Filed under: Software, Productivity
Get paid for your time: On The Job 3.0
On The Job 3.0 was released today, and it's poised to give my long-standing favorite time-tracking app, Billings 3, a good run for its money. On The Job 3 represents a complete rewrite of the application. It's such a new and different beast from its previous incarnations that -- in the words of the developer -- it "really feels much more like a version 1.0 than a 3.0."
On The Job is designed for individuals -- freelancers, contractors, etc. -- who need to track their time and expenses, send invoices for multiple jobs with multiple clients, and handle payments. It, like Billings, is especially geared toward those who want the extra features which can make them look utterly professional in their invoicing and billing.
Let's start with its looks: it's just plain gorgeous. From the main UI to the popup entry forms, and from the client editor to the template editor, the minute details of the interface have been treated with great care. I'll go ahead and say that the invoice template selector is eerily similar to Billings', but I'm not sure where the credit for the first such interface belongs. Let's just say it's a good one to pick up on. The default templates are definitely competition for Billings, whose selection is already above-par for time tracking and billing apps. Editing templates in either app is far more pleasurable than the first time I ever tried to edit a template in Quickbooks.
The first thing that struck me when I opened up the demo was the sheer simplicity of the interface. Everything you need is there, exactly where you want to look for it. The play/pause button for timing jobs is big but not overly obtrusive, and you can turn its default, obnoxious spinning to a pleasant throb in the preferences. That sounded dirtier than it is. There's a menubar control of the timer as well. The overall feature set is not as robust as Billings, but there's definitely something to be said for simplicity. If you don't need the additional features, such as Pro Forma invoices, full account tracking and statements, it's very possible that On The Job might be a great candidate to serve your time-tracking needs.
Other features in the new version include:
- Invoices for a specific date range
- New outstanding invoices panel
- Custom hourly rates for specific tasks
- Individual timing sessions are tracked, and can be "edited in post"
- Expense types now include quantity and mileage
- Per client currency settings
- Automatic and fully customizable invoice number generation
On The Job is selling for $39.95US. I have to mention that the "Main Street Sale" of Billings is still going, and it's at $39.99 right now. Both have free demos, so if you're a freelancer or contractor in the market for a slick way to track time and send invoices, make your own comparison. Personally, I'm torn. I'll decide in the next 20 days which, coincidentally, is the length of the On The Job demo period.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Le Big Mac said 3:17PM on 1-28-2009
iPhone integration?
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jthollister said 5:25PM on 1-28-2009
Yep, this is the major factor for me going with Billings instead.
They have done a good job, but Billings is already more established and their interface is every bit as clean and beautiful. And they're the same price right now, so there's not much room for debate.
Jeffrey said 3:17PM on 1-28-2009
Upgrade from version 2 is $14.95
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samu said 3:22PM on 1-28-2009
Not for me, but that interface is really, really beautiful. Good job.
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antiorario said 3:22PM on 1-28-2009
Looks good. Too bad that its tax support is very limited.
Billings is actually the only application that gets close enough to be usable, for example, in Italy, where freelancers must deal with a crazy tax system. "Close enough" doesn't mean it gets the job done. And that's why my invoicing is done in Numbers (which, after all, is not a bad choice).
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dan@stuntsoftware.com said 6:57PM on 1-28-2009
@antiorario - Hi, I'm the developer for On The Job - could you send us an email (info at stuntsoftware.com) to give us some more details on the tax situation where you are? Thanks! -Dan
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funnelbc said 1:25AM on 1-29-2009
I didn't realize until I looked at the Stunt Software blog that if you bought in a certain time period you're eligible for a free upgrade. That's pretty cool, at first I couldn't see what the upgrade pricing was going to be (probably need my eyes checked)
I use OTJ because I like the really simple time keeping interface. The more I use it the more I actually like it as a little piece of software. Apart from skype this is the only other bit of software I have set on startup for my mac, if that's any indication of how often I use it. Really keen to see what version 3 is like to use, I had been considering Billings, but this may have given me all the features I had heard about in billings anyway.
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macxprt said 2:47AM on 1-29-2009
The printing company I work for has been using On The Job for almost a year. We evaluated several time billing programs including Billings. OTJ has done a great job of meeting the needs of our art department. Because we have an accounting staff that handles the invoicing and financial duties, we only needed to track our time for reports. I recommend OTJ to anyone with light to medium invoicing needs.
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Brady J. Frey said 3:52AM on 1-29-2009
I really wish these applications would work in a multi-user environment. iBiz is sad compared to Billings and this new app, on the Job... but iBiz has a server level for multiple user environments. Atleast give us bonjour networking please!
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Toni said 2:35PM on 1-29-2009
I'm a photographer and I'm looking for something very similar to this, but I don't usually charge by the hour except for custom item revisions. I need a place to enter my products, what I pay for them, what I charge for them, a way to discount as necessary, and be done. Most programs I've come across have way more than I need. Otherwise, this would be great.
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Joe said 2:36PM on 1-29-2009
Is there anything out there that is much simpler? I use Quickbooks on an entirely different system and would rather just manually plug total time in there. What I really want is software that allows me to track what I'm doing throughout the day as an accountability tool. Too much TUAW and Facebook time!! Eek!
Any words of wisdom?
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JonO said 11:47AM on 1-29-2009
I have neither OTJ nor Billings but I'm wondering about something. I conduct business through a few separate entities (i.e. as "myself" and also through a company - separate kinds of work). Also, I have clients around the world (i.e. with different currencies).
So, while Billings looks great and quite feature-full, it looks to me like OTJ is actually better suited to my situation. Can anybody confirm this?
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ChrisKink said 12:09AM on 2-03-2009
It's amazing that in all the years TUAW has been going, they've never reviewed TimeSlice. If I search this site for TimeSlice, nothing even comes up. It's been around longer than any of these 2, and does an incredible job. Sure, it could look a little more OS X'ish, but it works spot on, and I've used it for 6+ years.
Joe, TimeSlice does application tracking, but I've never used that feature myself.
TimeSlice also has a corresponding iPhone App too. Worth a review for sure.
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chris said 12:20AM on 2-03-2009
I've been using on the job for a few years now as a graphic designer, and i Can say the beyond a shadow of a doubt this is one of the best apps I ever bought. Things worth mentioning about the product,
A, it doesn't kill the processor, when your running heavy programs liek photoshop on the edge of yoru computer capability, you want a lean program and all the "on the job" apps up to this point have fit that bill.
B. Simplicity with power, I love how it monitors if you walked away from the computer, if I forget to hit the stop button when i leave for lunch it asks when I get back if I'd like to charge for the time, that's damn handy.
C. And the developer listens, I really needed non time related credit and expenses and I ask the developer for those in the next incarnation of the software, not only did he respond, but was eager to here of any other unique ideas that coudl enhance the software. I was very please that a short time after my request (and I'm sure others) an update to the software had credits, expenses, and so much more.
Great product if I can answer a question about it I can I'll try
PS. another great hidden feature is that when you grab a folder or multiple jobs you can see their grand total, this is really great for figuring our your gross profit for tax time, if your organize all your jobs into years.
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