Profitable & Competitive Billing with Task Tracking Software

Profitable & Competitive Billing with Task Tracking Software

We all have those days where every task and project seems urgent and time sensitive. You start your work day early, work through lunch, and watch longingly as colleagues begin to pack up their bags and head home for the day, their work complete.

It is days like these when time seems to slip away and we lose track of how much of the day was devoted to which task. Without the proper time tracking practices in place, these hours of work get forgotten, and before long, can become a considerable loss in profitability for your agency.

If you’re like us here at Function Point, your work is structured around your clients, and you derive your revenue from assets such as your creativity, your talents, and your time. By keeping a record of your time you will see for yourself where your hours have been spent, and also be able to show clients an accurate breakdown of the effort expended on a project. It’s time to put an end to the days that get lost in a blur of hard work and stress, and start making sure you log your hours in a timely fashion!

Billing Using Task Tracking Software

The right task tracking software should work in combination with an appropriate billing method that works for both you and your clients. It is important to find a balance between keeping your prices competitive and ensuring you’re making a profit, while ensuring that clients are happy with the work you produce. There are different options when it comes to billing clients for your work, including hourly rates, flat fees, or using a retainer. Regardless of the billing method your agency selects, when executed appropriately, tracking your agency’s time is sure to serve your agency’s profits well.

Hourly

Selecting this billing option means that you will always be compensated for any overtime hours you spend on a project. It also allows you more flexibility within the scope of work to ensure a job is done properly. Hourly billing requires accurate and consistent time tracking to ensure that everyone is paid appropriately, that clients have clear visibility into a project, and that complete job reports can be generated for record keeping and for future reference.

Flat Fee

Billing clients at a flat rate means that your agency is not directly tied to time tracking. However, there is a lot of valuable insights to be gained from keeping good records.

In order to bill at a flat rate, you need to have an accurate perception of how much the job will actually cost you, how many hours that will go into the job, and who at your agency needs to be involved. Tracking time allows you visibility into jobs and keeps an exact record of how much time and effort has gone into specific tasks. You can then use this historical information from your task tracking software to accurately predict the amount of time required for the next job.

Retainers

With retainers, the expense is always consistent and there is always a steady stream of revenue. Naturally, a retainer requires that every single hour of time put into a project is tracked with accuracy. This way you can produce a detailed report for your clients to show them what they’re getting from their retainer. Being upfront and honest with clients about how much work you’re putting into their retainer is key — it is important to keep your client happy and in the loop.

Accurate and consistent time tracking by everyone in your agency is invaluable. It can help you stay in budget on jobs, ensure accurate billing, keep clients appraised as to progress, help make informed decisions for future estimates, and allow your agency to analyse the profitability on every project.

So, don’t allow those many hours of sweat and tears to disappear unnoticed! Track your time while it is fresh in your mind and help your agency better understand its business

Function Point is an “all-in-one” task tracking software designed for advertising agencies, design studios and internal marketing departments looking to streamline their business, combining time-tracking with project management, financial and business reporting tools in one convenient cloud-based solution.

To learn more, we welcome you to book a demo of our task tracking software!

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