Project tool with or without time tracking?
Updated: 2026-09
Integrated time tracking supplies actuals per project and is the basis for billing by effort. A separate system can be chosen freely but creates double entry. Without a billing purpose, experience says time tracking does not get maintained.
The time tracking question is rarely a tool question and usually an acceptance question. Time tracking that benefits nobody but the reporting gets maintained badly — and badly maintained time is worse than none, because it creates false confidence.
Where work is billed by effort, by contrast, capture makes immediate sense: it is the basis of the invoice. In exactly that constellation, integration into the project tool pays off.
| Criterion | Innopulse | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Entry effort | On the task, one click | A second system, double entry |
| Data quality | Higher, because in the workflow | Falls with distance from the work |
| Plan versus actual | Directly possible | Manual consolidation needed |
| Billing | Straight to the QR invoice | Export and transfer |
| Freedom of choice | Tied to the project tool | Freely chosen |
| Implementation effort | Part of the rollout | Its own project |
When an alternative is the better choice
An established time tracking system already exists and is well accepted.
Time tracking serves payroll primarily, not project billing.
Special requirements an integrated module does not cover.
FAQ
Will the team accept time tracking?
That depends on its purpose. Where it serves billing it is taken for granted. Where it serves only oversight it gets maintained badly — and that is not a tool question.
Is it worth it without billing by effort?
Usually not. Without a billing purpose the incentive for accurate capture is missing, and inaccurate time is worthless for reporting.
Can we switch later?
Yes. Time tracking data is exportable; switching is less critical than with project data.
What about statutory requirements?
Working-time recording in the employment-law sense and project time tracking are different things with different requirements. They belong considered separately.
Flenio
Recording time on the task is the only route sustained in daily work — any capture outside the workflow loses accuracy.
The path from recorded time to a Swiss QR invoice stays inside the same tool, without export and transfer.
Plan-versus-actual per project emerges as a by-product and is the basis for better estimates on the next one.