8 best time tracking software for professional services

Professional services are businesses that offer specialized service(s) to their clients, either in-person or remotely. It includes consulting, education, technical, creative, utility, and many other services.

It could be a big company with hundreds of employees, a small team, or just one person offering such services. However, a common thread among these professional services is the importance of tracking time.

It’s because they usually bill their clients based on the time spent on each job and need to be super-efficient to service more clients and increase their revenues.

For example, a legal consulting firm may charge its clients on an hourly basis, while a plumbing agency may require its employees to finish a specific type of job within the stipulated time.

As a result, using an advanced time tracking solution becomes a critical requirement for these services.

So here are our picks for the best time tracking tools for professional service providers, small businesses, and freelancers:

1. Time Doctor

time doctor - better for the organization

Time Doctor is an excellent time and project management software that’s used by big and small businesses to monitor and improve their team’s efficiency.

The tracking software works well for in-office and on-field teams of professional service firms and freelancers offering services from their homes.

You can use Time Doctor’s powerful features through its:

Desktop app for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Mobile app for Android.
Google Chrome extension (for supported integrations).

The tool’s standalone time tracking feature helps you account for every minute spent on billable and non-billable tasks, projects, and activities. You can use the time data as proof of work to charge your clients accurately and pay your team fairly.

Time Doctor also has many additional features to boost your business performance massively.

So let’s check out some key Time Doctor features.

Key features

A. Flexible time tracking

With Time Doctor, you can log time using two convenient and intuitive modes.

Its interactive timer lets you track time for different tasks using a simple start/stop timer, giving you better control over the process.

Here’s how it works:

Open the Time Doctor app and enter a task name.
Click Start when you’re ready to begin the activity.
Click on Stop when you’re done or need a break.

But for tasks where you don’t want to start and stop the timer manually, you can opt for Time Doctor’s automatic time tracking. In this mode, time tracking starts as soon as the user’s computer turns on.

The tracking continues in the background without affecting the user’s workflow.

But what if I have no internet connectivity?

You can still log your work hours as Time Doctor supports offline time tracking. The offline time data will sync automatically once you regain connectivity.

B. Idle-time tracking

For accurate invoices and payments, you must calculate every billable hour for the service you or your team offers. However, many time tracking software record time without determining if it was spent productively.

But not Time Doctor.

It can even track users’ idle time – minutes/seconds users spend without mouse or keyboard activity. You can categorize this unproductive time as non-billable and exclude it from client bills and associated team members’ payments.

The tracking software even has an idle-time pop-up alert that can help a freelancer or employee minimize such unproductive times. Admins can set an idle-time limit post which users will get a pop-alert on the screen asking if they’re still working.

Note: Time Doctor is not a keylogger and does not record any data on the user’s computer. It just checks for mouse and keyboard activity.

C. Screencasts (Optional)

At times, you may need to look at the screen activity of an on-field or remote employee to evaluate their time and computer usage. It’ll help you ensure that you’re being charged fairly.

Time Doctor’s screencast feature lets you take screenshots of the user’s screen at specific intervals.

This advanced feature also improves accountability as employees will be less likely to indulge in unproductive activities during their service hours.

For example, if you offer educational services, you can use the feature to take screenshots of a team member who’s supposed to deliver a live video lecture. You can then verify if the employee was actually on a video call with the client at the stipulated time.

Note: Screenshots are only taken when a user indicates they’re working and can be deleted or blurred to maintain privacy. Also, it’s an optional feature that can be enabled or disabled for individual users.

D. Productivity reports

Time Doctor gives you access to several detailed and real-time reports for an insight into your team’s attendance and productivity.

Below are some reports that Time Doctor generates:

Attendance report: Monitor the attendance status of your team members in real-time.
Hours tracked report: Check how many hours an employee has worked in a day, week, or any other date range you select.
Timeline report: View the employee time spent working on various job activities.
Projects and tasks report: See the total time spent on different billable projects and tasks within each of them.
Activity summary report: Get an overview of a user’s activity, including active, unproductive, or mobile time over a period of time.
Web and app usage time reports: Get a peek into the time your team spends on different websites and applications during work hours.

Pricing

Time Doctor offers a free 14-day trial without needing any credit card details. Its basic plan starts at $7/user per month and includes essential features like time tracking and activity tracking.

Customer ratings

G2: 4.4/5 (270+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.5/5 (390+ reviews)

You can check out all of Time Doctor’s beneficial features here.