Time’s Running out on QuickBooks® Time Tracker and Time and Billing
Nov
15
Written by:
11/15/2011 12:23 PM
Blog by Lisa McCarthy, Co-Founder of Out Of The Box Technology
Time is ticking away on Intuit’s QuickBooks® Time Tracker and QuickBooks Time and Billing. It’s set to discontinue December 1, 2011. The applications were pretty popular. We had many clients using the programs to keep track of staff hours and customer billing information. The announcement was made in early October on Intuit’s website.
I haven’t heard any real reasons why Intuit’s making this move but it did say it was a “difficult decision to discontinue” the products and hoped to make the transition “process as smooth as possible.” Intuit stopped charging clients for the product when it made the announcement, yet some users weren’t happy about the decision at all. Here are a couple posts on the Intuit Community forum – “Abandoning this program now is unacceptable and shows a serious lack of concern for your customers.” “Why the rush? You have NO idea how difficult it is to implement and train employees on a new timesheet system on such short notice.”
So, what to use instead? Let’s look at your choices while offering tips on what to look for in a time tracking solution for your business. Is QuickBooks integration vital? Then make sure you know the answer before you buy.
One solution I really like is www.timexchange.net. In many cases, organizations really need to solve for three issues around tracking time – 1) gathering staff time on projects, 2) allowing supervisors to review and approve time, and 3) operational reporting – but nobody wants to buy three different applications to do all this!
TimeXchange actually does all three and stresses ease of use, communication between those who enter time and those who approve it, and at a low cost.
This is a screen shot of TimeXchange’s dashboard:
TimeXchange, like other time reporting solutions, offers different reports. This Timecard report is used for projects when you want to track the in/out times for each task performed during a given week.
Below is sample of a dashboard from a solution called Clicktime. It offers QuickBooks integration, reporting and is web based. As you can see, this solution goes way beyond just time entry, tracking estimates, expenses, and tasks.
Most of the other solutions I’ve found integrate with QuickBooks, and are web based allowing for anytime/anywhere access to time tracking. Those include BigTime, www.minute7.com, www.timewatch.com (which also has a feature called OutlookTime® that, via Outlook, converts appointments into timesheets), and www.springahead.com. Replicon integrates with QuickBooks via the Web TimeSheet Integration Manager for QuickBooks.
My research led me to the Harvest website where I found this company also integrates its product with QuickBooks. Jon, who was at the other end of the Chat on the website, told me -
Jon: Yes, you can set up your Harvest account so that you can export any time you log into Harvest to a QuickBooks timer file
Jon: That can then get easily imported into QuickBooks.
Harvest is web based with iPhone and Android apps available.
If you have high-tech time tracking needs, Count Me In has Timecard Monitor software with a couple of cool add-ons. One is a desktop fingerprint sensor. It’s about the size of your computer’s mouse and a camera inside scans in finger-feature graphics so it can tell when a person’s work time begins and ends. The other is a Hand Reader that stores a template of a staff member’s unique hand impression. The staff member enters time in and time out when he/she places his/her hand on the device.
There are other questions to ask when looking for a time tracking software. What type of reporting functions can you get from the program and what type of format can you download or upload data? Can you use the program virtually? If it’s important to you, can the program separate and track hours by project? Can you use the application for at least 30 days – for free? Can you get your money back if you’re not satisfied with your purchase? What type of support is available?
There is a lot to choose from. I really want to stress that before you decide on and start paying for a time tracking solution, be sure it fits your company’s needs.
If you’re still using QuickBooks Time Tracker or Time and Billing, make sure you download your data and approve your time before December 1, 2011, as your time data will no longer be accessible after that.
Intuit’s move away from time tracking may make you want to look for alternative financial software or resort back to entering time manually on an Excel spreadsheet. I wouldn’t suggest either of those drastic measures. You just need to spend a bit of time to find the best solution for your business, and then who knows…you may even like it better! As my Dad once said…every problem presents an opportunity!