The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 4 (of 5)

Hours

For all you freelancers and subcontractors out there, can you recommend a free and simple program to track billable hours (per day, per project)?

Thanks....

Chi Lambda
Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Excel ;-) No really.

...
Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Excel is not free :-) It is a great program though. Different sheet for each contract/client.

Alternatively, you could use the calendar in outlook. A way to keep track of your appointments and the hours spent with each.

A simpler alternative might be to keep a small pocket calendar. I find it is unobtrusive and always with me.

If you have a pda, google the sites for your pda's software. When I had a palm, i remember seeing a lot of timetracking software.

Tapiwa
Tuesday, May 11, 2004

If you have a palm, or something running palm os, I use
http://hours.sourceforge.net/index.html

It's simple and goes into a spreadsheet nicely.

If you don't have a spreadsheet, try:
http://www.openoffice.org

In fact, anyone who does not have a business reason for using MS Office (i.e. students, home use, etc.) should give it a try. You will find it very easy to transition between OpenOffice and MS office.

MSHack
Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Checkout Veritime @ http://www.pcfworks.com/screenshots.html

Code Monkey
Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Detailed costing by hours is more the preserve of big firms working for multiple clients.

If you're just you, working for one place, just write down 8 am to 6 pm for each day ( adjust as needed.)

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Allnetic Working Time Tracker.

I've been using this for a while now, and I was glad to see that Mike Gunderloy recommended it in his recent book "Coder to Developer".

http://www.allnetic.com/working-time-tracker/

Mark Hoffman
Tuesday, May 11, 2004

oh, you wanted free.

Well, Allnetic is cheap enough!

Mark Hoffman
Tuesday, May 11, 2004

I found this:

http://www.techtv.com/callforhelp/features/story/0,24330,2286574,00.html

Chi Lambda
Wednesday, May 12, 2004