Simple Time Tracking for One-Person Trade Businesses

This entry exists for one reason: a surprising number of tradies on ServiceM8 are paying for a separate time tracking app without realising the feature is already inside the platform they're using daily. The time tracking is built in — clock on when you start a job, clock off when you leave. Time is automatically allocated against that job for costing purposes. No data export needed, no separate subscription, no setup required.

For a sole trader using ServiceM8 for job management, starting a separate Clockify or Toggl subscription is throwing money away. The built-in time tracking integrates with job costing, invoicing, and Xero. It's not as feature-rich as a dedicated time tracking app — no beautiful analytics dashboards, no billing rate management — but for "how long did I spend on each job this week," it covers the ground entirely.

Clockify is the most genuinely free time tracking app available — unlimited time entries, unlimited projects, unlimited users, forever free. Not a 14-day trial. Not "free with annoying limitations." Actually free, with no artificial caps on the core functionality. For a sole trader who just wants to record time against jobs for ATO compliance and end-of-year costing, Clockify covers everything that matters.

The workflow is straightforward: create a project for each job or client, then run the timer when you start work. The mobile app works well in the field — tap to start, tap to stop, add a note if needed. Time reports export to CSV, which satisfies ATO log-keeping requirements. The interface is clean without being cluttered, and the reports give you a clear picture of where your time went across days, weeks, and months.

The limitations are real but reasonable for a sole trader: Clockify doesn't integrate natively with Xero or trade job management apps, invoicing is limited on the free plan, and the discipline to actually use it consistently falls on you. It won't prompt you to clock in — you have to remember. For most sole traders, that's fine.

Toggl Track is the time tracking app most freelancers and consultants swear by — and for good reason. The one-click timer is the most satisfying in the category: big button, tap it, it's running. The design is clean to the point of being minimal, which makes it genuinely pleasant to use, and the cross-platform coverage (browser, iOS, Android, desktop) means it works wherever you are.

For tradies, it works well as a time-against-task tool — set up a project for each active job, run the timer when you start, stop it when you leave. The free plan covers the core tracking well; paid tiers add reporting depth and billing rates. The gap compared to Clockify is that Toggl's free plan is more limited on reporting, and the paid plan is USD-priced. For a sole trader on a budget, Clockify's free tier is more generous. For someone who'll actually use it daily because the UX is excellent, Toggl's $9~$14 AUD/month is worth it.

If you charge by the hour — consulting-style electrical work, IT contractor work, advisory services — rather than fixed-price jobs, Harvest is the standout choice. It's built around the time-to-invoice workflow: you record time against a project at your set hourly rate, and the invoice is generated directly from that time data. Clean, accurate, and far less error-prone than manually counting hours and building invoices from scratch.

The free plan covers 1 user and 2 active projects — that's genuinely useful for a sole trader with a couple of ongoing clients. Paid is ~$19 AUD/mo*nth for unlimited projects. The interface is polished, the reporting is clear, and the invoicing output looks professional. The limitation for most tradies is that it's not designed for fixed-price job management — it's oriented around time billing, which suits consulting and advisory work more than typical fixed-quote trade work.