Case study - freelancer

 

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This case study outlines how the 3f Software Planner can be used by freelancers in their day to day work. The definition of a freelancer is:

"A freelancer or (freelance worker) is a self-employed person who can be hired by employers for the task at hand working in a profession or trade in which full-time employment by a single employer is also common"

 

Problem scenario

Freelancers working for different clients often have the problem of tracking how much time they have worked for different clients broken down by the project they have worked on. It becomes even more complicated because freelancers sometimes work from home, and sometime work in client offices.

 

Requirements

Freelancers requires a system which can be accessed from anywhere. The system cannot require that a certain software applications is installed on the computer where the freelancers is working. The system must, add a minimum, be able to track time, segregate billable and non-billable hours and provide time reports as printout and in Excel. Preferably the system should also be able to track project issues, client requests and have a Gantt diagram.

 

Solution

Using the 3f Software Planner hosted solution, freelancers will have access to their data anywhere at any time.  Not only are data available anywhere, but the freelancer will also be able to setup an unlimited number of client and project, add an unlimited number of tasks within each project aimed track time on all these tasks. The optional Gantt diagram and planning module can be used for detailed project planning.

 

Getting started

Getting started with a system such as the 3f Software Planner requires that time is available to learn how the system works. Generally, it will take about two hours to get started using the 3f Software Planner. After the initial two hours the freelancer will be able to add client, setup projects, add tasks in the project and track time as well as view time reports.  We have created set of video tutorials that can be accessed from within the application at any time to lower the learning curve.

 

Working with the 3f Software Planner

When your working day begins the first thing you should do is to login to the hosted 3f Software Planner, activate the project you will be working on then start time tracking on a task.  When you take breaks you can pause time tracking, or stop it altogether to avoid over billing the client. If you get interrupted in you work, i.e. by a phone call, you can start something which is called Quick Time Tracking.  Quick Time Tracking starts time tracking without specifying which task the time is being tracked for.  When you have finished with the task that interrupted you, stopping Quick Time Tracking lets off you choose which task to assign the time too.  In other words, you track time on something then later assign the time tracked to a task.

 

Working in your clients office

Since most companies have broadband Internet, you will be able to access your project data, and time tracking, from your client office.  When you get to work in the morning, you log into the system, start time tracking on the task you are working on.  When it is time for break you would, just like if you working from home, pausing and or stop time tracking.

The system lets you printout a reports segregating billable and non billable hours for each project.  You can also exported these reports to Excel, if for instance you want to create an invoice, or reformat the project data to a certain standard as required by your client.

 

Working together with others

Sometimes, you may be working on a project together with others.  Using 3f Software Planner is ideal because you can add additional logins to your hosting account giving others access to the project or projects you are working on together.  Just like you, they will be able to enter tasks, track time and manage issues. You can even take it one step further, by using the optional Gantt diagram and Planning module you can schedule these resources to work on the task or tasks you want them to.

Finally you can add a module that enforces Approval Management.  With this module you will be able to assign different roles to the different resources, and you can enforce that you approve all timesheets before the hours worked (tracked) flow into the system and the subsequent reports.

 

As you can see, the 3f Software Planner is an ideal tool for freelancers regardless if you are working alone or with others.  Getting started with the 3f Software Planner is easy, all you have to do is to download a small (6MB) setup file which upon installation lets you setup a free 14 day hosted trial account. You will be guided step-by-step through the entire process. 

 

Note:  No downloads required if you access the system from a different computer once the trial has been setup.