ClickTime Blog

ClickTime 6.51

We are happy to announce the release of ClickTime version 6.51. The update includes new billing rate functionality and improved workflow and navigation improvements. The changes are as follows:

1. Billing Rates - We added the ability to set your clients, projects, jobs, tasks and employees to use a default company billing rate. Along with other new billing rate workflow improvements, you can now easily implement changes to your company's billing rates as of a specific date in the past and apply those changes to locked and unlocked timesheets.


2. Navigation Improvements - We removed and reorganized some options in the navigation to simplify your selection, and to minimize the vertical space needed when using the application. There are now only two primary areas designated by tabs: Personal and Company. The ClickTime Desktop Application can now be downloaded from the "Applications" area under the Personal tab. The ClickTime Connector for use with QuickBooks can now be downloaded from the Integration section under the Company tab. The "help" and "sign out" links are now in the top-right corner on all pages. The links for entering expense sheets will no longer be shown to customers who don't utilize the feature.


3. ClickTime Desktop Application - Our friends at Archetype have fixed several issues in what hopefully will be the final beta release. This update fixes issues reported by customers regarding offline mode usage, and improved time zone support when entering and displaying start and end times with each timesheet entry. This beta version of the Desktop Application is available to all customers from the Applications section under the Personal tab after signing in. If you have a previous beta version installed, you should be prompted to update to the new version upon opening the application. Please let us know if you have any issues, suggestions or other comments about the application. Your feedback is very important to us.


4. Updated Mobile Sign-In Page - We updated the mobile sign-in page for non-WebKit-based browsers.


5. Nigerian Naira - We added the Nigerian Naira (NGN) as a currency option. You can now enter your expense items in this currency. You may also select the Naira as your company's primary currency via Company Preferences.

Quickly Add Similar Expenses

Do you find yourself entering similar expenses one after another? Perhaps you get reimbursed monthly for the same set of expenses (cell phone, etc.) and end up entering a few months at the same time. Here's a tip to help you quickly add those expenses to your expense sheet.

Once you've created your expense sheet, just follow these steps:  

1. Enter your expense by specifying the date, the type of expense, the amount, payment method and any description necessary.
2. Click the "save" button.
3. Hit the "back" button in your browser. Your browser should show you the "add expense" form that you just filled out with all the values pre-selected.
4. Change the date or any other details needed for the next expense and click "save" again.
5. Continue repeating steps 3 and 4 for each similar expense you need to enter.

This can save you lots of time if you have a big pile of expenses to enter and many of them are similar to one another (i.e. you haven't turned in an expense sheet in a few months).

Do you have a tip about using ClickTime? Please let us know!

ClickTime 6.5

We are happy to announce the release of ClickTime version 6.5. The update includes a new Timesheet View, improved timesheet approval workflow and much more.  The changes are as follows:

1. Timesheet View - We rebuilt the Timesheet View with a brand new look and implemented some great new methods for reviewing your timesheet. The new view gives you the option to summarize your timesheet by clients, jobs, phases, sub-phases or tasks across each timesheet.


2. Timesheet Approval Workflow Improvements - We've streamlined common processes for managers and administrators. The improvements are especially helpful when you need to edit someone else's timesheet that was previously submitted for approval or was already approved.


3. ClickTime Connector for use with QuickBooks® - This is now a public beta available to all customers. Just sign in and set your accounting application to QuickBooks in your company preferences, and then go to the Download tab to get the Connector. We've disabled the old "QuickBooks Reimbursable Expense Export (beta)" report. The new ClickTime Connector is a big improvement over the old IIF export formats. We encourage all QuickBooks users to try the new ClickTime Connector and let us know if you have any issues or enhancement requests.


4. Updated Reports - We improved the appearance of several reports in the My Reports section under the Personal tab.


5. Apple iOS 4 Support - We officially support Apple's newest iPhone and the iOS 4 update. You can use our Mobile Edition as well as the main web application with your iOS-based mobile devices.
   


6. Mongolian Tugrik - We added the Mongolian Tugrik (MNT) as a currency option. You can now enter your expense items in this currency. You may also select the Tugrik as your company's primary currency via Company Preferences.


7. Documentation - We updated the online and PDF documentation to reflect the most recent updates. Administrators may download the user manuals (PDF) from the Quick View page after signing in. The online help is available by clicking the "help" links that appear in the upper and lower right-corners of every page after signing in to ClickTime.

East Bay QuickBooks and Business Coaches Meetup Group

A few members of the ClickTime team recently ventured across the bay to meet-up with the East Bay chapter of QuickBooks and Business Coaches. Organizers Diana Cohn and Steve Peterson have a very talented group of CPAs and Business Professionals that meet to share their experiences with QuickBooks and third party applications. They were the perfect audience to introduce to our new ClickTime Connector for use with QuickBooks®.

Alex Mann, ClickTime CEO, gave a demo of ClickTime and the Connector to the group. The demo highlighted how easily time and expenses tracked in ClickTime can be used to create invoices in QuickBooks. The feedback and questions the group raised were excellent tests of ClickTime and the Connector as a solution for detailed time-tracking on a project by project basis. At the end of the demo our QuickBooks company file clearly illustrated where our company had done work during the previous billing period and what projects were returning the biggest profits.

Diana Cohn, founder of the Corner Office, was one of the very first Certified Intuit Professional Advisors when Intuit started the certification program in 1999. An organizing member of the QuickBooks and Business Coaches group, she has been teaching QuickBooks for the past 14 years. “There is always more to learn and there are always users with new challenges,” says Diana.  “The QuickBooks and Business Coaches Meetup group believes in collaboration and the association of others' services and expertise in order to distribute success.” After our demo she reported:

I was very impressed by the ClickTime Team. The presentation was fluid and well organized. Alex has true skill when it comes to interacting with the audience and fulfilling their questions, not only in a concise and clear manner, but with a touch of wit and sparkle. The product itself, ClickTime, as a time and expense management tool in the clouds is very well constructed, great screen graphics and clarity. The {application} includes several nuances that would be a great fit for businesses of any size and model; multiple levels of entry, reports, time estimates vs. actual, management approval, exportability, and more. I truly believe this product will be of great value to my clients and I can't wait to get a couple of them started.”

The ClickTime Team will continue to attend Meetups with groups like the one in the East Bay as they provide an opportunity for us to network with QuickBooks experts in and around the Bay Area. These meet-ups allow us to test ClickTime and its feature enhancements on the toughest critics we have found. We are looking forward to our next opportunity to present the latest version of our Connector to another group of talented business professionals.

For more information on the QuickBooks and Business Coaches group or to find a Meetup group near you please visit: http://quickbooks.meetup.com/

Integration with ColdFusion and the ClickTime API

Nylon Technology is a web development agency that has been in business since 1997 and specializes in web-based software projects including custom website, intranet, extranet, CD-ROM, RIA, content management and database solutions. After trying several other online timesheet systems, they switched to ClickTime over a year ago and have been very happy with the service. In order to better manage and report on the efficiency and profitability of their projects and staff, they identified the need to integrate their timesheet data with some of their internal applications. Nylon Technology has a long history with ColdFusion, the application development platform, and needed to get the integration up and running as quickly as possible, so they wrote a complete localized business logic tier and an accompanying data storage interface to ClickTime using the ClickTime Web Services API and ColdFusion. This tier enabled them to synchronize data with the hosted ClickTime environment and use the ClickTime data within their internal applications and processes. They're now exploring further integration solutions with ClickTime including custom reporting, payroll, Subversion source control, and Exchange Server.
 
According to Simon Horwith, the Chief Technology Officer for Nylon Technology, "the ClickTime API is fairly robust and was easy to work with. Now we have all of our up-to-date ClickTime data at our fingertips in a local SQL Server Database for use however we need. The ColdFusion client tier we wrote allows us to work with 'live' data via the API or the already captured local data interchangeably and seamlessly, and it has been written in such a way that we can quickly offer the same ClickTime integration to any project for our clients who also use ClickTime."
 
"Though we used ColdFusion for our internal integration tier, Nylon Technology is also very experienced delivering projects for mobile devices and has in-house expertise and experience with PHP, Flex/Flash, Python, Java, and .NET. We are always excited to help new clients find better ways to use technology."

If you'd like help integrating your internal systems and applications with the ClickTime API, you can visit Nylon Technology on the web at http://www.nylontechnology.com or you can email Simon Horwith at shorwith@nylontechnology.com.

Safari 5 and ClickTime

Apple released Safari version 5 last week for Windows and Mac. Version 5 of Safari is faster than previous versions and provides other notable features. We've confirmed that this version of Safari works well with ClickTime, so feel free to upgrade at your convenience.

In case you're not ready to upgrade to Safari 5, Apple released version 4.1, an update for Safari 4. We've confirmed Safari 4.1 also works well with ClickTime.

Updated Beta Versions

Updated beta versions of the ClickTime Desktop Application and the ClickTime Connector for use with QuickBooks® are now available.

ClickTime Desktop Application - Our friends at Archetype have fixed several issues in this updated beta release. This beta version of the Desktop Application is available to all customers from the Download tab after signing in. If you have a previous beta version installed, you should be prompted to update to the new version upon opening the application. Please let us know if you have any issues, suggestions or other comments about the application. Your feedback is very important to us.

ClickTime Connector for use with QuickBooks® - This updated beta version addresses some installation issues, and updates the security certificate. If you have the previous beta version installed, you can keep using it. If you had trouble installing the application, please download the new version and try again. If you are interested in helping test the ClickTime Connector beta, please contact us.

ClickTime 6.4

We released ClickTime version 6.4 today. The update includes powerful bulk editing capabilities, a new payroll report, and improved reporting optimized for the iPad and iPhone.  The changes are as follows:

1. Find & Replace with Bulk Changes - We added a powerful new tool to enable large-scale bulk editing of timesheet data. In the Advanced section under the Company tab, you now have the ability to reassign clients, jobs, phases, sub-phases and tasks across all timesheet data, or just a specific set of timesheet entries. This is helpful for companies who want to rearrange the way they organize and categorize their data. It also helps when you need to split one project into two projects, or fix some incorrectly assigned time across multiple people and dates. These changes can be performed without having to unlock or unapprove timesheets, and could save hours of administrative overhead. If you'd like to learn more about this feature, please contact us or review our online help documentation.


2. Payroll Report - A new Excel payroll report is now in the People category under the Reports menu. This report provides a summary of hours worked and a summary of any time off taken by specified people, divisions or employment types. The time worked can also be subtotaled by client or job/project. This is helpful for basic payroll needs, as well as providing a quick summary of what clients and projects people are working on.


3. Optimized Reporting for iPad and iPhone - We improved the way some reports are displayed in the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. You should now be able to view multi-page PDF reports properly with these Apple mobile devices.


4. Documentation - We updated the online and PDF documentation to reflect the most recent updates. Administrators may download the user manuals (PDF) from the Quick View page after signing in. The online help is available by clicking the "help" links that appear in the upper and lower right-corners of every page after signing in to ClickTime.

Screencasts

We recently updated several of our informational screencasts. These short videos can help you learn more about specific features in ClickTime. The topics include project estimation, QuickBooks integration, and more. There are also some introductory videos useful for people new to ClickTime. Check out the videos on our screencast menu.

Mileage Reimbursement Rate

For our U.S. customers, we want to remind you that the federal mileage reimbursement rates were revised at the beginning of the year. Thus, as of January 1, 2010, the federal mileage reimbursement rate decreased from 55 cents per mile to 50 cents/mile (see the IRS web site for details).

We recommend that you change your company's mileage reimbursement rate in ClickTime if you haven't already done so. In order to edit your company's mileage rate, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to ClickTime (you need to be an administrator).
2. Click the "Expenses" link on the menu bar under the Company tab.
3. Click the "Expense Types" link.
4. Click on the name or "edit pencil" icon of your "mileage" expense type.
5. Edit the rate value. For example, enter 0.50 for the new federal rate.
6. Choose whether to apply the rate change to expenses that haven't been approved.
7. Save your changes.

If your company has multiple mileage expense types, remember to repeat steps 4-7 above for each appropriate expense type. You can also choose to apply the rate change to expenses that haven't yet been approved.

To see how the federal mileage rate has fluctuated during the past several years, check out this Wikipedia article.