The 3 Best Methods of
Time Tracking for
Bookkeeping Businesses
There is some debate amount bookkeepers about the best way of keeping
track of time in bookkeeping businesses. Time tracking is critical for
both you and your client. If you’re not accurately doing this you could
end up not getting paid for work that you’ve done.
There are many ways to do this, but here are three of the most popular methods for bookkeeping businesses.
1. Your Client’s File:
This is a simple way of tracking time by just taking note of all your start and finish times and recording them on a piece of paper taped to the inside of your client’s file folder.
You can use a separate piece of paper for each month or just do a running balance and total it at the end of each month. Your hours will all be kept together in one place and you can show them to your client should the need ever arise.
2. Your Accounting Program:
Some accounting programs have a time tracking feature which allows you to record the stop and finish times for client work. This sounds good in theory but has some drawbacks.
First, you have to have both your own bookkeeping business accounting books open at the same time you have your client’s books open. Second, some accounting programs limit this feature to employee use only, which excludes you as a small business owner. Finally, the finished invoices that are produced have a whole list of confusing start and finish times that will inevitably just confuse your bookkeeping client.
3. Using a Day-Timer:
This is my favorite method of tracking time in bookkeeping businesses. Get a Day-Timer that has either one page per day or three days to a page. I’ve used both and they both work well; the amount of space just depends on how many clients you work on per day.
This method means you have all your hours recorded in a book that you can easily keep for a couple of years. So if there is ever a dispute over hours worked you have a handy record that you can produce.
Once you’ve worked on a new client’s files for a few months you can move to a flat bookkeeping rate and bill them out monthly.
Time tracking can be a short term task in bookkeeping businesses that can be eliminated once they have become a regular monthly client.
TIP: You can also use a software program called "Action Enforcer" to keep track of time. I've used this program for the last year and it's truly helped to keep me on task. I used the reports that it generates to do all my client billing as well! Check it out here.
