Product Reviews

If you're a freelancer who needs to track your billable time and manage invoices, there's a confusing number of suitable applications. The choice is simpler if you care about looks, as On The Job 3 nearly has the field to itself. However, it isn't just visually appealing. It also turns out to be the most usable time-tracking software we've seen.

In the program's uncluttered window, jobs are logically organised by client in a source list on the left, and you add to it by clicking the '+' button below it. Details of each job are listed in the main window and consist of four common chargeable types: timed or fixed-rate activities, or expenses including purchases or mileage.

Creating and editing job items is simpler than in rival time-tracking application Billings, as On The Job forsakes complicated estimates and working slips. Instead, you select item types and adjust job elements in a small panel below the main window.

You can track chargeable time through a chunky toolbar button, but if you're working in other applications, it's easier to manage this through a menubar item or Dock menu. Handily, if you're forgetful and leave the timer running

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while you're away from your Mac, On The Job offers to subtract the idle time from the currently running timer when you hit the keyboard again. And while On The Job keeps things simple by aggregating all timed activities in a single job item, at the click of a button you can see every session you've tracked for an item. You can also quickly add or edit timed sessions - useful if you've forgotten to start the timer.

Clients can be imported from Address Book and in each client window you can set default rates and even apply a different work profile for each. That allows you to bill customers under different identities.

Creating invoices is easy. You can invoice for multiple jobs, and a pop-up window lets you filter what to include by client, selected job and date. The choice of default templates isn't wide or more than moderately customisable, but they all look fantastic.

Invoices appear, organised by client, in the source list. But click on the 'Outstanding invoices' link and a list of invoices not marked as paid in full appears in the main window with a link to the original. A potential drawback of this approach is that while you can lock billed jobs to prevent amendments, even after you've invoiced for them, jobs and items remain in the main window without a clear indication that they've been sent. The developer's reasoning is that this enables you to bill for part of a job item, but we prefer Billings' approach, which automatically removes invoiced slips from its main window and displays the amount invoiced for partially-billed projects.

Still, while On The Job lacks Billings' reporting and project management features, it can't be beaten when it comes to easy, reliable time tracking and billing for single users.