Timesheets for Creative and Design Professionals

Time is money for any business … but particularly for a creative agency or design firm. Your business is mostly fixed costs – you hire a bunch of talented people, and how much profit you make depends on how well you make use of their time on client work. Keep utilization and billability high, and your firm will make excellent profits. Let it slip too low, and your agency starts bleeding cash. 

Timesheet software, also known as time tracking or time management software, helps creative and design professionals  track and bill their time. Since time is, quite literally, money for a creative agency, then choosing the right timesheet solution is a critical business decision.
 

Timesheets boost your revenue

With the right timesheet solution, a creative design firm can dramatically improve its revenue. Effective time management boosts an agency's revenue in several ways, including:
    • Billing more of the time you spend on client work
    • Scheduling the right resources on the work
    • Charging the appropriate rate in all instances
    • Scoping and pricing its projects better

Timesheets control your costs

Look at the profit and loss (P&L) statement of a typical agency and it quickly becomes apparent that employee costs make up the vast majority of their cost structure. Choosing the right timesheet system enables creative or design firms to control their costs by:
    • Catching scope creep or project management issues early
    • Reducing the opportunity cost of time spent on unbillable activities
    • Understanding how its internal practices (e.g. meetings) impact on staff utilization
    • Reducing the overhead and administration associated with managing time 

Are you still using spreadsheets to track your time?

If so, you wouldn’t be the only one. It’s frightening how many creative and design professionals still use spreadsheet time tracking. Sure, it is an easy way to get started but as your business grows the problems escalate and you end up wasting billable time across the organization – designers take longer to fill in their time, admin staff have to consolidate and re-enter data, the finance team is forever sending out new spreadsheet versions with the latest job codes, and management has to do their own spreadsheet analysis to get the data they need in the right format. Don't you need a proper time tracking solution?

These days there are many powerful timesheet solutions that are easy to use, cost effective, and accessible from anywhere you have an internet connection. You’ll be amazed how much time you save on admin alone, let alone the significant benefits that can come from understanding and managing your billable time more effectively.

 

Find the right timesheet solution for your creative agency

There are many choices you will face in choosing the right timesheet software. Should it be installed on your servers or hosted by the vendor? Do you need internet or mobile phone access? Should expenses be managed through the same system? Will you invoice through the timesheet system, or do you need it to integrate with your accounting package? Will it look any good and be easy to use? There are many other questions like this for you to consider. Fortunately, we can help...



Get a free shortlist of relevant software by submitting your requirements below

Rather than trawling through the many available options yourself, simply use the form below to submit your timesheet requirements to Software Shortlist. We will then connect you with a shortlist of relevant timesheet vendors and service providers who are willing to explore your specific needs and discuss your questions in detail. For more details, see the Get A Shortlist page.


Submit Your Timesheet Requirements Here
Describe your key requirements  :
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Timeframe to purchase software?   :
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Your role in the decision?  :
How many people work in your division/firm?   :
   


Alternatively, get a fresh perspective with independent timesheet reviews...


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Timesheet Software Reviews

Time is money for any business … but particularly for professional service firms which bill their time to external clients, such as lawyers, accountants, designers, and consultants. So, which software should you use to track and manage your time?

The Timesheet Software Review Pack is a comprehensive 37 page report packed with independent reviews of 21 leading timesheet software providers.

The reviews cover: 1Time, 88Miles, Bill4Time, BillQuick, Cashboard, ClickTime, Dovico Timesheet, Easy Time Tracking, Fourteen Dayz, Freshbooks, Harvest, Intertec TimePro, Intervals, Office Timesheets, Paymo TimeTracker, Replicon Web Timesheet, Tempo, Tiktrac, Time59, Timesheets247 and TSheets

You can find out more about this review pack by going to the following link.
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