1time is an Irish time tracking site that makes tracking your project/task time across multiple clients easy.

I’ve been using this service for over a year now, as a free user. I have a small number of clients, so the free service suits me down to the ground. If I grow, I can subscribe to 1time for more features including a higher number of employees. The free service is limited to just one.

Having used a few similar site, most notably FreshBooks.com, I’m drawn back to 1time because of it’s simplicity. I was able to set up my own details and a client’s details in a matter of minutes (versus at least half an hour with other similar services).

As a self-employed web application developer, 1time is ideal in that it allows me to track time down to granular levels and report on that time, by category, by client, or by a range of criteria. My favourite feature of 1time is its built in client reporting. I can simply give my client a (reasonably secret) URL where they can get reports on my time tracking (related to their projects, only). They can drill down and see where my time is being spent. I don’t have to worry about sending ongoing timesheets.

1time stands out from the rest, because of its ease of use. There are a lot of features in 1time that I don’t use, but on exploring those, I can see that they’re all as easy to configure, use, and report on, as the rest of the application that I’m more used to using.

The only feature missing that would really suit me, is a clock facility (where you start tracking your time, with a mouse click, and come back and stop it when you’re finished, automatically tracking the time spent). I’ve been informed that this is on the way. Great! 1time have never received money from me, but they were quick to assure me that a feature I want (again, for free) was on the way. I admire that!

I’d certainly recommend my peers to give 1time a shot; it costs you nothing. It can automate a lot of time tracking, at let you categorise it as appropriate for your client. Your clients will thank you!