In order to run projects successfully and profitably, the quality of recording project hours is a very helpful tool. However, even though there are now some tools that help teams record their working hours within their projects, inaccuracies in the accounts or inefficient processes creep in.
In this blog post, we look at three key mistakes when recording project work hours and present solutions to avoid them.
Mistake #1: Manual recording of times in Excel
While recording work hours in Excel is the easiest at first, because anyone can quickly enter their times into Excel. In the long run, inaccuracies will creep in and the manual work of entering them is also a big time eater. It’s also more difficult for project managers to create comprehensive reports and evaluations that can easily assess the success of projects.
How can you record your times automatically instead of in Excel ?
Use time tracking systems like timeghost, which are specifically designed for project management. With such systems, employees can easily and accurately record their working hours. The interfaces to Microsoft 365 programs allow you to automatically record the activities of your Microsoft apps. For example, your Teams calls are tracked in the background and displayed to you as a time entry in timeghost. You associate the call with the project and task and have your minute-by-minute time entry recorded.
Mistake #2:Project working times are not recorded correctly
Another crucial error is the inadequate recording of project working hours. When labor hours are not recorded correctly, it can lead to incorrect billing. This can cause financial losses for the company as well as dissatisfaction among customers.
How can you ensure consistently high quality project billing and reporting?
Implement a time recording system that allows employees to record their working hours in detail and accurately and that also has the option of storing time budgets and corresponding hourly rates. This way, you can record your projects in a central app that is geared towards project management. Thanks to the versatile evaluation options, you can already assess how the project is going, which tasks take more time and whether the project is profitable during the project without having to do a lot of research. Clear authorization structures allow you to choose who receives which information about the project.
Mistake #3: Isolated solution instead of system integration
Another mistake project teams make is choosing software that is an island solution in the company’s work environment. The software can be as good as it is if it cannot work with other programs in the work environment. Accordingly, in addition to the functions within the application, you should also look at how the software can communicate with other programs that you use in your daily work.
How timeghost is integrated into the Microsoft environment
Using the Microsoft Graph API, Microsoft Power Automate or Zapier connectors, timeghost can create a workflow for almost any application. In total, we have over 6,000 flows to other programs.
Conclusion
Time is money! Accurate recording of project working hours is crucial to ensure correct billing and efficient resource planning. Above all, you should make sure that you record your projects efficiently and as cleanly as possible.
By avoiding manual entry in Excel, ensuring accurate recording of working hours and focusing on system integration, companies can save time and money while managing their projects more effectively.
Our tip
Invest in the right tools when recording your project working hours. Not only will you save time, but you’ll also be able to manage your projects more profitably!
Timeghost records all your Microsoft 365 activities automatically – all you have to do is assign them to projects and tasks.
With the 14-day free version, you can test timeghost and automatically record all Microsoft activities as working time. Try it out!
More integration is not possible – with the timeghost App for Microsoft Teams
All you have to do is install the timeghost Teams app directly from the AppSource Store install in the application. You can find instructions here. The timeghost app includes all the features you know from the web client, and since you use your Office 365 account to access timeghost, you’ll be ready in seconds.
