9 Excellent Time Tracking Tools for Virtual Assistants

With the rise of remote work, the virtual assistant services have also expanded. According to statistics, two-thirds of business owners have hired a virtual assistant since 2021. It’s a desired role in the business industry (both by employers and employees) due to an increased need for help in office management work.

But it’s also a highly responsible job that requires good time management skills and attention to detail.

Luckily, a good time tracker for virtual assistant can help you better perform your duties and lighten your daily load.

What is Time Tracking Software for Virtual Assistants?

Time tracking software for virtual assistants is a system that helps track the time spent on tasks, projects, and clients.

Virtual assistants usually have a lot on their plate. They need to juggle many responsibilities, from organizing information and gathering specific data, scheduling appointments and events, organizing communication, and performing routine office duties to supporting sales.

Performing various activities and managing multiple clients may be hard. And that’s where time tracking software works wonders. It helps to plan better and organize work, provides a clear picture of how much time is spent on specific tasks, helping virtual assistants identify areas for improvement.

But above all, it helps to keep a clear and precise record of all work activities to get paid fairly.

Virtual assistants need to manage their time effectively, increase productivity, and ensure accurate payment.

Note: You may have heard about the Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA)—it’s a form of technology created to automate work, e.g., machine learning (AI), which focuses on streamlining operations. Please note that it’s a different system.

Benefits of Using Time Tracking Tools

Many time tracking tools offer features that can help in the work of virtual assistants.

Here are all the benefits:

According to statistics, 87% of virtual assistants are paid hourly. Using a dedicated app provides accurate time tracking so you can bill your clients precisely by the hours worked.
You can track expenses and ensure all numbers are correct.
Using the right software lets you create a unified hub for all your projects where you can easily handle multiple clients simultaneously.
Reports and analytics give you insight into your performance and the state of your business so you can make better decisions.
Dedicated timers help boost focus and productivity by helping you concentrate on one task at a time.
You can create an accurate timeline of work hours, making it easier to estimate project timelines and set realistic deadlines.
You can better organize, plan, and distribute work and resources.

In general, the right productivity tool will automate work and optimize processes in your virtual assistant service.

Features to Look for in a Time Tracking Tool

While there are many tools to choose from, it’s a good idea to choose those that will support you with the heavy workload of a virtual assistant.

Take a look at all the important features:

Device compatibility

Choose a time tracking software that works on all your devices for flexibility. This will allow you to easily access all your work in one place, no matter where you are. Also, when you’re offline.

Look for a solution that works on mobile devices, as a desktop app, web app, and, if possible, on other devices.

Availability of key features

Consider the features you need but also those that can improve your work—project management with task categorization, project-specific tracking, customizable reports, expense tracking and finance management, and productivity tracking.

What’s more, to get the most out of a time tracker, you should be able to customize it and adjust it according to your needs.

Different ways of tracking time

Look for a tool that will allow you to track time in different ways. Except for manual tracking, where you can add, edit, or remove entries, seek automatic time tracking. It can work in different ways—as a desktop timer, online web timer, mobile clock, clock-in/out software, or GPS tracker.

Easy app integration

Select a tool that integrates with your or your company’s apps to save time and increase productivity. It’ll help you perform all tasks efficiently and automate processes.

Budget-friendly plans

Understand the tool’s pricing plans and identify one that best suits your budget. If you’re low on funding, opt for a free version. In most apps, you can upgrade to paid plans anytime.

Top Time Tracking Tools for Virtual Assistants

We’ve prepared a list of the top time tracking apps with all the needed features. Check out our top choices for time tracking software for virtual assistants.

1. TimeCamp

A virtual assistant software that records billable hours and offers time reports to gauge productivity.

Onboarding

TimeCamp is a free time tracking software perfect for virtual assistants working in all types of industries—from small businesses to individual contractors and freelancers.

TimeCamp lets you easily record working hours from any place at any time with different options. You can add time manually, with an automatic time tracker (as a desktop app or on the web), via mobile apps, or use GPS tracking.

Here are the main features:

Fully automatic time tracking; the system gathers all the data for you including timesheet data with work hours, reports, and attendance.
Tracking billable hours.
Invoicing based on tracked time.
Productivity analysis.
Idle time tracking and offline time tracking.
Expense tracking and financial analysis.
TimeCamp integrates with all the popular project management tools, work, and productivity apps.
Available for all platforms and devices.

TimeCamp is a 360-degree solution that stands as your personal assistant in daily activities. From managing clients, and overseeing projects, to resource planning and invoicing, it’s your unified platform for all work-related issues.

Get to know where your time goes with TimeCamp!

Track time in projects and tasks, create reports, and bill your clients in just one tool.

2. Toggl Track

A simple time tracking software

Toggl desktop app

Toggl Track is one of the most popular tools for tracking time, mostly because of its simplicity and fancy design with a user-friendly interface.

Toggl time tracker lets you track virtual assistant hours either with a desktop app or via web with a simple one-click start/stop timer. The software provides comprehensive reports with all the necessary data that help you analyze how you spend your time.

Also, you can organize work by creating projects and tasks, and integrate Toggl with several project management tools and other productivity apps to streamline workflow.

Importantly, Toggl offers apps for desktop, web, and mobile devices. That way, you can access your data from any place.

The free version, however, comes with limited functionalities and gives you access only to basic features. So, if you require a bit more advancement, you’ll need to subscribe to one of the paid plans.

3. Harvest

A simple time tracking and reporting app

harvest desktop view, managing tasks

If finances are a big part of your work, Harvest will be the right choice. It’s a straightforward time tracking app combining the basic features of a time tracker and financial management.

Harvest offers 5 modules that will help virtual assistants manage their work:

Time tracking with one click. Available as apps for desktop (Mac and PC), mobile (iOS and Android), and web browser. You also get subtle reminders to track your time each day.
Invoicing and payments. Integrations with Xero and QuickBooks allow you to create invoices and quickly send them to your clients.
Reporting provides you with information on every single aspect of your project: time spent, hours worked, budget, progress, time left to a deadline, etc.
Budget monitoring lets you set budgets for projects based on hourly or fixed rates. This allows you to monitor project progress.
Cost tracking allows you to report and track expenses.

Harvest is available for web, desktop, and mobile devices.

4. Time Doctor

Time tracking software to monitor productivity of employees

timedoctor web and app usage

Time Doctor is a popular app for employee monitoring, especially for tracking remote work hours. Hence, it’s best for small and medium-sized businesses that depend on the services of virtual assistants.

Time Doctor is aimed at helping people spot bottlenecks, overworked employees, and improve general workflow.

The key features you’ll find in Time Doctor include:

You can track time for tasks and projects, breaks, and use offline time tracking.
Automatically generated detailed timesheets show worked hours, task distribution, and productivity stats—useful for both personal review and client reporting.
You can structure your workload with projects and tasks and see the work progress in project reports.
Productivity tracking with reports that show apps and websites you spend most of your time on.
Work monitoring features: screenshot monitoring, screen recording, keyboard strokes monitoring, inactivity alerts, and real-time dashboards.
Integrations with 60+ tools.

Time Doctor is a solution that focuses mostly on monitoring employee use of time, so it’s best to use it as a tool for spotting inefficiencies and helping virtual assistants prevent burnout.

5. MyHours

Project time tracking software for teams

Myhours timesheet

MyHours is a time tracking tool that helps organize projects, track expenses, and create detailed reports for clients.

Here are the main features:

Tracking time with timesheets. You can fill them out daily or weekly. They can be approved if you use the tool in a team.
Set billing and labor rates for teams, projects, or tasks, and budget for projects. Everything is calculated in real-time.
Log expenses.
Dashboard with team analytics—timesheet reports in real-time, hours and billable time.
You can export timesheets and share them with your clients.

MyHours helps to replace messy spreadsheets—it’s a one platform to organize all your data into neat timesheets and create client reports for your work, and to get paid fairly and on time.

The free plan is available for individuals or small teams of up to 5 people.

6. RescueTime

A free time tracking tool that tracks time spent on applications and websites and provides detailed reports.

RescueTime time tracking software

RescueTime is a popular productivity app. It helps to efficiently manage tasks by keeping virtual assistants updated on their own progress, priorities, and deadlines, ensuring they can stay aligned with project goals and respond proactively to any changes or new assignments.

The app helps you become more productive and learn what causes you to lose focus:

You can block distracting websites.
Work in focus sessions.
Set daily limits on apps and sites.
Customize what gets blocked, or schedule focused time directly in your calendar.
RescueTime assistant reminds and alerts you of important tasks.

RescueTime is available for individuals but also for teams who want to better manage their schedule.

This time tracker software for virtual assistants, however, isn’t free. Pricing plans start at $6.50 per month. You can try it free for 14 days.

7. Paymo

A project management tool that tracks time and helps invoice clients

Paymo time tracking software

Paymo is a lightweight project management software to manage client work, track time, send invoices, and measure profitability. It also comprises communication tools so it’s best for small teams and businesses.

Here’s what you can do with Paymo:

Manage tasks with different tasks views.
Plan work with scheduling and project management features (workflows, templates, milestones, and more).
Track time with different time trackers (for web, desktop, mobile devices), and real-time active timers.
Manage financials—rich invoicing options ensure accurate billing, there’s the expense tracking, measuring profitability,
Invite clients to collaborate.
Integrate Paymo with other third-party apps.

Paymo is a good software for virtual assistants who work in a team with different clients as the app allows to keep everyone updated on work progress.

Paymo is free for unlimited users but offers limited features. For more, subscribe to one of the paid plans (starting at $9.9 user/month).

8.QuickBooks Time

Accounting software with time tracking for small businesses or individual virtual assistants

quickbooks time tracking software

QuickBooks is a widely used software for virtual assistants. It combines time tracking features with accounting and bookkeeping. It allows you to manage time and invoicing in one platform.

Key features of QuickBooks:

Time tracking and timesheets with precise records of billable hours.
Invoicing and payments enable generating and sending of professional invoices directly from QuickBooks. The software supports multiple payment methods for better cash flow management.
QuickBooks enables the tracking of expenses in real-time. Virtual assistants can categorize and monitor expenses, providing a clear overview of financial outflows and helping in budget management.
The software generates detailed financial reports with insights into income, expenses, and overall financial health to provide clients with a comprehensive view of their financial status.
QuickBooks integrates with various third-party applications, including popular project management tools.
It offers features to automate payroll processes for virtual assistants managing payroll, ensuring timely and accurate salary disbursements.
QuickBooks assists in tax preparation by organizing financial data and generating necessary reports. This feature helps virtual assistants ensure compliance with tax regulations.

QuickBooks stands out as an all-in-one solution for virtual assistants, particularly those managing finances. Its comprehensive features support efficient financial management, accurate billing, and streamlined operations, making it an indispensable tool in a virtual assistant’s toolkit.

You can also check an alternative to QuickBooks – Xero.

9. Hubstaff

A virtual assistant software for managing remote work

Hubstaff is a time tracking, workforce, and project management software. Its main aim is to manage in-house and remote teams efficiently.

Hence, if you’re looking for a tool to help you better plan and organize your schedule in the hybrid environment, Hubstaff will be the right choice.

Here’s what it offers:

Multi-device automatic time trackers for all platforms: desktop, web, mobile, or GPS time tracking.
Basic project management with task management.
Real-time productivity analysis.
Dashboards with reporting.
Over 30 integrations.
Financial management: payroll, client billing, budgeting, invoicing, tracking expenses.
Managing time off and holidays.

How to Choose the Right Time Tracking Software?

When choosing a time tracking software for virtual assistants, it’s worth looking for very specific elements.

Three things would be good to think through:

Consider your budget: Evaluate the pricing plans of different time tracking tools and choose one that fits your budget.
Evaluate the features you need: Consider the features you need, such as task categorization, project-specific tracking, and customizable reports.
Check for ease of use and integration: Select a tool that is user-friendly and integrates with your or your company’s apps.

The work of virtual assistants may differ, and choosing the right tool will ensure it’s aligned with your workflow and daily duties.

Best Practices for Implementing Time Tracking

Implementing time tracking software for virtual assistants may not be enough. You need to know how to use it properly.

1. Set clear expectations

Set expectations to yourself (when using the time tracking software individually) and others (when you use it with your team or clients). What do you want to achieve, and why do you want to use time tracking tools?

Time tracking software for virtual assistants can be of great help but you need to know why you want to use it.

Communicate the purpose and benefits of time tracking to the people you work with. Communication is key to success.

2. Learn how to use the software

Because modern time tracking software, such as TimeCamp is easy-to-navigate and offers a user-friendly interface, you don’t have to spend hours on learning. However, you may need to learn how to incorporate it into your current workflow to make it a unified part of your daily operations.

For teams, provide training on the software. Offer training and support so people know how to use the tool.

3. Monitor and optimize usage

Regularly review time tracking data to identify areas for improvement and optimize usage.

You’ll get plenty of data from reports and analytics, which will help you pinpoint roadblocks and things that prevent you from reaching success. Also, you’ll be able to determine which clients are profitable to your virtual assistant business.

For more information, please check our guide on Top 18 Time Tracking Best Practices for Boosting Productivity

Managing Your Time as a Virtual Assistant

How to manage your time as a virtual assistant? There are two ways.

First, apply tips for effective time management. For example, prioritize tasks, set realistic deadlines, and avoid multitasking.

Read more: 15+ Most Effective and Proven Time Management Techniques

Secondly, think about what works best for you as an individual. But also which time management techniques will align with your daily activities and time tracking software you use.

Alternatives to Time-Tracking Software

If you’re looking for more than just time tracking software, there are alternatives.

Manual time tracking methods are still popular. Use spreadsheets or paper-based systems to track time, daily planners, templates, journals, and more. Remember, however, that this method may be ineffective as it’s time-consuming and prone to errors.

Or you can use other productivity tools such as Asana or Trello, to track time and manage tasks. The good thing is that you can use them altogether with time tracking software to get more insights.

Conclusion

Time tracking software helps virtual assistants manage their time effectively, increase productivity, and ensure accurate payment.

With the right tool, you can skyrocket your productivity, gain more clients, and grow your business. Track your time today with TimeCamp and become the best virtual assistant—because organizing your chaos should count as a professional skill!

Sources:

The Rise of the Virtual Assistant: From Convenience to Collaboration: https://vates.com/the-rise-of-the-virtual-assistant-from-convenience-to-collaboration/

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Kate Borucka Kate is a professional freelance copywriter and translator with a niche focus on time tracking software, time management, and SaaS solutions. With a degree in English studies, she has a knack for turning complex technical topics into clear, engaging content that resonates with diverse audiences. When she’s not immersed in the latest software trends or navigating linguistic differences between English and Polish, she’s busy trying to master the art of squeezing more hours out of the day—juggling work, life, and embarking on new adventures with her endlessly curious daughter, discovering the world together (and loving every minute of it), always finding ways to weave the insights from their adventures into her creative work.

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