Software used to create consulting invoices

Question

At any given time, I do consulting for between 2-4 clients, and I'm having some trouble keeping track of the hours and generating invoices. My current solution is to use Google Calendar to track my hours, and then at month-end, manually enter the data on an Excel template I have (one copy for each customer) and email it to them. While this works, it's lacking a few things I'd like, so I wanted to see if the SO community had any recommendations for tracking these hours. What I'd like:

• Should be web-based and hosted - I don't want to set it up on my server
• Breaks down hours by client and project/task. I have a few long-running or ongoing tasks for certain clients, and I'd like to present each task as a single line on the invoice (instead of 5 lines of 1 hour each on this task, I spent 5 hours this month on this task).
• As month-end approaches, I can see a summary report for my hours per client so far. I have one client who has a retainer, and I'd like an easy way to tell them that they have X unused hours this month without manually adding up time I've already entered.
• Though I'd obviously prefer free, it's not a requirement - I'm happy to pay a reasonable monthly fee for a site that does what I need.
• Straight-forward way to convert the data to an invoice. If I have to copy/paste, that's okay, as long as I'm not entering any data or doing something else I might mess up.

Not necessary (but in some cases, nice to have):

• I'd like some more advanced reporting - like hours/task overall, other time periods, etc - but the only required report is a monthly summary that's easily converted to an invoice.
• I don't need a complete billing platform. I use Quicken to track bills and payments, so while I could switch this to a new tool, I don't need that functionality.
• I don't need a time mangement tool. I already have something else I use for that - I just need a billable-hours/invoicing tool.
• I don't generate "timecard"-style invoices for any of my clients - just a monthly summary with hours/project for the entire month. I don't need something that's going to generate my clients a play-by-play of how I got those hours - just a summary.

Given these requirements, do any SO users out there have a solution they can recommend? While my current solution works, it's prone to mis-keying data and it's tedious, so I'd like something more reliable.

Answer 1

Save yourself alot of headaches and use an accounting package that manages time. I use Quickbooks. It takes care of taxes, all my business expenses, my time tracking and finally invoicing.

Its saved me more time and headaches over the years than I spent learning it.

EDIT:

look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_accounting_software for a look at some of the options available.

Answer 2

You might want to look into cashboard. There's a FREE version available and even the paid plans are very cheap ($6 per month). If you're concerned about not being able to get to your data because it's hosted somewhere else, they allow you to export the data into XML at any time.

Disclosure: I know the owner and developer of the site which may bias my opinion, however he is a REALLY smart and dedicated guy and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend anything he creates.

Answer 3

If you are willing to pay for it, Harvest fits your requirements. If it has to be free I would recommend trying toggl.

EDIT Upon checking out @marc answer, I will retract my recommendation for toggl for a free tool. Cashboard looks to be a much better tool.

Answer 4

FreshBooks is quite good. Like most web apps these days, you can create a limited account for free (max 3 clients) to try it out.

Answer 5

Just to add another option, Blinksale is meant to be quite good, although I've not used it myself.

Answer 6

definitely look into cashboard. It's a solid app, and I think its much easier than the others (including blinksale and freshbooks). Also, the support is really good.

Answer 7

I strongly recommend Cashboard. It has a great focus on workflow. You can move your projects seamlessly from Estimate > Project > Time Tracking > Invoicing > Payments. It is the best I've seen for that.

Also, the developers are very active and listen to feedback, making constant improvements to the service.

Answer 8

You could take a look on Timelog Project (www.timelog.com). See this small video for a quick on how to create invoices.