In the case of freelancing, I’m wondering what software/tools other developers use? I’m doing a small amount of work outside of my day job. So at the moment, I have the following requirements:
Jobs are kept small (collaboratively) so that they can be tracked and managed easily
These are maintained as a task list
As these jobs are done, I’ll document how much time it took me
At the end of the billing period, I’ll summarise these jobs in an Invoice
Hopefully, this means that there are no surprises at the end of the billing period. However, we’re just using free software to manage this (the tasks are in Notion, I use PayPal to invoice).
So I’m wondering, what tools do other developers use? Are there processes that I should think about that I’m not doing? Interested to hear your thoughts!
I recently shared how I track my billable work in Notion in this short video:
When it comes to the actual invoices, I use Wave. For some smaller amounts I take advantage of their payment capture for the invoices as well. Otherwise most clients pay me via direct bank deposit.
Thanks for the insight! I like the deliberate framework to communicate factual information but in an informal/fun way.
Do you have a link to the blog post that’s shown in the video?
I also like the idea of the hour marker on the heading for the day. Creates structure for just enough detail - which would help me avoid going unecessary detail/overhead! Half hour granularity also sounds simple.
You mention that if the client wants more detail, you copy and paste the “standups” (either as an attachment for the invoice or into something like Slack). Do you ever share this information directly from Notion (to save time - assuming you’re happy to be that transparent with the client)?
I don’t typically share my notion notebook pages directly but most of the content ends up in group discussions or issue tickets. I’m very transparent (also group broadcasts over DMs) by default.
