Why use Clients & Profits for time keeping? A recent survey showed 94% of advertising agencies and graphic design firms that use Clients & Profits use it for time tracking. Before using Clients & Profits, most used FileMaker or Timeslips to track their time. The survey asked: What do you like best about time keeping with Clients & Profits? Their answers make a compelling case for pitching your paper time sheets: -- Entering time is accurate, quick, and easy -- Different billing rates (including overtime rates) set up to default automatically -- Time entered once goes everywhere it needs to go -- Flexible reports generated for detailed internal analysis or client review -- Time notes follow time entry everywhere n Accounts for every minute of work day -- Time flows right into billing so less time is spent billing. How do you compare? Who's the worst at tracking their time? -- 48% Senior Management -- 40% Creatives -- 12% Account Service -- 58% use cost rates based on actual hourly payroll costs plus benefits Average time entries per week: 739 2/3 of people like using budget alerts 17% show hours on client invoices The time keeping survey results were based on a random sample of 100 Clients & Profits users.

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Your staff needs to know

     What features would help make planning and monitoring time less difficult for management? By setting up planned hours for staff, employees can account for every hour of their work day. This would show how much time goes into meetings and other miscellaneous tasks that aren't billable. Finding ways to cut costs on unbillable time and leave more time to do billable work makes the difference between profit and loss on every job.

     Budget alerts keep estimated job tasks within their estimated hours by warning users as they approach time limits for a task. Status code alerts keep all time entries off of jobs that have not yet been approved, are on hold, or closed jobs. This way time won't slip through the cracks and ends up where it is supposed to go.

     Hassle-free editing of unbilled time makes it easy for management to correct any data entry errors or to move time between jobs. Unposting time is not necessary. After time entries are made, what would help you analyze how time has been spent? Flexible time reports allow for detailed analysis of where time has gone; reports can be run for any date range, client, job number, and staffer.

See where the time goes

     Flexible productivity reports allow for clear analysis of billable vs. unbillable time; planned hours vs. actual hours; and billable time by job, task, or staffer. Detailed job reports show, task by task, estimated hours vs. actual hours.


     Easily print meaningful reports sorted many different ways to find out how a job is progressing and if everything that needs to be done is getting done. After working in the database for a period of time, you'll have historical information accessible that can help in your planning for new jobs that are similar to old jobs.

Tracking time makes everybody (well, most people) happy

     Use detailed comparative reports to determine what activities are most productive and profitable, then focus on doing those activities more often. Minimize work that is unbillable or get less-expensive help to do it instead of billable creative staff.

     Successfully tracking and managing time benefits your company and your clients. Making it fast and easy gains your employees' support

Mindy Williams is a senior member of the Clients & Profits Helpdesk. She teaches the new-user training classes and edits the quarterly newsletters.