can be known as the best application for remote teams and hybrid work models as it enhances organizational productivity by tracking employee work patterns. Therefore, it can be easily installed via desktop, cloud, and mobile apps. Below are some of the best features of the software:
- Offline tracking for time spent working online
- Mobile usage
- Project and task management
- Payroll
- Productivity reports
- Unlimited projects
Time Doctor has a support team that presents live training via videos and documentation. Also, you can try it free for 14 days.
Availability: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, and Chrome operating systems
3. Toggl Track
Toggl Track time tracking software is a timer-based system in which you can easily set up assignments, set accountabilities, and build estimated timelines and budgets for each project. Below are some of the best features of the software:
- Interactive dashboards for budgets and timelines
- tracking task progress
- Timesheet export
- Built-in time tracking
- Project management
All plans come with a free, 30-day trial of Toggl Track Premium—no credit card required. You can choose to upgrade at the end of the trial or continue using Track for free.
Availability: Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android
4. RescueTime
RescueTime is not just a time tracking software but also helps you to know the productive, unproductive, and away time spent during a working day. It provides manual customization to categorize the URLs, programs, and apps as per organizational requirements. Below are some of the best features of the software:
- Time tracker with automatic tracking
- Offline tracking
- Integrated Google Calendar
- Third-party task management tools
- Time limit settings
Sign up for free. Free trial premium plans start at $6.50 a month, and a lite free option is available.
Availability: Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, Android
5. Clockify
Clockify is the work time tracking software that will help you manage your time and projects efficiently. It provides a timer for the same with a notification feature that will help you remember to start the timer. It is a user-friendly, easy-to-navigate software that can be operated from anywhere. Below are some of the best features of the productivity monitoring software:
- Track hours automatically
- Manual timesheet
- Interactive dashboard
- Third-party integrations
- Invoicing and billable hours
Clockify is free software for every type of industry, and you can cancel it anytime. Also, the team provides 24/7 Support. So, start tracking now.
Availability: Chrome and Firefox browsers and Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS systems
Conclusion
If you own a consultancy with multiple projects and clients. Also want to manage and grow your business in every aspect then the time tracking software will be the best choice to have the solution. Time tracking for consultants will be the best option to bring effectiveness and consistency to the employee work pattern and progress.
Look for one that is easy to use and effortless to integrate with the existing applications with several productivity insights and invoicing elements to make things more comfortable.
Therefore, you can undoubtedly go for the DeskTrack consultant time tracking software which can help you streamline and manage your business needs and the work done by your employees by providing you with accurate billing and invoicing.
