Time tracking software is used to capture the hours spent by managers, employees, and freelancers on projects, tasks or any specific engagement. The information captured by the time tracking software is required to calculate the wages, client invoicing, and automate payroll and other operations in an organization. It helps in determining which project or task is consuming more time and resources, ultimately enabling you to prepare accurate project budgets.
Manual vs. Automated Time Tracking Methods
Earlier, manual methods like a physical attendance register, or excel sheets, were used to capture the working hours of the employees. But, these methods fail to provide high-level of accuracy and are extremely time-consuming, especially when there are too many employees and projects to handle.
The time tracking tools have been successful in eliminating the issues like inaccuracy in entering the time which can be risky for any business. The time tracking software can capture the time spent by the team on a particular project. Other time-consuming tasks like generating reports, payroll management, etc. are also automated using time tracking tools leaving no chance of human errors.
Also, with the increasing trend of freelancers and work from home employees in organizations, it becomes difficult to calculate the number of hours spent on a specific project without a time tracking tool.
So, here is the comparison between using manual time tracking (excel sheet) and time tracking software.
One of the biggest challenges of an organization is to capture the right number of hours spent by the employees on their primary jobs or duties. Time exaggeration, has become common in many organizations these days. The employees adjust their timesheets to round off their weekly working hours which harms the productivity of an organization in the long run.
Time exaggeration can be a big threat to an organization. Using efficient time tracking software can eliminate this issue and improve the productivity of an organization.
How Does a Time Tracking Software Work?
The process of time tracking software can differ based on project types & aspects, and organization culture. Still, there is a standard process which time tracking software usually follow.
Creating a project/task - After signing up, you need to create a project and select task within that project.
Starting the timer - After selecting the project and task, you need to start the timer and end the timer when you finish working on the project or need to pause your work. The team members can enter the details about the project they are working and suggestions to improve.
Time Tracking - The system automatically calculates the time based on in and out time and records in the timesheet. You can use timesheet for calculating the wages of the employees and preparing client invoices.
Reporting - The data collected in the timesheet can be used to prepare reports showing the team's activity. The supervisors and managers can view the detailed report indicating the tasks that are over and the ones that are pending. They can even analyze the reason behind the delay in the tasks.
Integration - Most of the time tracking software allows integration with other software like payroll, accounting, project management, etc., ensuring better productivity and seamless procedures.
Features of a Time Tracking Software
The basic functionality of a time tracking software is to clock in/clock out from a specific task using desktop, laptop, or a mobile device. Besides that, a time tracking software has the below-mentioned standard features which are either included in a package or available separately as an addon or integration.
Time Capturing
This functionality of a time tracking software captures the in/out time of the users and records that data in a timesheet. The timesheet is then used to calculate payroll and client invoices. The employees and managers can view the pending tasks and completed ones on a real-time basis, helping them to estimate the project deadlines.
Timesheet Generation
Based on the time captured, the software generates a timesheet also known as an attendance report which includes the total time spent by the employees on a specific task or project, absence, time-offs, and holidays. You can export the timesheet as PDF or CSV for payroll management and client invoicing.
Project Management Tool
Generally, time tracking tools are integrated to project management software, but sometimes tracking software includes basic level project management tool which helps employees and managers to create tasks, assign them to specific teammates and set deadlines for those tasks. You can view the progress of the tasks on a real-time basis, enter your suggestions, track deadlines, and set the budget of those projects.
Wage Calculation / Client Invoicing
If your organization calculates wages as per the number of hours worked per project, then, this functionality of a time tracking software can be of significant help. The software automatically calculates the client invoices and wages based on the hours worked and the hourly rate for a particular project. This saves a lot of your time and manual efforts especially in case of multiple projects running at the same time.
Reminders & Notifications
The time tracking software also includes a functionality sending reminders & notifications to the users to alert them about an issue like the deadline of the project approaching, or if the user forgets to clock in / clock out, and many other similar instances.
User Management
The time tracking software allows you to create different groups of users based on their team and departments. This helps in assigning tasks to the employees and managers. Moreover, you enable accessibility based on their designation, authority, and tasks.
Insights, Analytics, and Reports
The time tracking software provides insights into completed projects, their timeline, pending ones and the purpose of the delay. You can analyze whether the teams are meeting their project deadlines or not, and generate reports based on the information you require.
Selecting the Best Time Tracking Software
With a plethora of time tracking software available, you might get confused about which one to select to achieve effective results. Here, we have come up with some significant aspects which you need to consider before selecting the best time tracking software.
Payroll
Time tracking software you select should either include a payroll module or should allow integration with other payroll software. This would help you to automate the calculation of billing hours, client invoices, and employee wages.
Platform & Device Friendly
Ensure that the time tracking software you choose is compatible with other devices and platforms. Many times, you need to record details on-site, in that case, the software compatible with mobile devices like Smartphones, tabs, etc. is useful.
Detailed Reporting
Reporting is highly significant when it comes to analyzing if something is going wrong and improvising flaws in the processes and systems. The time tracking software should be able to facilitate customized report generation that can eventually help you to manage the entire attendance and payroll system efficiently.
User Permission Management
The time tracking software you select should facilitate you to manage the access permission of the users which include managers, employees, supervisors, etc. The supervisors should be allowed to check micro details like time tracking, whereas the managers should focus on only crucial issues if any, then only the power of the time tracking system can be properly utilized.
Although you can deploy any of the 7 best free and open source time tracking software discussed below, TMetric and BrightHR deserves special mention. Global leaders in providing time tracking solutions and services, TMetric's and BrightHR's tailored time tracking features and workflow management capabilities are noteworthy. Let us discuss their features in detail:
TMetric
Developed and supported by Devart, TMetric is a reliable tool in the time tracking field. TMetric offers a range of time tracking and workflow management solutions to its clients, such as team management, project management, reporting, billing, and many more. TMetric makes your office and remote workspaces more productive and easy to monitor. TMetric comes with a free plan that offers time tracking for unlimited projects and clients with reporting features. However, if you need advanced features and enterprise-grade functionalities, you can switch to their professional or business plan. You can also get discounted rates if your team size is more than 40.
Features:
- Time Tracking Features: One-click time tracking of projects and tasks, manual bulk time editing, idle time monitoring, website usage tracking, and offline mode
- Reporting Features: Reports detailed summaries of projects, tasks, etc. with the option to export reports in PDF/CSV format
- Project Management Features: Add unlimited projects, break large projects into multiple small project tasks, set deadlines, add billable rates, add time estimates and deadlines
- Team Management: Capture and monitor employee productivity and team activity with advanced features such as screenshot capturing, time-off tracking, and many more.
- Integrations: It has multiple integrations with useful work apps such as Jira, Quickbooks, Redmine, Zapier, Asana, and more.
BrightHR
BrightHR is a top-rated HR tool offering various core, flexible, and premium features of the applicant tracking system. The company has developed this ATS and HR solution to cater to the needs of small business enterprises, explicitly intending to streamline and simplify their daily HR operations. With 24/7 support, the software vendor offers other vital and handy tools, such as BrightSafe, BrightAdvice, BrightWellBeing, People Navigator, and more.
Source: BrightHR
Features:
- Manage and view employee holidays efficiently
- View who’s sick and who’s late in one view
- Records the additional working hours of the employees with ease
- Schedule the best team for each shift using a rota planner
- Stores all your important HR documents in the digital cloud-based document management system
- Offers instant expert legal advice for your small business
- Provides a healthier, happier, and more productive workplace for employees
- Provides a free and up-to-date mobile app for clocking
For startups or those planning to invest in the tool for the first time, the below-listed top 7 free and open source time tracking software is a viable and profitable option.
Before you look into in-depth information about these 7 free and open source time tracking software, you can get basic information about their features in the below comparison chart.
Top 7 Free and Open Source Time Tracking Software
#1 Kimai
Kimai is a free and open source time tracking software that is extremely simple to use. It has a browser-based interface and can run on multiple platforms including mobile devices. Unlimited users can use this software, but you can use it for a single user too. This software records the time even if it is not running on your system. If you quit your browser, it will record the time till you stop it from the web browser having access to your installation.
Features
Project Management - You can manage projects for each customer mentioning with its specific details like the order number, budget, and current status.
Task Management - You can manage tasks for each project. These tasks are used to record timesheet entries.
Invoicing - Based on timesheet entries, you can automate invoice creation in different file formats like XLSX, ODS, CSV, DOCX.
Exporting Timesheets - You can export timesheet data for offline records, or for sending it to other departments.
Integration - It includes JSON API and so can communicate with external apps for better functionality.
Statistics & Insights - It has a dynamic and user-friendly dashboard which shows statistics & insights about the time spent by the team members on different projects & tasks.
AM/PM Format Configuration - Kimai follows 24-hour format, but if you need to use 12-hour format, you can configure that.
Wages Calculation - The wages of the team members can be calculated automatically based on the hourly/weekly/monthly rates configured based on project, activity or each timesheet.
User Registration and Profile - The user can register with email activation, create their own profile and customize it as per their preferences.
Rates Configuration - You can configure different rates based on the project, designation, type of work, and even weekdays. For example, the rates can be higher if the employee works on a weekend.
Permissions - You can assign different permissions to different users. Like a supervisor would obviously have different permissions than a subordinate team member.
Migration - The data from Kimai can be easily migrated to another time tracking software.
Bottomline
Kimai is developed using the latest web technologies and frameworks like PHP7, Symfony 4, Doctrine, Flex, Bootstrap, Webpack, and many more. It doesn't require database setup as it has out-of-the-box SQLite support.
If you have already used Kimai, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#2 OpenProject
OpenProject is a powerful, user-friendly, free and open source software having versatile time tracking features. It supports the project team throughout the entire project management life cycle - starting from inception to closure. It is the easiest way for the team members to track the work and achieve desired goals in terms of meeting deadlines and delivering optimum productivity.
Features
Project Planning and Scheduling - Using OpenProject, you can create a project, define its objectives, and describe the pending tasks relevant to its scope. Analyze the tasks involved in the project, and create a detailed plan displaying how and when the project would fulfill the objectives.
Streamline Product Roadmaps - OpenProject is a simple way to showcase your product plan to your stakeholders, and associates to keep them informed about its status and deadlines. This way you can maintain a transparent work environment within your team members and clients.
Managing Tasks and Team Collaboration - OpenProject helps you to track the tasks of each and every team member, making it easy for them to communicate about the goals and end-results to complete projects successfully within a limited timeframe.
Enable Short Development Cycles - OpenProject enables you to use agile methodologies like Scrum and shorten your development cycle. The team can focus on building the right projects with quick feedback and eliminate the waste of time.
Tracking Bugs - OpenProject is a platform for the testers to recognize, classify & prioritize the bugs. Communicated about those bugs within the team and deliver high-quality products and services.
Time Tracking, Cost Control, and Budgeting - OpenProject helps you in tracking the time which is being spent by the team members for each project. Identify if any of your projects are taking more time to complete than expected, get insights about the resources allocated for the projects, plan the budget, and control the costs involved in each phase of the project.
Centralized Project Information - Create and manage project information at a centralized location. Provide access to the employees involved with that specific project, and improve communication and streamline the processes.
Bottomline
With OpenProject, you can manage your projects successfully and complete them within deadlines. It is available in 30 languages and thus can seamlessly connect your teams located around the world.
If you have already used OpenProject, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#3 eHour
eHour is a free and open source time tracking tool which helps the organizations and companies in analyzing the time their employees spend on different projects. You can either run the software on-premise or install the hosted version and use it on your own infrastructure. As it is available in multiple languages and supports multiple currencies, organizations can deploy it for different locations globally.
(ehour.nl)
Features
- You can create multiple projects for each customer, and also assign multiple users for each project.
- Keeps track of employees' holidays, sick leaves, etc.and calculate wages accurately.
- You can generate detailed reports including attendance, and project management.
- Different permission settings are allowed for employees, managers, administrators, etc.
- Can lock timesheets.
- Reports can be exported and downloaded in Excel format.
- It facilitates automatic reminders through email.
Bottomline
eHour is considered one of the best free time tracking software because it has a web-based interface and allows on-premise install which gives better control over your data. Its powerful reporting system helps you in creating the reports you need and has simplified timesheets enabling you to make the entire process of time tracking easy and simple to use.
If you have already used eHour, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#4 Clockify
Clockify is a free time tracking software that can fit into companies of all sizes. Launched in 2017, this software is also an advanced timesheet management tool that can track employee attendance and calculate project-related work hours in real-time. The software also stands apart from the competition by enabling companies to add unlimited users for free. You can install this user-friendly application both on your desktop, tablet, or smartphone and unleash all its features conveniently.
Features
- The free time tracking tool allows employees to start and stop time, enter the working hours, digitally.
- The software also enables managers and HR teams to keep an eye on employees’ productivity, view digital attendance, and track billable hours to prepare an accurate invoice copy.
- The employees can log all their daily or weekly activities and tasks easily without spending much time.
- Clockify provides customizable reporting abilities based on specific projects and users. Employees can share all this data hassle-free and export them in various file formats.
- The easy-to-use and intuitive dashboard enable employees to view their current and previous pending tasks. They can also track their leaves and holidays, all in one place.
- The managers can easily trace which employee is working on what particular project, the current status to manage workload, and teams accordingly.
- The software is equipped with Business Intelligence technology that helps management to improve efficiency and analyze more opportunities.
- Clockify can seamlessly integrate with other tools such as project management software, accounting solutions, and task management applications.
#5 Redmine
Redmine is a web-based, free and open source project management and time tracking tool. It helps employees, managers, freelancers to manage multiple projects and tasks. Being highly flexible software, it allows role-based access control. It can work on multiple platforms and can integrate with version control systems. Also, it is a cross-database time tracking software supporting 34 different languages.
Features
- Enables multiple projects tracking
- Can provide access control based on roles of the employees, managers, and supervisors
- It has an issue tracking system helping you to manage and list the issues.
- Includes a Gantt chart and calendar
- It can integrate news, documents, and files management
- Supports web feeds and e-mail notifications
- Includes time tracking facility
- It can support multiple LDAP authentication
- It has custom fields for issues, projects, time-entries, and users.
- It allows multiple databases & plugins
- It supports 34 different languages
- Provides a REST API
Bottomline
Redmine is a flexible project management tool written using Ruby on Rails framework. It is extremely user-friendly and aids visual representation of timesheets, projects, and their deadlines making it easier for the teams to comprehend the present situation and act accordingly.
If you have already used Redmine, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#6 Hourglass
Hourglass is a web-based time and expense tracking software having versatile project management features. It is extensively user-friendly software allowing employees, managers, and supervisors to manage their projects and keep their clients informed through regular updates about the status of the projects. It is highly scalable software having the ability to grow with your business.
Features
Time Tracking
- It provides detailed timesheet displaying time spent by the team members on different projects.
- Accurate reporting helping to improve productivity.
- It has an intuitive interface ensuring a high compliance rate.
- It provides real-time updates relating to time entries enabling employees to compensate for lost hours.
- It can send regular email notifications to analyze threats in advance and taking necessary actions to improvise processes.
Expense Tracking
- It displays expense logs including billable and non-billable hours helping you to reimburse instantly.
- Allows you to add expenses to billing reports to send client invoices.
- Includes expense categories ensuring correct entries by the employees.
Project Management
- Helps to manage projects, tasks, and deadlines.
- Assign tasks to team members.
- It can monitor project deadlines and budget to ensure high productivity and profitability.
- Allows you to upload MS excel file to add tasks.
Reports
- You can access 16 robust reports helping you to analyze the real-time situation and take necessary actions when required
- Allows you to manipulate data and create custom reports required as per your business logic
- Create invoices instantly and get paid quickly
Administration
- Allows to manage user profile and accounts
- It can create tax profiles for client billing
- Calculates client invoices based on a project rate
Bottomline
Hourglass software offers 30 days free trial period. You can try it for 30 days and get to know whether it suits your requirements or not before investing a considerable amount for a time tracking software.
If you have already used Hourglass, please feel free to share your reviews here.
#7 Anuko
Anuko is a free and open source time tracking tool which is extremely user-friendly. This application has been written in PHP and requires a web server like Apache, IIS, etc. and database like MySQL. It helps you in tracking the time spent by the employees, managers, teammates, etc. who have spent their time on particular projects. Enables you to analyze whether the projects would be completed within a specific time frame or not and improve productivity within your organization.
Features
- Allows you to track the time groups of people working on a particular project. You can organize this group of people in subgroups
- You can track only time, time spent on particular projects, and tasks
- Access reports and sends through manual or scheduled email
- Includes chart plugin allowing you to view time allocation for specific projects or tasks
- Allows you to send invoices to the clients and track payments using clients, invoices, and paid status plugins
- Allows quick time entry for whole weeks using week view plugin
- It has locking plugin which helps you to lock records from modifications on schedule
- Access information about monthly quota allocations and usage with the help of monthly quotas plugin
- Allows you to attach files to time records, projects, and timesheets with the help of attachments plugin
- Supports multiple languages
- It can track only time, time spent per project or time spent on different projects as well as tasks
- In time records, you can use custom fields
- View reports and send them in emails, either manually or on schedule
Bottomline
Anuko time tracking software can be downloaded for free and can be used free for up to 5 users. It is an ideal solution for small sized companies requiring to manage less number of projects and tasks. It is always better to try this software for 5 users initially and upgrade to the paid version if you require to use it for more than 5 users.
If you have already used Anuko, please feel free to share your reviews here.
So, this was the list of the 7 top free and open source time tracking software, which you can execute for your business, without investing anything. If you require advanced features not provided by these free and open source time tracking software, you can go for freemium & paid ones like Tmetric, Harvest, Toggl, TimeCamp, TSheets, Time Tracker, Hubstaff, My Hours, TrackingTime, and Time Clock Wizard.
Conclusion
Time is money and if not managed properly can prove to be harmful to business health over a period of time. It is always better to execute a time tracking software before any instances of time exaggeration happen in your organization and affect the business adversely.
The decision of selecting the time tracking software depends on your type of business, and the workflow processes of your organization. To make your decision making easier, you can also go through the complete list of time tracking software with high-end features and functionality.
Just don’t forget to leave your valuable feedback if you have used any of the software mentioned above.
