Abletech: Simple Time Capture With Xero
Abletech explained why it chose MinuteDock instead of building a time tracker of its own, giving its software team a straightforward way to record work and connect the result to Xero.
Read Abletech's storyTime Tracking Software for Developers
Developer time tracking software for freelance developers and small teams. A code review becomes a debugging session, then another client needs a 'quick fix.' MinuteDock keeps each block of work with the right project, ready for budgets, estimates, and accurate invoicing.
Send approved development time to the accounting tools you already use
Your issue tracker knows what shipped. MinuteDock knows how long it took.
Start the Timer for a feature build, switch when a production support call comes in, and add the note before the context leaves your head. The same records show where the budget went and what is ready to bill.
How Development Teams Have Used MinuteDock for Client Work
Springtimesoft uses MinuteDock to keep project hours, hour targets, and Xero-connected billing in view. In its customer story, former MinuteDock customer Abletech shared how lightweight time capture helped its software team produce useful project and billing records.
Springtimesoft: Project Hours Kept in View
Springtimesoft tracks external and internal projects, uses Goals to follow hours across a project or period, and pairs its timekeeping workflow with Xero.
Read the developer team examplesKeep Every Context Switch on the Right Project
Review a pull request, join stand-up, debug a release, then answer a support question from another client. Start, pause, or add time against the work as you go, without anyone monitoring your apps or keystrokes.
- Give every block of work a home
- Attach time to the client, project, task, and activity it belongs to.
- Switch when the plan changes
- Pause one job and pick up the urgent fix without losing either entry.
- Leave a note future you can read
- Record enough detail for code review, project check-ins, and client billing.
Catch Scope Drift Before It Eats the Project Budget
Three extra review rounds and one stubborn deployment issue can turn a tidy estimate into a very different job. Compare actual time with the project budget while you can still change the scope, plan, or client expectation.
- See the budget while it still matters
- Compare delivered hours with the estimate or fixed-fee allowance as the work moves.
- Find the task that ran long
- Spot debugging, review, or support work using more time than planned.
- Keep fixed-fee work honest
- See the hours and billable value building across active projects.
- Have the scope conversation sooner
- Bring real numbers to the client before the margin has already gone.
Make the Next Estimate Less of a Guess
The last similar project is better evidence than your memory of it. Check how long discovery, implementation, code review, testing, revisions, and support took before you promise a date or fixed fee.
- Compare the estimate with reality
- Put planned hours beside delivered work for each project and task.
- Find your repeat offenders
- See which phases keep taking longer than the estimate allows.
- Back fixed fees with evidence
- Price the next project from completed work instead of best-case assumptions.
- Learn which work pays off
- See which projects and support relationships reward the effort they take.
Turn Developer Timesheets Into Clear, Accurate Invoices Without Re-entering the Work
Review the time, apply the right rates, and group the work into invoice lines your client can follow. Create the invoice in MinuteDock or send it to the accounting system you already use.
- Write clear lines clients can follow
- Turn detailed development entries into a clear billing summary.
- Use the rate that fits the work
- Apply rates by person, client, project, task, or activity.
- Skip the end-of-month rewrite
- Keep the useful detail with the entry instead of reconstructing it later.
- Send the bill where it belongs
- Connect Xero, QuickBooks, FreshBooks, MYOB, or Wave.
Lightweight for a Freelance Developer. Clear for a Small Development Team.
You do not need another project management suite just to account for your hours. MinuteDock stays quick for an independent developer and adds shared reports and permissions when contractors or teammates join the project.
- Keep the tracker out of the way
- Record client work without moving the delivery plan into another system.
- Bring in the people doing the work
- Invite employees and contractors into the same account.
- See the whole project
- Review time, work in progress, and budgets across contributors.
- Track beyond the desk
- Use MinuteDock on desktop or mobile when work takes you elsewhere.
How much of last week's “quick fix” made it onto the invoice?
Try MinuteDock free for 14 days. Pricing starts from $19 per month.
Send the bill on without entering everything twice
Wave
Track time and invoice clients with Wave. Sync timesheets to Wave and create beautiful invoices, accept online payments, and make accounting easy!
OFFICIAL WAVE PARTNER
Xero
The smart choice for professional services using Xero. Your hours land perfectly formatted, ready to invoice with your Xero branding and settings.
5-STAR RATED OVER 15+ YEARS
QuickBooks
Track time, sync to QuickBooks, invoice clients – done. Works seamlessly with your QuickBooks invoicing and payroll, using all your existing settings.
TRUSTED BY PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
MYOB
Time tracking that gets how MYOB works. Your hours flow straight through as perfectly formatted and ready-to-go invoices – using your MYOB branding and settings.
KIWI-MADE (FOR AUSSIES TOO)
Freshbooks
The time tracking app for Freshbooks Accounting software. Track timesheets via MinuteDock's web and mobile apps, sync to Freshbooks for billing clients.
Sage Business Cloud
Add time tracking capabilities to Sage Business Cloud. Employee timesheets tracked via MinuteDock's mobile and web apps sync to Sage for billing and payroll.
COMING SOON
Developer time tracking questions
- Can I use MinuteDock without connecting accounting software?
Absolutely. MinuteDock works on its own, so integrations are optional. Connect Xero, QuickBooks, FreshBooks, MYOB, or Wave when you want approved time to move into your existing billing setup.
- Can I track development time from my phone?
You can. MinuteDock's iPhone and Android apps sync with your account, and both are included with your subscription. Handy when a client call or on-site fix takes you away from the desk.
- Can I import time from another tracker or spreadsheet?
Drop our customer support team a line at team@minutedock.com. Send us a CSV file containing the data you want to bring over, and we'll help get it set up.
- What is the best time tracking software for developers?
Look for something quick enough to use between a code review and a support call, with enough detail to show which client, project, and task used the hours. MinuteDock keeps that daily capture simple, then turns the records into budget, estimate, and profitability reports and clear, accurate invoices.
- How does MinuteDock organize development time?
Organize entries by client, project, task, activity, person, billable status, or date. That lets you separate feature work from debugging, code review, meetings, deployment, support, and internal tooling without losing the project-level picture.
- Can I separate billable and non-billable development time?
Yes. Freelance developers and software agencies can keep paid client development apart from estimates, internal tooling, sales calls, training, and admin. You can still report on both, which gives you a more honest view of utilization and project profitability.
- Does MinuteDock watch my apps or take screenshots?
No. MinuteDock does not use screenshots, keystroke logging, or automatic app monitoring. You start the Timer or enter time against the relevant client and project, then add a useful note for budgets and billing.
- Can past time records help with software estimates?
Yes. Compare tracked time with project budgets and review completed work by project and task. You can see where estimates repeatedly miss, then use that evidence when pricing the next hourly or fixed-fee job.
- Can I turn tracked developer time into an invoice?
Yes. Review the entries, apply the right rates, and group approved time into invoice lines your client can understand. Create a clear, accurate invoice in MinuteDock or send it to Xero, QuickBooks, FreshBooks, MYOB, or Wave.