Time & money. Both valuable commodities concerning personal & client project management. Over the past few weeks I have spent a great deal of time experimenting with services and applications designed to improve overall management and productivity. From the open source Basecamp alternative known as activeCollab, web based services such as Blinksale, and desktop solutions including Stunt Software’s On The Job [read the review], I have seen a wide range of options available to professional and casual users alike including my recent experience with the Tick preview release [Tickspot].

Prioritize and budget your time

The general consensus would assume that budget equals the monetary limitation of a project. A misconception that must be forgotten in order to successfully manage projects using Tick. From a design standpoint, budget does not equal a monetary budget (let the clients worry about that). From a designers standpoint, time is the most valuable asset. Time is what must be budgeted, tracked, and managed.

The idea is that Tick would serve as a collaborative tool for managing the amount of time alloted to certain projects. By understanding the amount of time that a project would require, project admins could then create individual projects with a specified amount of time alloted to them.

Tick tock, the clock is running

Money is not a prioritized commodity for Tick users, time is. For that reason, the interface is completely void of any client billing, tracking, or invoicing service features. Do not mistake this service as an alternative to web based project management options. For illustrative purposes, I’ll create a single project which will have one administrative user and two project team members.

Client creation and project outline

From the project creation screen, administrators can specify or create client profiles, a project title, the total budget or maximum amount of time available, individual tasks with alloted time from the max. budget alloted to each, and email notifications for included group members.

Virtual time cards

Similar to manually clocking in for a mundane sales floor job at the local retail mall, Tick allows users to manually submit hours of work completed with any respective notes attached. In doing so, Tick automatically deducts the completed time from the max. reserved time.

Active reports for project monitoring

The Reports tab presents a global view of all active projects monitored by Tick. View total time entered (completed hours), number of client projects, and current project status. Overviews with an accompanying bar graph can also be viewed on a per day basis for total time entered.

Room for improvement?

Despite being a Preview Release, the interface seems to be quite polished and ready for public use. With subscription costs ranging from free (for a limited number of active projects) to $79, the pay for model looks as though it will continue to be a significant requirement for web based project management solutions.

In regards to the stripped down nature of being a virtual project timecard, I have yet to decide whether a limited project management solution such as Tick holds any real advantageous features over alternative solutions. Collaborative efforts will continue to be a much welcome feature for services. Being limited to budgeting time with no additional options for calculating project fees or billing may deter potential users. Time is definitely a designers best asset, but without any sort of monetary influence, the virtual gears on this time keeper may very well cease to turn.

If you’re interested in checking out the service, head on over to the Tickspot and submit your inquiries.

Fortunately, Stunt Software offers a fairly new option for OS X users with its On The Job (Price: $24.95 + Demo) project tracking solution.

After having scoured the net for relief in gaining some sense of organization and automation concerning billable hours, invoice creation, and project archiving, I stumbled across a few viable options including: Blinksale, FreshBooks, and SideJobTrack. All three of these were great options yet all shared the same dependancies: online access and / or a small monthly subscription fee for real world usage.

On The Job offers a great deal of functionality packaged into a tiny little application which looks right at home in your OS X Applications folder. Gone are the days of sticky notes littering the desktop, desk lamp, monitor screen, or back pockets. On The Job offers a balanced feature set aimed at improving productivity, time management and invoicing.

Grab yourself a fully functional demo of On The Job to see if your current workflow could use a little efficiency revival with a few of the following features:

Dock timer & Idle checker

On The Job’s dock icon serves as an active reminder of your current task. Thanks to its stop watch like timer, users can keep a watchful eye on the amount of time they’ve spent on a current task. If by chance an urgent call redirects your attention, On The Job conveniently prompts you with a message offering to subtract your computers idle time from billable hours.

Grouping, organizing, and archiving

Utilizing a familiar hierarchal folder and file tree, users will have complete control over project organization and task management. Create parent folders for specific clients with sub folders and tasks pertaining to different responsibilities for each. Once a project is completed, archive the project folder for invoice referencing at a later date.

Address Book integration

Often overlooked, Apple’s Address Book has become a valuable asset in organizing both personal and professional contacts. On The Job offers the ability to quickly reference contacts and clients directly from your Address Book from within the application itself. No need to copy n’ paste contact details, simply click the vCard icon found within the individual project information details.

Project billable hours

Rather estimating figures for invoicing purposes, embrace the automation offered by On The Job for tracking hours worked, rates, expense, and invoice calculations. Specify an hourly figure per project to automate billing down to the second. Alternatively, direct On The Job to round up or down at 5 min, 10 min, 15 min, or custom intervals.

Invoice creation: PDF, TXT, CSV, & XML

Create beautiful PDF invoices on the fly for select projects. In addition, On The Job supports exporting project invoices as plain text, XML, or CSV formats. Email your invoices directly to clients from within On The Job using your default mail client.

Will On The Job streamline your workflow?

Stunt Software’s On The Job offers the perfect blend of functionality presented in an attractive minimalist interface. No frills, unnecessary bells or whistles, or bloat. While there is no guarantee that the quality of your work will improve because of this application, I highly recommend the project tracking utility to anyone in search of an all-in-one solution for organizing, tracking, and invoicing clients.

Fresh updates are in the works

After personally speaking with Dan concerning On The Job, and despite the relatively new release, I’ve discovered the next release(s) will include a few much welcomed features:

• State & Local Taxes: Two text fields will allow users to input applicable tax percentages which will be automatically calculated into the total billable hours.
• Additional PDF Templates: Additional PDF invoice templates and customizations.
• Menu Bar &/or Widget support: The added convenience to toggle between tasks timers directly from the OS X menu bar or a standalone widget.

Definitely check out the rest of the software offerings by Stunt Software including: PhotoBooth, Downsize, and Overflow. Digg this.