If you haven’t yet tried software solutions for some of these business needs, you could be surprised as to how much time you could save and how much more smoothly your business could operate. If you’ve tried one or more time-saving and productivity-enhancing tools, with good results, there’s always room for improvement.

Check out these best time tracking, invoicing, and project management apps. You have a good chance of finding one that will make your working life a little easier, or much easier.

FreshBooks

Tracking time, sending invoices, and capturing and managing expenses, are all things that need to be done. They can be genuine time and resource hogs if they need to be done manually, and they can still take up excessive time if the tools used aren’t highly efficient.

FreshBooks is an account and invoicing app that will let you invest that otherwise lost time into conducting your business the way you want it to be run. FreshBooks was designed with creatives and service-oriented small businesses in mind. It’s cloud-based, so there’s nothing to install. As more than 10 million users will tell you, you don’t need to be a whiz at numbers to use it.

Memory by Timely

As you may bill by the hour or need to know where to allocate your time, tracking time is often an essential part of running a business. That is why solutions that automatically show and tell you in detail what you’ve worked on and for how long are well worth the investment.

Timely is one such time-tracking tool, and when combined with Memory, it enables you to go back in time, showing you exactly what you worked on yesterday or a week ago Wednesday. Memory tracks every app you use or file you work on, including what you do in GitHub, Asana, Trello, Office 365/ Outlook Calendar, Gmail, etc.

Futuramo Time Tracker

If your objective involves more than just tracking the time you and your team spend on various tasks, and what you’re looking for are insights from past projects to help you plan your next ones, the Futuramo Time Tracker app is the right solution for you.

This cloud-based app’s advanced statistics make it easier for teams to schedule and prioritize work. Futuramo Time Tracker’s powerful filters, for example, allow you to filter activities by project, client, and/or date range. It’s possible to track time offline and add records manually. You will find it particularly valuable anytime you’re faced with managing several projects at once.

This app works great for both individuals and large teams. It’s easy to work with, there’s nothing to install, it’s free for up to 3 users, and you can get started in seconds.

Avaza

Avaza automates your time-tracking tasks, enables you to create and send invoices in seconds, and manages your project tasks and files and expense reporting activities. This all-in-one project management app is currently in use by more than 15,000 businesses around the globe.

Avaza makes project management that much easier by allowing you to toggle between task lists, Gantt charts, and Kanban boards. It also helps you communicate and collaborate with clients and team members, and communicate directly with Slack, MailChimp, Trello, Dropbox, and other apps.

Timing

Everyone wants to complete their projects and individual tasks as quickly and efficiently as possible, which is what Timing is designed to do. This native Mac time tracking app automatically tracks your time. There are no manual starting and stopping timers required on your part.

The dashboard provides a visual timeline of tasks you did, and when you did them, and you can simultaneously track as many tasks or projects as you wish. All you need to do is drag and drop events and activities into the appropriate projects. You can download Timing and try it for free for 14 days.

Elorus

Elorus might be just another good but somewhat run-of-the-mill invoicing and billing app, except for a few features that you will really love, just like its users and their clients do. Its private client portal lets you invite whichever clients you choose to log in to your system and review their transactions and their account statuses.

In addition to its invoicing, billing, and expense reporting capabilities, this online app can also generate business performance timelines and monitor your cash flow. It’s an ideal solution for both individuals and business owners.

Trigger

If you want to know what’s really going on in your business, Trigger can help. Trigger enables your team to track time, manage projects, invoice clients (direct to Xero), and access management reports that help you stop over-servicing clients and stop losing money.

It offers both Kanban and task list view options, plus the ability to copy projects and create project templates. Trigger is integrated with Slack, Google Apps, Dropbox, and more.

ClickTime – Easy Online Timesheets

With its 80 pre-built reports, interactive planning dashboard, time tracking and expense tracking capabilities, and timesheets, you can customize ClickTime – Easy Online Timesheets to fit your business’s needs.

With this app, you can avoid the overhead costs involved in building your own timesheet solutions. There’s a Basic, a Corporate, and an Enterprise plan, each with a 30-day free trial, and each with a free mobile companion app for iPhone and Android devices.

Paymo

Paymo is an advanced project management app that helps you plan projects, assign and track tasks, and report performance from start to finish.

Useful features include Gantt charts and visual Kanban boards or project templates. Paymo provides automatic time tracking, automates your invoicing and expense reporting tasks, helps you schedule resources, and promotes real-time collaboration among team members.

Free Invoice Generator

Hiveage’s Free Invoice Generator gives you a simple way to create PDF-formatted invoices to submit to your clients. You simply type in your details, and those of your client, and in no time at all, you’ll receive the invoice by email, at no cost to you.

Hiveage also offers an advanced invoice-generating software package that features time and expense tracking, provides project estimates, and enables online payments.

It doesn’t matter if you are a freelancing web developer, project manager, or business owner. There’s something here for you. It might be an invoice-generating app, a time-tracking app, or a software platform that offers a comprehensive set of project management solutions.

There are a few freebies that are well worth taking advantage of, and most of what you see provide no-obligation (no credit card) free trial offers.

The post 10 Best Time Tracking & Invoicing Apps for Freelancers appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

The efficiency of the invoicing process is integral in maintaining a healthy cash flow of your business. Smart invoicing enables you to streamline the payments from multiple clients and enables you to get paid in time and according to your desire. No matter what your current invoice process is, you can take steps to help improve both timely payments and customer relations.

Automated Invoicing vs. Manual Invoicing

If you are a salaried designer, your invoicing and billing is taken care of by your employee, however, invoicing is a menace for freelance designers who constantly have to generate invoices for their projects. Since, sending quotations and invoices is an important part of your work; it is important for you to decide whether you want to go for automated invoicing or just do it manually.

According to the data management company Formscan as per their recent survey, 48% of UK’s businesses still use entirely manual invoice processing systems. This is very typical of orthodox organizations to have strange hesitation towards automated processes, however, these days a lot of software and online tools are available to make things easier for the people (like freelance designers) who handle multiple responsibilities at work. No matter you opt for a server-based invoicing or a computer-based online invoicing, finding the right one is your task and with some good research it is not really that hard.

First Thing First, a Background Check

To conduct a smooth invoicing process, you should be careful in the very first place. Before getting into a legal contract with a certain client, it is suggested that you conduct a background check of the client’s payment habits. You can do so by doing a little research about the client’s reputation in the market regarding payments.

Moreover, (though companies don’t usually share their financial information with outsiders) if possible, you can ask your client to provide you with information regarding their outstanding bills and payments. A background check will enable you to figure out how seriously this client is going to take your billings.

Map out Your Invoicing Terms

When you are dealing with different clients at the same time, chances are that you may easily get dodged when it comes down to the financial matters. Most of this dodging happens when certain confusion arises between the two parties. Therefore, in order to minimize any confusion what so ever, it is good to map out some invoicing terms and present them to the clients beforehand. Some of the most important things to highlight can be:

• Determine your advance fee
• Number of days you would need to complete the task
• What is going to be the fee which you will charge in case of late payments
• Whether you will deliver the completed project before or after the complete payment
• What will you charge in case of re-do
• What should be the mode of payment

Although there will be situations when you will have to bend a few laws, however, try to stick to these principals as much as possible.

Detail of Charges

It is always a good idea to avoid any surprises in your bills. Therefore, provide a comprehensive detail of charges in your invoice i.e. you have charged the X amount for the XYZ service, etc. If you don’t give the details and roll out a lump sum invoice, there are chances that the client gets confused and resulting in an unwanted payment delay. Although you can do it in the manual invoice as well, however, almost all invoicing systems have this feature by default or allow you to customize your bills accordingly. Remember, that the clients have all the rights to know what services they are being charged for.

Provide Multiple Modes of Payment

In the world of cut-throat competition, the standout factor is what vouches your success. Especially, if you have plans to convert part-time freelancing into a full-time freelance career, it is important for you to discover and develop your standout factor that will enable you to survive in the freelance world of growing competition. This standout factor may be your client dealing, special discounts, a unique way for marketing or some value added service (on-spot delivery, professional copywriting or printing services, etc.).

Moreover, as mentioned earlier, your clients should be aware of all the modes though with you can accept the payments. Making transaction easier for them and communicating clearly is always a good thing for increasing the likelihood that you will be paid on time.

Follow-up your Outstanding Bills

There are only a bunch of clients in the world who pays their vendors immediately after receiving an invoice from them. A follow-up is thus an integral part of the invoicing process. As your invoices reach their due dates, take out some time to follow-up with the client regarding its status.

As suggested earlier, if you have already mentioned the due date of payment in the invoice, start a gentle follow-up a day before the due date. Once the due date passed, start a rigorous (but not annoying) follow-up till you get paid. Also, keep reminding them that they will owe you some extra bucks for late payment.

Send It to the Concerned Person, Only!

Many designers face the issue to late payment merely due to sending the invoice to the wrong person. This is particularly the case when you are dealing with a large organization where your invoice mostly ends up generating no response when it’s not sent to the concerned person. Therefore, before initiating the invoicing, be sure to know the name and other contact details of its right recipient. This will result in a smoother and faster invoicing process at your client’s end.

Final Thoughts

Although invoicing is a bit difficult and problematic process, nevertheless; as a designer who is making a livelihood through his freelance business, it is unavoidable. Make sure to be clear in your communication and avoid all kinds of confusions as much as possible. Always remember that invoicing process doesn’t involve sending the invoice only; you need to take different careful steps to ensure its seamlessness.

The post Designers’ Guide to Float through the Invoicing Process Successfully appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.

Today’s web is much more dynamic than the big online filing cabinet envisioned twenty years ago. The content management systems we use to build sites now can twist our content into all manner of shapes, limited only by our imagination.

“I need a web site for my company. Just something simple…” the email began.

I took a deep breath. Here it comes.

“Only four pages. How much?”

Yet, it amazes me that I still see requests from prospects defining a site by the number of pages. That sort of thinking can cause serious problems:

• It doesn’t tell the whole story
• It artificially limits the site’s scope
• It could hurt your search engine ranking

It doesn’t tell the whole story

Your web developer’s first response to that email should be “What’s on those pages? What do they need to do?” I’ve found there’s usually a disconnect between what a developer considers a “page” and what their client expects.

To many people, the home page, “about us”, and a searchable product catalog are all “pages”. To your developer, a “page” probably means an unchanging piece of content, lacking any interactivity — like the pages of a book. Anything else is “functionality”.

If you’re concerned about your budget, it’s better to spend a few extra minutes clarifying your requirements to prevent a costly misunderstanding down the road. Let’s revise that email to be clearer:

“I need a web site for my company. I’m looking for four pages: a home page describing us, an “about us” page with more details, and a searchable product catalog. No e-commerce, but I do need a form for people to contact our sales team for more information.”

It’s a good start, but still thinking small. Let’s look at another way thinking in “pages” affects your site.

It artificially limits the site’s scope

If you think of your site in terms of four pages, it will only ever be a four-page site. Why limit yourself like that? Instead, think in terms of content. “About Us?” Content. Products? Those are content. Blog entries? You bet those are content. And today’s content management systems make it easy to create and manage it all.

Think of your content like a stack of children’s building blocks. Some blocks are red; some blocks are blue. They can be stacked on top of each other like a wall, or used to build a pyramid or even a castle. And if you prefer, you can make your masterpiece with just the red blocks alone.

Likewise, your developer just needs to build a few basic “content types” and displays, and you’ll be free to add five, fifty, or even five thousand more “pages” yourself whenever inspiration strikes. Your content is the building block used to grow your website.

And, that same content can drive a mobile site for smartphones, feed inventory & prices into Google’s Product Search database, or even automatically post updates to Twitter.

Instead of asking your developer for four pages, ask them to build you a site that can grow with your business:

“I need a web site for my company. We currently have a handful of products and need a searchable product listing of them. But, we need the flexibility to grow anywhere up to 5,000 products as needed.

We’re also interested in a Google Product Search feed and would like Twitter updates sent out for every new blog post. Please feel free to suggest other ways we can leverage our content to drive sales.”

Your humble “four pages” have blossomed into a more modern, dynamic web experience! And, by being more up-front about your requirements, you’ve enabled your developer to provide a more accurate estimate of the work involved.

If they can’t build the site to meet your budget, your new content-centric approach lets them build a basic site now and add features around your content later as your budget allows.

There’s another way a “simple” four-page site could cause problems:

It could hurt your search engine ranking

Everyone’s always talking about SEO these days, and for a good reason. Every day, Google makes little changes to how it does things so the best, more relevant websites rise to the top of their search results. Their business depends on it, and your business depends on it.

The best way to tell Google you’re more important than your competitors and the pretenders is to give them lots of relevant, changing content to chew on. In a lot of ways, Google is like your customers: if you don’t keep things interesting, they won’t visit as often and it’ll take longer for them to see your latest changes.

If your site is built in a content management system, you have an easy way to create fresh content for all of your visitors: people and search engines alike. Commit yourself to regular updates. If you don’t think you can post something new every day, try every week or even every month.

Also, talk to your web developer about options for displaying your Twitter or Facebook feeds on the various “pages” of your site. Use these opportunities to highlight trends in your industry and keywords you want Google to see.

Let’s take one more look at that email:

“I need a web site for my company that communicates with Google as clearly and powerfully as it does with people. When people need my products or services, they should be able to find me.”

We currently have a handful of products and need a searchable product listing of them. But, we need the flexibility to grow anywhere up to 5,000 products as needed.

We’d also like a blog for daily updates, and the ability to add basic content like an “about us” page. No e-commerce, but I need a form for people to contact our sales team for more information, and we should be able to add new fields and options to that form as our business needs change.

We’re also interested in a Google Product Search feed and would like Twitter updates sent out for every new blog post. These might be beyond our budget right now, but please make it possible to add these features in the future.

How much? Also, please feel free to suggest other ways we can leverage our content to drive sales.

This new message gives your developer a lot more to work with and will help them better estimate the work involved. It also sets an expectation for how you plan to grow the site over time, and makes it clear you want the content and features to expand with it.

The post Stop Thinking in Pages: A Web Developer’s Perspective appeared first on Speckyboy Design Magazine.