Smart Time Reports for Independent Contractors
Published {$created} by Tina Blum
What to Look for in a Time Tracking Report
What should a good report give you?
First of all it not just raw data, it should also give you a clear overview of your work, of your client, and of the hours you've spent.
It needs to be easy to read, and having a visual structure really helps.
Most people find it much easier to understand the distribution of hours spent on different project, when it is presented as a pie-chart, for example, rather than reading long paragraphs trying to explain.
If you can filter your reports, by clients, project, or task, the overview becomes even more meaningful.
And finally, your report should be easy to export, it could be as a csv-file. That way, it's useful for both internal and external documentation.
The features that make a Time Report actually useful
One nice feature is being able to look at details for Project time and even on each individual task.
In Nureti's reports, you can filter on specific date, your project (or client if you use the project for that), task, the users, type and status, you can choose all or any combination you need.
For example the image below is filtered by project and task
When you hover over the charts, you will see how many hours were spent on the full project and how it is distributed across individual tasks.
This breakdown gives you the overview you need to understand where your time actually goes.
Which project do you spend the most time on, are some of the clients using all of your time.
You can also see which tasks are the most time-consuming and take a deeper dive into that, to give you valuable insights into where you can optimize or adjust your process.
The reports can also be used as supporting documentation when billing your clients.
It's a simple and neccesary tool!
Transparency made simple: Sharing reports with clients
As I mentioned in the blog-post Remote Time Tracking for Independent Contractors, transparency is key!
Transparency builds trust.
Your clients will feel confident when they know exactly what you have worked on. That trust come from either sharing all the time registrations or simply sending a visual report with pie-charts and bar-charts.
They don't have to guess what you are doing, it reduces follow-up questions and it shows that you take your work seriously - also meaning you take their time seriously
Using data to optimize your work
Time tracking reports are not just for documentation. It also for reflection and improvement.
It helps you get a clear picture of your workflow.
And it will help you get insights to -
adjusting your planning, improving your time estimates, giving you clients a better and more precise forecast.
You make better decisions with the right data.
To sum up
Time tracking reports are more than just a data dump.
They help you:
Get a clear overview of how your time is spent – across tasks, clients, and projects
Use smart features like filters, charts, and exports to make the data actually useful
Build transparency and trust with your clients by sharing reports or visuals
Spot patterns and improve your workflow with real, personal data
In short: A good time report gives you both insight and structure – and makes you look professional while doing it.
And if you’re using Nureti, all of that is just a few clicks away.