Ask HN: Invoicing for contractors

#1

Post by wowzer » Mon, Aug 28, 2017, 3:13 PM UTC

As a contractor what tools do you use to manage your tasks, track time spent for each client, and then charge your clients.

Re: Ask HN: Invoicing for contractors

#2

Post by welder » Mon, Aug 28, 2017, 3:49 PM UTC

I use https://wakatime.com to automatically show how long I worked on each project. The invoicing tool is in private beta right now, but it's basically an easy way to create a PDF for sending to clients.

Re: Ask HN: Invoicing for contractors

#3

Post by noahth » Mon, Aug 28, 2017, 5:02 PM UTC

I use Trello for task management and Harvest for time tracking and billing. I sometimes get envious of people with more tightly integrated and automated systems but so far I have needed the flexibility that comes with looser coupling much more than I've missed the added time required by my current setup.

Re: Ask HN: Invoicing for contractors

#4

Post by bigmanwalter » Mon, Aug 28, 2017, 5:56 PM UTC

I have a LibreOffice spreadsheet which I fill out my hours in. I also have a Writer document with my invoice layout and an embedded spreadsheet which lets me add line items and automatically calculates taxes. Easy enough to export to PDF. I keep all invoices in a specific directory, their filenames starting with the date and client name for easy discovery. I add the word '-PAID' to the filename once the invoice is paid by the client.

Re: Ask HN: Invoicing for contractors

#5

Post by jwho82 » Mon, Aug 28, 2017, 6:13 PM UTC

I built my own time tracking tool (https://logmyhours.com) for tracking my time and creating invoices for any side freelancing I was doing. I'm actually hoping to go full time on this in the next 6-12 months.

I use a bit of Trello and Freedcamp for my todos and planning.

I also use RescueTime to make sure I'm keeping productive. I'm actually exploring adding integrations with RescueTime with LogMyHours, to see how productive you were for each timesheet, and reporting period.

Re: Ask HN: Invoicing for contractors

#6

Post by akulbe » Mon, Aug 28, 2017, 8:43 PM UTC

FreshBooks.

Re: Ask HN: Invoicing for contractors

#7

Post by osrec » Mon, Aug 28, 2017, 11:49 PM UTC

I built Bx - it's a fair bit more than just time tracking, but it covers time tracking nicely. Try it out at https://usebx.com

Re: Ask HN: Invoicing for contractors

#8

Post by feistypharit » Tue, Aug 29, 2017, 2:00 AM UTC

https://www.getharvest.com works well for me. Web plus a native osx app and ability to log and remove idle time in case you leave it's timer running.

Re: Ask HN: Invoicing for contractors

#9

Post by wowzer » Tue, Aug 29, 2017, 5:50 AM UTC

feistypharit wrote: post #8

https://www.getharvest.com works well for me. Web plus a native osx app and ability to log and remove idle time in case you leave it's timer running.

Thanks. Looks pretty perfect.

Re: Ask HN: Invoicing for contractors

#10

Post by wowzer » Tue, Aug 29, 2017, 5:51 AM UTC

jwho82 wrote: post #5

I built my own time tracking tool ( https://logmyhours.com ) for tracking my time and creating invoices for any side freelancing I was doing. I'm actually hoping to go full time on this in the next 6-12 months. I use a bit of Trello and Freedcamp for my todos and planning. I also use RescueTime to make sure I'm keeping productive. I'm actually exploring adding integrations with RescueTime with LogMyHours, to see how…

Looks solid!