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  • 1.  Recommendations for project time tracking software

    Posted 06-15-2023 14:42

    Hi All,

    I'm curious if anyone has suggestions for project time tracking software that works well for consulting. It's a plus if it's being used in a multi-statistican environment and allows for different client rate structures (e.g. student, academic, corporate).

    Thanks in advance,



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    Daniel Coven
    Research Analyst
    College of Health Solutions
    Arizona State University
    Daniel.Coven@asu.edu
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  • 2.  RE: Recommendations for project time tracking software

    Posted 06-15-2023 15:11

    I have only one employee (me) for my consulting corporation. Though I'm retired now and no need for the software. I use a web /cloud based software for project/ time tracking software called Harvest

    There are options for several people on a project and different rates for each. I occasionally used a retainer arrangement and the software permits that (setting that up requires digging into the documentation).

    The invoice it generates is "not pretty and not client friendly". I create a more client friendly invoice in excel.

    https://www.softwareadvice.com/scheduling/harvest-profile/

    https://www.getharvest.com/

    There may be an option to try it for a month or so free ($0.0)



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    Chris Barker, Ph.D.
    2023 Chair Statistical Consulting Section
    Consultant and
    Adjunct Associate Professor of Biostatistics
    www.barkerstats.com


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    "In composition you have all the time you want to decide what to say in 15 seconds, in improvisation you have 15 seconds."
    -Steve Lacy
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Recommendations for project time tracking software

    Posted 06-15-2023 15:32

    Exponent uses the Vantagepoint software from Deltek, which works well on our scale--over 900 consultants (other scientists and engineers, as well as statisticians)--but may be more than you need:  Deltek | Powering Project Success.



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    Duane Steffey
    Principal Scientist
    Exponent, Inc.
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Recommendations for project time tracking software

    Posted 06-15-2023 15:25

    I'm only in the very early stages of launching my solo consultancy, but I plan to use ETM. Stands for event and task manager. It's not exactly mainstream, but it's a really cool application developed by Daniel Graham. It's command-line, all plain-text based, using json to store the database of events, and uses Python, the end result being I think a very nice user interface.  I'm not sure how it might be used jointly by multiple employees in one organization.

    It can group events and tasks by client and then by project. "Timers" can record work time, and aggregate it by project and by client.

    It does not explicitly incorporate hourly rates to convert time to money, nor does it natively generate invoices; I'll have to do that outside the ETM application itself.

    Works great on my Linux, and apparently on OSX; Windows 10 presented me some obstacles, although it is said to be possible.  I also have it working via Termux on my Android phone; I hope to use git to integrate it across my mobile and desktop devices.

    homepage: https://dagraham.github.io/etm-dgraham/

    some tutorial videos (Dan has just started making these): https://www.youtube.com/@etm-dgraham



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    Christopher Ryan
    Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine
    SUNY Upstate Clinical Campus
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Recommendations for project time tracking software

    Posted 06-15-2023 18:07
    Hi Daniel,

    When I was billing time for my single member LLC, I used the OfficeTime app on my iPhone.  It had several nice features and was more than adequate.  You can define different projects, categories, etc. and there is a timer which is sometimes useful.  You can run reports, export data, and send those files to yourself as records.  It was then easy to data enter hours in my Quickbooks Professional software for running invoices.  You could probably load the data if you had enough projects and consultants to invest in the data flow.

    Best,
    David



    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Recommendations for project time tracking software

    Posted 06-15-2023 18:30

    Hi Daniel,

    I use Atlassian/Jira extensively. It has a great Kanban board, is easy to visualize workflows, and makes assigning tasks easy. Most of the features are free for teams < 10. You can also link your repositories and manage code/analytical documentation all in the cloud. They have a nice app too. Give it a shot!

    https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira

    • AB 


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    Adam Batten
    Lead Statistician & President
    AB EVERGREEN ANALYTICS LLC
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Recommendations for project time tracking software

    Posted 06-16-2023 10:57

    Hi Daniel, I would highly recommend Zoho Invoice. It's great for small-medium teams, inexpensive, and you get a nice mobile app for time tracking. You can also directly generate estimates, invoices, and expenses from within the app. 



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    Olivier Binette
    Duke University
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Recommendations for project time tracking software

    Posted 06-16-2023 11:24

    Olivier beat me to it: We've been in the "Zoho ecosystem" and found it very helpful: email, time tracking, invoices, etc.

    We've got an 11 person operation between data scientists & software engineers multiplied across different levels of seniority. So it should have enough flexibility to meet most needs.

    We're probably going to switch to SuiteDash (https://suitedash.com) for our billing because of more features offered. So give both a look.

    Also, for SaaS in general we keep an eye on AppSumo: https://appsumo.com/

    • The products they feature are hit & miss.
    • But when they hit they're great
    • When they miss they're great with refunds
    • Multiplied by the fact that you get lifetime deals as early customers.

    Hope that helps!



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    Glen Wright Colopy
    DPhil Oxon
    Host | The Data & Science Podcast
    Head of Data Science | Alesca Life Tech Ltd
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    Original Message