What is time tracking?
Let's start with the basics! What is time tracking?
Time tracking is the process of recording the time you spend on various activities. This task often gets overlooked and isn't very popular among many people. It can be time-consuming and may feel like surveillance of your work. However, accurate time tracking is crucial within a company. It provides insight into issues that companies face, such as:
- How much time does it take to complete a task?
- Am I staying within my project budget and estimate?
- Where is my employees' time being allocated?
- Are my employees spending time on the right tasks?
- How can I justify hours to my clients?
- How can I use time more efficiently?
But it's also a handy way to see if your employees have enough work and are not bored. Or equally important: if they have too much work and are becoming overworked. In this blog, we explain why time tracking is important, the benefits it brings, and how to make time tracking simpler & more enjoyable.
Why is time tracking important?
1. Increased efficiency
When you have your team track hours, you get a good overview of the time spent on each task or project. From this data, you can see which departments manage their time well and which ones could better allocate their time. By making adjustments based on this information, a company will work more effectively. Employees also develop a higher sense of responsibility. They gain insight into what they have been working on and can recognize patterns or trends. By making it clear how long a task should take and how long it is estimated to take, they will make better choices and work more productively.
2. Communicating hours to clients
By tracking time through time tracking, all hours worked per employee are logged. This can be helpful when a client inquires about it. A good time tracking software assists in creating detailed reports. This way, you can easily and clearly communicate the hours worked to the client. This prevents disputes and provides a transparent view towards the client.
3. Creating realistic planning
A good and realistic planning is the foundation for effective business operations. By using time tracking, you can easily determine the amount of time certain tasks or projects require. Based on this information, you can create a realistic schedule. This helps prevent your employees from suffering from high work pressure.
4. Simplifying invoicing
When it's agreed with a client to carry out the assignment based on time spent, accurate time tracking is essential. If hours are tracked accurately from the start, there's no need to gather them later. This saves you a lot of time and effort. Moreover, you can be sure that all worked hours are billed to the client, preventing any loss of revenue.
5. Insight into profitable projects
Time tracking software, such as vPlan, helps convert time tracking into actionable data. With this data, you have a clear overview of who did what, and it's easy to track costs as well. Make sure there's a clear understanding of the budget. With proper time tracking, you can see where the hours have been spent and whether the project is profitable.
Methods of time tracking
There are many different options for employees to track their time. It's important to determine what works best for the company. Some companies still prefer paper-based methods, but often, a digital option is chosen. This can range from an Excel or Word document to an online time tracking tool. Time tracking software enables hours for a specific task or employee to be recorded in a simple yet accurate manner.
How to easily register hours with vPlan
vPlan is the easiest tool for visualizing your schedule. Various companies, from manufacturing companies to service providers, use vPlan for planning work and resources. This way, everyone knows exactly what needs to be done, and you can easily collaborate with your team. In addition to planning your work, you can also easily execute your work with vPlan. Easily complete your tasks and register your hours. Below, we'll explain how to register your hours simply and quickly.
Different ways of time tracking
Within vPlan, there are three different ways to track time. Let's explain these options.
Option 1: Start and stop activities
In a card, you'll see a green clock icon for each created activity. Click on the clock icon to start the activity. The timer will automatically start running. When you're done, stop the timer. The time will be recorded automatically.
Option 2: Duration
Within the Time Registration section of the card, you'll see all the time recorded to date. Here, you have the option to manually register time using the Duration option. With this option, you can select an activity and indicate the date and the number of hours you want to register for that activity.
Option 3: Time Range
You also have the option to add a Time Range to a card. With this option, you can select an activity from the card and indicate the start and end time of this activity.
Time registration with mobile app
With our app, vPlan Go, you have the planning and execution always in your pocket. With vPlan Go, you can quickly and easily register your worked hours, breaks, and travel time. For yourself or for your team. Anytime, anywhere!
Easy integration with other software
vPlan seamlessly integrates with other software such as Exact, Afas, Snelstart, and King. This allows you to automatically import your orders or projects into vPlan, enabling immediate planning.
Next, register the hours worked on your project or order. This way, you can precisely track how much time the orders or projects have consumed. Additionally, it's even possible to send the registered times back to your ERP or accounting software.
Analyze estimated and actual times
Know exactly how many hours you've worked compared to the pre-calculated hours. Within vPlan's analysis view, you can precisely analyze the estimated and actual times in a clear overview.
Evaluate recorded time
Evaluate the hours recorded by your colleagues in the dashboard. In this dashboard, you'll find all planned and recorded hours from yourself and your team. Each time registration line has a status: draft, in progress, approved, or rejected. For example, filter by 'in progress' to see all hours that still need to be reviewed at a glance.
Add comments to your time registration
It is now also possible to add comments to your time registration. For example, note why you worked longer on the assignment than initially estimated. This way, all information is together, and you know exactly what you can invoice to the customer.
Would you like to learn more about time tracking? Check out the video below.