Time Management Software – What are the Features to Look For?

You’re looking to make changes in how your company manages time and projects. But how will you manage to implement those changes? Making changes in your time management system can be a challenge and could include a multitude of questions. There are many considerations; after all, it isn’t just about you but equally about those that work with you. You probably have a system for bookkeeping and payroll right now, but in the ever-changing world of business you have most likely heard there are more effective tools for putting the numbers to work for you. These tools are known as Time Management Software, Project Management Software and Business Management Software.

Change, in the Business sense, is better labeled “progress”. Progress is important, for it encompasses much in the business world, and without it you are merely spinning your wheels. History tends to reveal many answers. Take for instance two corner grocery stores in say the 50s. Store A puts all the receipts for ordering resale goods, utilities, hours of his employees and the tapes from his adding machine into a paper bag and brings them home on the weekend to balance between receivables and payouts.

Store B’s owner keeps a log of sold items, employee tasks and items spoiled or out dated along with a simple two column ledger he kept up at the close of each day. There were not any differences that seemed major between store A and B in the beginning but in time store A developed a reputation for having out dated goods and spoiled product, the shelves were dusty and bookwork was behind by months because life happened on the weekends. Store A was beginning to loose revenue yet he was unaware of the reason because he did not have a time management or project management system in place. Store B continued to thrive, always offering the freshest product to their customers, cheerful employees that knew what was expected of them, and a store that seemed to carry just what the customer wanted.

Store B had a system for project management, time management and business management. Store B excelled to become a huge grocery store chain, where store A threw in the towel and locked their doors for the final time. The moral of the story is you need to have a system to manage your numbers. How good that system is will dictate the progress of your company. If progress means changing to a time tracking software system in today’s world, then you need to know what you’re looking for.

Since Time is Money, you need time management software as well as business management software to make your business as successful as it can be. The software you choose should feature as many of the following characteristics as possible:

WEB Based (Installed or Hosted Online)

Over 134 reports

Automated reporting, notifications, job tasking

Custom reports & graphs supported

Unlimited clients, projects, tasks, addresses, notes

Support billable, nonbillable, overtime, flextime

International date, time, currencies

Customizable terminology and user interfaces

Unlimited user definable custom fields

Free web-based teaching materials

Corporate Compliance & Governance

Windows Authentication (LDAP)

Itemized security permissions

XML, Web services architecture

Very scalable architecture

Full Export / Import capability

Included Integration:

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Project (Microsoft certified)

Microsoft Project Server (Microsoft certified)

Intuit QuickBooks

Microsoft Access