How can time tracking help you save money?

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No matter the economic situation, having some extra money left in your bank account is always a nice feeling. And in times of increased inflation, having control over your spending becomes even more important than ever. So, today we would like to tell you how using time-tracking software such as Worklogs - Time Tracking and Reports can positively affect your bank balance. It can be applied to a company’s and a single person’s situation. We believe that it makes little sense to use a tool that allows logging hours but doesn’t provide time report options. That kind of function doesn’t have to be costly but brings many benefits which we would like to present below.

Time reports give you insight into how your time was spent

Having a time report will show you clearly what you did and how much time it took. You might realize that some tasks took a little long. If you realize that some distractions are the culprit, you will be more likely to limit them in the future (as noticing the problem is the first step to eliminating it). Moreover,  with time reports you can find answers to questions such as: how much time did I spend working on Customer’s X project? Why does it always feel like I have so little time? If you spot that a significant amount of time was devoted to uncomplicated administrative tasks you might want to outsource them to someone. Both moves will result in having more time you can devote to doing the work that actually brings you the money. 

 Here’s an example of a Worklogs time report you could use in this case. Choose the date range you’re interested in (e.g. a particular week) and set the app to:

User or Group: *put your name here*

Period grouping: day
Categorize by: User
Group by: Issues  

If the tasks you perform are similar, you can try generating time reports for these tasks over different time periods and see whether they always took a similar amount of time or maybe your productivity fluctuated. 

Time reports can assist with invoicing 

When you track time, you will have a clear record of all billable and non-billable hours. 

You can also use your time report when preparing invoices for customers. In Worklogs, you could choose the month that will be invoiced and set:

Period Grouping: Month
Categorize by: Customer
Group by: Issues

It would give you the total number of hours spent on work connected with your customers. You could also see how much time specific tasks (issues) took. 

Optimize payroll processing and avoid costly errors

If your company uses time cards, someone has to enter the data into the system. This can take quite some time you need to pay this person for. When re-writing data like this, costly mistakes can happen, e.g. if someone gets underpaid for overtime and reports it. Moreover, someone has to distribute time cards, collect them, and make sure they’ve been filled in. This can be really time-consuming, especially in big organizations. 

Also, you can use one tool both for payroll and project management purposes. This is not only more convenient but also saves you money and time as you don’t have to log time twice. In this case, a person responsible for payroll processing can create a group that will include all employees to easily have access to all employees’ worktime data. This can be done by an admin with the following path:

Settings -> User management -> Groups -> Create Group

Then, a window will pop up. Name the group, add all members, and click Create.

Next, select the name you chose in the 'User or Group' category in Worklogs.

Better insight into how your employees spend their work time 

When using time tracking and reports, you can see what your employees did. It might turn out that something can be done in order to improve their productivity which as a result will bring in more money for the company. 

You can for example use filters such as: 

Period Grouping: Day
Categorize by: User 
Group by: Issues

This combination of data will show you how much time team members spent on certain tasks. If any tasks seem to have taken too long, you can discuss it with the team member. Maybe it was something they struggled with and it can be improved. You can also analyze past data and use it for future people and cost estimates. That can prevent e.g. hiring too many expensive specialists or consultants in the future. Maybe when you check how much time is spent on certain issue types, you will notice that many senior developers spend a lot of time on bugs instead of tasks. This can be a sign that the work within the project should be reorganized or maybe more testers should be hired. 

Save money by choosing a plugin with an optimal needs/price ratio

Choosing software integrated with Jira makes navigating between tasks more convenient. But we can’t forget that the prices and functions of time-tracking software vary. Make sure that you choose the combination that meets your needs. Don’t overspend on some functions that you’re not going to use anyway. Below we present three Cloud apps. They allow you to track time, see how much time was logged by other users, and see how much time was spent on all tasks within an epic.  

From the table below we can see that you can choose a time tracking option for 2.50$ a month or a four times more costly app. It might turn out that the cheaper option has all the functions you need, saving you a significant amount of money. Worklogs, the option with the most attractive price among apps that offer the functions mentioned earlier, is also available as a server and data center app. 

Summary 

This article presented how using time-tracking software can help you optimize your finances. You can benefit from it as a freelancer in the area of productivity and invoices. Companies can use it when preparing payrolls. Time reports are also great for future people and cost estimates – they prevent you from spending too much money needlessly. If this sounds like something for you, we invite you to find out more about Worklogs - Time Tracking and Reports.