Comparing Time Tracking Applications: Tick, FreshBooks, Intervals, and Cashboard
September 29th, 2008
As software costs rise and companies need more mobile solutions for productivity tools businesses look increasingly to web 2.0, where a new generation of tools allow companies to conduct their business anywhere, at low cost. This is true of all aspects of productivity, including time management. Businesses know that keeping a handle on time is one of the great challenges, and that companies who can rein it in are able to get more out of every project. This week we covered several of time management tools, judging them on their ability to track time, how easy they were to use, and which features they offered. Read More »
Managing time and tracking billable hours is an important task, but the way that FreshBooks sees it there are fine lines between tracking billable hours and invoicing, and project management. That's why FreshBooks is more than a time management tool, it's a project management, invoicing, and time management application with enough tools to make everyone happy. 
With time running away as easily as it does, having a time management tool is a boon to everyone, and with Cashboard, time is managed with billing in mind. Easily integrated with Basecamp, and with a number of invoicing tools, Cardboard can keep your receivables and timesheets organized. 
Project management applications all attempt to do the same thing, but as you might expect, some management applications are geared for enterprise users. Central Desktop is one of those, a robust application for project management with an impressive set of functions. 
If there was one word to describe the project manager application 5pm, it would be simplicity, and that's a good thing. Projects have a way of running over budget or out of time, becoming disorganized, or just plain getting out of control, so when a clever bit of web 2.0 can bring simplicity to the process, we feel we should talk about it a bit.
A project management tool with a user-friendly interface, 5pm is a tool to help you with organization, project tracking, information flow, and project management. To see how 5pm... 
Some people regard Basecamp as the original web-based project manager, since it has inspired so many similar products, and has helped launch a thousand interface look-alikes. Basecamp continues to have a loyal following, offering basic project management as part of the 37 Signals productivity suite. Its "web 2.0" methodologies allow everyone working on a project, not just a project manager, to contribute notes and files to a central location, and to collaborate on project deliverables and due dates.
GoPlan is project management application that uses the simplicity of blog-style posting as an interface to manage projects, to do lists, and notes. It has a simple, straightforward functionality that gets to the essentials of project planning. As project managers go, GoPlan has all the elements you would want and a few more: tools for organizing, tracking, and communicating. 
