Timekeeping has become one of the most useful practices in workplaces. Knowing how long a certain task takes and the manpower needed for it is great for predicting future projects. On the other hand, knowing the costs of any given project can help you negotiate better contracts.
When it comes to time tracking methods, some employers decide to use automatic counters, and many opt to use a timesheet program instead.
What are timesheets?
Timesheets are tables that reflect a particular employee’s activities during their workday. They contain information about time spent on different tasks, which connect to projects and clients. That is to say, when used properly, they can provide a comprehensive overview of the business in general.
Timesheets aren’t a new concept in workplaces. They used to come in the form of different logbooks and recordings.
Nowadays, however, most of them are kept through different software options. The most accessible option is Microsoft Excel, but this option is giving way to different programs with the specific purpose of tracking time.
Why timesheets?
The reasoning for this choice depends on the size of your organization in part. However, the atmosphere you want to nurture in your offices is the more important reason to use a simple timesheet program rather than an automatic tracker.
Put yourself in an average employee’s shoes. Think about how you’d feel if all of a sudden your employer announced they’ll start tracking your time.
Would you prefer to keep track of your activities on your own? Or would you like to have your screen, apps, websites, or keystrokes monitored at all times?
As you can imagine, some resistance is going to occur no matter your choice. Yet, timesheets allow users a level of autonomy automatic counter simply can’t provide. This autonomy signals an employer still has a level of trust in their workers. This, in turn, boosts overall morale in the company (at least compared to using a counter).
We have searched far and wide to bring you the best timesheet programs currently available. So, without further ado, let’s talk about them.
Best Timesheet Programs of 2021
1. Time Analytics
Time Analytics is becoming one of the fastest-growing employee time management programs on the market. No matter your industry, you will be able to utilize Time Analytics to its full potential.
Elegant simplicity is one of the platform’s main advantages. Both employers and workers will benefit from the software’s intuitive interface. Firstly, the program will provide all relevant data for the company’s goals through easy-to-understand graphs. Secondly, everyday use takes very little time and won’t interfere with an employee’s workday. Additionally, the simplicity of the system makes it accessible to anyone, no matter their computer skills.
Top features
- Employee tracking – the program allows employees to create timesheets and log their work hours with ease, making tracking billable and non billable time a breeze
- Performance management – manage your clients and projects and overview your costs from a single dashboard
- Comprehensive reports – learn exactly how your business is doing with easy-to-understand reports and data visualization
- Ease of use – intuitive design allows accurate time tracking with minimum hassle for everyone involved
- Future investments – plan your future projects by analyzing the data you gather
- Reliable customer support – you can contact the Time Analytics customer support team if you have any questions or need additional information
Pricing
Free plan – for small teams and start-ups
Track up to five users, 30 clients, and 30 projects
Starter – $4.99 per user per month
Up to 15 users, 150 clients, and unlimited projects
Optimum – $6.99 per user per month
Unlimited users, clients, and projects
Premium – $12.99 per user per month
Get all the benefits of the Optimum plan with added phone support
Trial period
14 days
2. Everhour
Everhour is a reliable timesheet solution for businesses. It simplifies the way companies handle invoices, payrolls, and overall budgeting. The platform tracks progress in real-time for optimal budget adjustments. It is possible to integrate the program with other project management tools like Asana, Jira, and Github.
Top Features
- Time monitoring – track the time and resources that go into every task
- Third-party integrations – this time-saving tactic allows you to avoid the hassle of switching tabs
- Budgeting – observe the progress of each project and client to avoid losses
- Invoicing – create detailed billable time invoices for your clients
- Resource planning – Plan future projects according to your capacities
Pricing
The minimum number of users is 5
Monthly – $10 per user per month
Unlimited users, projects, and integrations
Yearly – $8.50 per user per month
Trial period
14 days
3. Elapseit
Elapseit is a time tracking program that prides itself on being there for its clients every step of the way. The platform allows users to overlook each aspect of their business through employee time tracking and simple timesheets. The app is focused on giving users options of looking into details and seeing the bigger picture.
Top features
- Task management – see all tasks and subtasks and the people responsible for them
- Bird’s eye view – overview the data you collect individually and as a whole in real-time
- Managing expenses – view and predict employee and project expenses ahead of time
- Invoicing – the data Elapseit provides is easily turned into customizable invoices
- File sharing – the program allows users to upload and share files relevant to different projects and clients
Pricing
Resourcing – $14 per user per month
Unlimited users and projects, document management, audit log
Complete – $21 per user per month
Everything the Resourcing plan offers with added time management feature
There is an option to create a customized plan
Trial period
Yes
4 Elorus
Elorus is a cloud-based time tracking, billing, and invoice platform. It is a multi-function tool that will allow you to access all relevant data you need to manage your business. The platform prides itself on its aesthetic, youthful approach, and customization options.
Top features
- Simple time tracking – Elorus includes a live hour tracker as well as timesheets
- Expense management – the platform tracks company expenses, including recurring ones
- Support from anywhere – the company’s customer support team is available in live chat, help center, and social media
- Unlimited projects – you can track an unlimited number of projects with any payment plan
- Invoices – charge clients according to hourly rates, expenses, and timesheets
Pricing
Free – for small teams
Up to 5 active clients
Starter – $9 per user per month
Up to 25 active clients
Standard – $19 per user per month
Up to 500 active clients
Premium – $39 per user per month
Trial period
Yes
5 Harvest
Harvest is a time tracking platform that allows easy navigation between different tasks. It gives detailed visual reports on active tasks, which makes overseeing progress extremely simple. The platform enables users to track billable time and quickly turn it into invoices as well.
Top features
- Automatic task-specific tracker – set up a timer for every task you do and switch from one to another
- Visual reports – see what works for you and what doesn’t by identifying problematic practices with ease
- Project reporting – make sure your business is staying profitable with budget and expense reports
- Team management – make sure everyone is pulling their weight and no one is overworked
- Integration – include Harvest reporting and timer in your existing business practices
Pricing
Free – for the freelancer
1 user and 2 projects available
Pro – $12 per user per month
Unlimited users and projects
Trial period
30 days
6 Hubstaff
Hubstaff prides itself on being an all-in-one employee tracking and managing software. The program is designed to focus less on the tracking process itself and more on increasing productivity. It is designed to recognize problematic patterns through simple timesheets, and offer solutions.
Top features
- Time tracking – track employee attendance and time automatically or let them do it manually
- Shift management – plan and schedule shifts through an online interface
- Productivity monitoring – understand how to optimize your practices by observing collective data
- GPS tracking – use every benefit a remote team can bring and allow users to track time anywhere
- Project budgeting – predict your expenses and profit based on the actual time a project takes
Pricing
All plans require a minimum of two users, except for Time Free
Time Free – For the freelancers
One user, basic features
Time Starter – $7 per user per month
Limited features
Time Pro – $10 per user per month
All features
Enterprise – $20 per user per month
All features plus special benefits
Trial period
14 days
7. MyHours
My Hours is a cloud-based time tracking and reporting platform. It offers a clear overview of individual tasks and projects. The platform makes billing and changing rates easy due to its flexibility. It also offers many customization options within the reports themselves.
Top features
- Time tracking – log all time in highly customizable forms that offer many tagging possibilities
- Custom billing rates – bill each employee, task, project, and client separately or group them for easier management
- Custom client reports – make sure your clients don’t get irrelevant information while missing important details
- Time log approval – approve submitted time logs to avoid mistakes and increase accuracy
- Automatic invoice generation – My Hours calculates billable hours for every client for you
Pricing
Free – For the newbies
Unlimited team members, and projects, basic features
Pro – $6 per active team member per month
Priority support, invoices, auditing logs, etc.
Trial period
30 days
8. Replicon
Replicon is a time management software that values using work time intelligently above all. The design of the service is fully adjustable to all devices. Many different timesheet formats are available to fit any company’s needs.
Features
- Time tracking – create highly timesheets to fit your needs, track time, and manage teams
- Pre-populated timesheets – get all the data you need with customizable forms that don’t allow submission until they’re filled
- GPS tracking – know where your employees are at any point in time to avoid falsely filled timesheets
- Billable hours – keep an eye on every project’s billable and unbillable hours to be as accurate with your clients as possible
- Personalized reports – add comments and clarifications to client reports when needed
Pricing
TimeBill Quick Start – $60 per month for up to 5 users: $10 per additional user
TimeBill Plus – $22 per user per month
Additional features are charged separately
9. Rescuetime
Rescuetime is a time tracking platform that promises to take back control of its users’ time. It is designed to track and quantify time spent at computers and mobile devices. Its final goal is to create insights and show users where they can change their habits to become more productive.
Top features
- Personalized work goals – the platform follows users and recognizes their work styles to create the optimum work goal for them
- Focus sessions – a great option for time-blocking enthusiasts blocks all distracting sites and applications for a set period
- Daily accounts – get a mini insight that gives a realistic overview of the workday you can contribute to
- In-depth reports – comprehensible data collection that shows long-term patterns and solutions
- Active reminders – never miss a meeting again with Rescuetime’s assistant
Pricing
Lite – Free
Track time, get reports and set goals for yourself
Premium – $9 per month
Track idle time, get alerted when reaching daily goals, block distractions, etc.
Trial period
14 days
10. Scoro
Scoro is a time management solution that boasts of being able to replace numerous apps through a single interface. This multi-faceted tool focuses on tracking every aspect of a company’s practices. The program takes a holistic approach to time management and aims to help users work smarter, rather than harder
Top features
- Time management – get an overview of daily activities in a planner app or Kanban board and share them with coworkers
- Optimize your team’s day – understand every member’s strengths and weaknesses and use them to plan
- Billable hours – Track time with great precision for accurate payroll and increased transparency
- Project management – be up-to-date with everything that happens in your company
- Task automation – use pre-set project templates to save time and make time tracking simpler
Pricing
All plans have a minimum of 5 users
Essential – $28 per user per month
Small team management
Work Hub – $42 per user per month
Holistic time and project management, collaboration tools
Sales Hub – $42 per user per month
A plan aimed at sales departments
There is a possibility of getting Ultimate plan which accommodates all departments’ needs
Trial period
14 days
11. Timecamp
TimeCamp is a simple and free time tracking software. It promises to make project management by making all aspects of your business clear. This level of insight is then used to make changes to your workflow and practices for optimum results.
Top features
- Automatic time tracking – the software tracks and reports on time used on different apps and websites
- Performance tracking – a comprehensive overview of your team’s performance and time management
- Productivity tracking – understand what makes your team work better and which practices hinder it
- Reports – TimeCamp collects data and turns it into reports with any information you may need
- Billing – Mark time as billable or non-billable for 100% accurate invoices
Pricing
Free
Unlimited users, projects, and tasks
Basic – $5.25 per user per month
Time rounding, management roles, unlimited integrations
Pro – $7.50 per user per month
Custom user roles, invoicing, timesheet approval
Trial period
14 days
12. TimeDoctor
TimeDoctor is a time tracking platform that automates many of its versatile functions, including filling in simple timesheets. It turns data it collects into easy-to-read graphs to illustrate productivity levels. Besides managing individual employees, you’ll be able to oversee daily activity and individual projects.
Features
- Attendance report – this feature is especially useful when managing a remote team, as it shows who showed up at work even from home.
- Activity tracking – watch daily activity of your employees through website and app usage tracking
- Task monitoring – be aware of all the tasks your employees are working on on any particular day
- Distraction prevention – the app will send out reminders to employees who are spending their time on social media and other work-unrelated sites
- Transparency – TimeDoctor allows you to give viewing permissions to your clients as you work on their projects
Pricing
Basic – $6 per user per month
One group or department support with all basic features and 1-month data storage
Standard – $9 per user per month
Up to 3 groups, 6 months data storage
Premium – $17 per user per month
VIP support, unlimited groups, and data storage
Trial period
14 days
13. Timely
Timely is a timesheet program that focuses on user trust and privacy. That is why users have the option to control which elements of their work reports will be available to everyone. The process of time tracking is simple, as the program tracks activity automatically and creates drafts for reports.
Features
- Time tracking – time tracking through Timely is very simple, as the app does most of the work itself, and employees only need to add details
- Project tracking – visualize the progress of your projects and predict their budget in real-time
- Instant reports – get all necessary information about any aspect of your business in a few keystrokes
- Team tracking and health – provide a good work to life balance in your remote teams
- App integration – don’t lose your trusted digital tools, but reinforce them instead
Pricing
Starter – $10 per user per month
3 teams and 50 projects
Premium – $18 per user per month
Unlimited teams and projects, real-time tracking
Unlimited – $26 per user per month
Unlimited teams, projects, and features
There is an additional option of a custom plan made to suit your specific needs.
Trial
14 days
14. Timesolv
Timesolv is a simple timesheet tool specifically designed to help legal companies. The software’s main goal is to help users increase their billable time. As legal firms often work with numerous clients, it focuses on customization.
Features
- Time tracking – detailed timekeeping is crucial for any law firm’s optimum functioning since all time is valuable
- Reporting – understand how your business functions and which practices need a little more refinement
- Budgeting – get an estimate of how much you should charge your clients and never have an unfavorable contract again
- Project management – keep tabs on all business processes and make sure they’re going according to plan
- Integration – connect your favorite tools like LawPay and QuickBooks to your new timesheet program
Pricing
Legal – $39.95 per user per month
Unlimited clients and matters, six options for hourly rates, flexible billing options
Pro – $24.95 per user per month
Unlimited projects and clients, numerous integrations, accounting features
Trial period
Yes
15. Timeular
Timeular is an innovative timesheet program that features a physical tracking device shipped straight to you. The platform aims to allow users to set goals for themselves and guide them on the journey to success. It transforms the entries of different timesheets into reports and comprehensible charts.
Top features
- Tracking device – a smartly designed physical reminder users flip to track different tasks
- Time tracking through the app – track time accurately to the minute and with ease
- Project tracking – observe how your business is going and predict your future steps
- Shared spaces – obtain a full overview of your team activities and manage them accordingly
- Keyboard shortcuts – navigate the system quickly and efficiently with custom shortcuts
Pricing
Personal tracker + Basic – $89
Physical tracker, unlimited tracking, basic software
Personal tracker + Pro – $79 for 6 months
Tracking device, unlimited tracking, priority support, unlimited goal tracking
Team tracker + Pro – $79 per user for 6 months
Trial period
None
16. actiTIME
Actitime is time tracking software that focuses on collecting data intelligently and with ease. It doubles as a management system, as you can also create future projects and assign them to different users. Finally, it transforms the raw data into easy-to-read graphs.
Features
- Time tracking – improve productivity by understanding how your days are structured
- Project tracking – gain full transparency of your teams’ activities to increase efficiency
- Payroll calculation – prevent any billable hours from being unaccounted for
- Cost management – predict future costs by having a complete overview of your current expenses
- Online and self-hosted options – versatility for users looking for something a little different
Pricing
Free – limited features
up to 3 users
Up to 40 users – $7 per user per month
41 to 200 users – $6 per user per month
Trial period
30 days
17. BeeBole
BeeBole is a simple timesheet program that allows flexible time tracking. It saves users time as it tracks through automatic timers and converts their entries into timesheets. Still, it offers some flexibility, as editing timesheets are also allowed
Top features
- Time tracking app – customize the ways your employees report depending on their position and team
- Attendance tracking – make sure you’re in the loop with worker days off and vacations
- Log approval – see the results of individual and teamwork and compare them with the logs
- Rewards and reminders – send automated encouragement messages to boost productivity
- Payroll reports – pay every employee according to the work they put in
Pricing
€5.99 per user per month
Trial period
30 days
18. BigTime
Bigtime offers many customization options when it comes to structuring your timesheets. The platform’s goal is to increase productivity through real-time analytics and reports. This versatile tool allows complete project management through a single dashboard.
Top features
- Time tracking – customize the way your employees track time and make the entries fit your needs
- Expense tracking – never lose track of the big picture with an integrated expense tracker
- Timesheet review – be sure your billing system is working without problems at all times
- Real-time reports – analyze the crucial elements of your business and know exactly where you stand
- Project management – stay informed about the progress of your projects and how your teams are doing
Pricing
Express – $10 per user per month (5 users minimum)
Basic features from all categories
Pro – $30 per user per month (5 users minimum)
Additional features
Premier – $40 per user per month (10 users minimum)
Full access to all features
Trial period
Yes
19. Bill4time
Bill4Time is one of the best legal practice timesheet programs. It offers an easy all-in-one solution to managing your law firm. The platform accounts for all specific needs of law practices non-specific time management solutions tend to neglect.
Top features
- Time tracking – never allow your firm to lose revenue by forgetting to log billable hours again
- Time reporting – stay informed about daily and weekly activities so you can optimize your practices
- Expense tracking – organize your expenses, big and small, through a simple dashboard or your cellphone
- Billing and invoicing – know exactly where your money is going and coming from with customizable rates
- Online payments – use all the convenience of online banking with Bill4Time Payments
Pricing
Time & Billing – $29 per user per month
Time tracking and billing features
Legal Pro – $49 per user per month
Workflows and management software
Legal Enterprise – $89 per user per month
Customize the platform to your needs
Trial period
14 days
20. Clockify
Clockify helps its users keep accurate timesheets and track time across multiple projects. It offers activity tracking, as well, keeping tabs on the apps and websites the employees frequent. The platform converts the collected data into clear graphs and reports, pointing out potential solutions.
Top features
- Time tracking – choose between an automatic and manual time tracking option to fit your needs
- Timesheets – Create your own or use ready-made templates you can review and approve later
- Dashboard insights – have a comprehensive insight into your own and your team’s workday
- Reports – know where your employees, funds, and projects are at all times
- Invoices – let the program take care of issuing accurate invoices for everyone
Pricing
Free for unlimited users
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many methods of timekeeping and many options to create a great timesheet. The most important principle is to think about your specific needs before you start using a timesheet program. This also means focusing on the needs of your team. In other words, you will have to account for their level of computer skills and the complexity of the timekeeping requirements.
A youthful workforce will embrace new practices quicker. Generally speaking, the younger generations are more eager to learn and use new software solutions. On the other hand, you may find some unexpected learning curves with a more experienced team. Especially so if the members aren’t used to using time tracking tools.
Yet, the unnecessary complexity of the time tracking process can create an unnecessary resistance toward using the time tracking program. That is to say, the entire ordeal needs to take as little time as possible. Intuitive design and customization options are always a plus as well.
That is to say, your employees could get acquainted with some of the best time tracking practices even before you implement the system.
To conclude, your timesheet program should reflect your goals, needs, and company culture. We have given you many different great options to choose from. Yet, you may need some additional help.
Finally, here are some free timesheet templates you can use.
- Time Card Template
- Daily Timesheet Template
- Weekly Timesheet Template
- Monthly Timesheets
- Client-related Timesheets
- Project-related Timesheets
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