What services are freelance developers using to manage time logging, expense tracking, invoice generation, and reporting for multiple clients?<p>Preferably a service that offers both a web and native app.
We use <a href="https://www.getharvest.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.getharvest.com</a> for that.<p>And <a href="https://basecamp.com" rel="nofollow">https://basecamp.com</a> for project management.
I have been really happy with Typeform-->Zapier-->Invoice Ninja. TF feeds a bunch of other apps too. The Invoice Ninja guys are super responsive with customer service (<12 hours in many cases) and immediately helped with some minor tweaks I needed to get off the ground. The app is well laid out. They have a self-hosting version but the SaaS is so affordable and snappy, I see no need unless some privacy issues. Not affiliated but a happy customer. Please use my referral code if you find it meets your needs (<a href="https://app.invoiceninja.com/invoice_now?rc=DNCBCKGS" rel="nofollow">https://app.invoiceninja.com/invoice_now?rc=DNCBCKGS</a>).
I've been using <a href="http://hellobonsai.com" rel="nofollow">http://hellobonsai.com</a> for invoicing. It has been an amazing experience.<p>They do time tracking and a bunch of other things as well and are continually improving the product.
I have a settled on Toggl for time tracking and Zoho Books for invoicing. Toggl supports csv export and Zoho Books has an import feature that makes getting data from one to the next fairly simple, with the help of a simple script I wrote to transform the data (<a href="https://github.com/joshrickert/toggl-zoho-books-timesheet-converter" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/joshrickert/toggl-zoho-books-timesheet-co...</a>).<p>I did a pretty exhaustive search when I set out to solve this problem a couple years ago, and ended up with a considerable amount of research that I summarized on my blog (<a href="https://joshrickert.com/blog/invoicing-apps-for-freelancers/" rel="nofollow">https://joshrickert.com/blog/invoicing-apps-for-freelancers/</a>).
I run my own time tracking tool over at <a href="https://logmyhours.com" rel="nofollow">https://logmyhours.com</a> - great for both freelancers and small teams! Built in invoicing tools, report exporting and mobile app for both Android and iOS.<p>If Log My Hours is missing a feature you need, reach out and I'll be happy to help :).
If you're comfortable setting up a server, I've been using duet for a couple of months which is great. Doesn't have a native app though but no monthly fees. <a href="https://duetapp.com/" rel="nofollow">https://duetapp.com/</a>
I use Timely for time tracking because of it's fast time-to-data-entry. Also, they integrate with calendar and todo services for those "what did I do today" moments.<p><a href="https://timelyapp.com" rel="nofollow">https://timelyapp.com</a>
Very early on:<p>* time tracking: a frankenstein combination of system logs (especially helpful when jumping between workstations), paper notebook, and chatlogs<p>* invoicing: <a href="http://billable.me/" rel="nofollow">http://billable.me/</a><p>* both: some elbow grease<p>Evolution (and current, w/ a small team):<p>* time tracking: <a href="http://getharvest.com/" rel="nofollow">http://getharvest.com/</a><p>* invoicing, accounting, etc: <a href="https://www.xero.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.xero.com/</a><p>The first one carried me for a few months, at an average workload of 60~140h/mo and a maintenance workload of about 4 hours total.<p>The latter is solving somewhat different problems, but does equate to time won on the admin side.
<a href="https://cushionapp.com/" rel="nofollow">https://cushionapp.com/</a> is a favorite of mine. Mainly a scheduling/forecasting app but has some great, newer features around invoicing/payments and time tracking.
It might not be as hip as some of the other options, but Quickbooks invoicing allows you to accept payments as ACH transfers. Not many services do this. (Or at least, they didn't when I last researched it ~2 years ago.)<p>An ACH transfer costs me $0.50. A credit card transaction costs at least 2.9%, although some invoicing tools charge an additional percentage on top of that. On a $4000 invoice that's over $100 I would pay out as fees with another tool.<p>Nearly every client I've worked with has been okay with paying this way instead of credit card.
I use Pancake (<a href="https://www.pancakeapp.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.pancakeapp.com/</a>) for my invoices, expense tracking, proposal/estimate writing, and reporting. They don't offer a native app, but the site is responsive and works well enough on mobile. Pay once and run on your own server.<p>I previously used Toggl for time-tracking, but have been transitioning out of hourly billing and haven't been tracking time for months.
Gsuite / Trello / Toggl / Xero . This is comprehensive as I have found a combination of services to be and still be relatively low overhead.
<a href="https://books.zoho.com" rel="nofollow">https://books.zoho.com</a> is international and has been wonderful for my project billing. I've been using it for ~2 years as a freelancer and have no complaints. I don't have any business or accounting education and I credit the design of the UI with helping me learn basic accounting principles.
Freshbooks. It's not free, but it has all the features you want, both on web and mobile. It costs me ~$200/year, but it saves me enough time that it more than pays for itself.
We use Albert <a href="https://www.getalbert.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.getalbert.com/</a> (UK-only).
Very easy for invoicing.