You start a timer when you begin work, stop it when you're done. The software logs the hours against a client or job. At the end of the week, you know exactly how long each project took. The best time trackers auto-populate invoices — 4.5 hours at $75/hour = $337.50, line item ready.
Most service providers underestimate their time by 30-40%. That $500 job that 'took about 3 hours' actually took 6. Without tracking, you're working for $42/hour instead of $83/hour and don't even know it. Time tracking turns guesswork into data.
Toggl is $10/month. Harvest is $12/month. Clockify has a free tier. But standalone time trackers don't connect to your invoicing or job management — you still have to manually transfer hours to create invoices.
Helix time tracking connects directly to jobs and invoices. Track time on a job, then drag the job to Invoices — hours auto-populate the invoice. One system. $279 once.
Get Helix — $279