Time tracking blog

The CEO of TSheets, a web based time tracking software, Matt Rissell talks with the Oprah Winfrey of the internet, Liz Strauss, about closing the gap between the online and offline business worlds. In her post entitled Part 1: A Timely Interview with Matt Rissell of TSheets, she asks Matt about what makes him tick and the theory of “Time”. Liz closes this post with a cliff hanger…. Check out the post, give it a read, and engage in the conversation!

Whether you are a Coal Miner in Pennsylvania, a freelance blogger, or a CEO of a Time Tracking Software company, chances are ‘You’ve got your mind on your money, and your money on your mind’, both personally and professionally.

From the time that I was 7 years old, I have always been a saver. I remember having $75 in my wallet at the age of 7! That was big money. When I turned 21, I began tracking my net worth on a homemade spreadsheet that I have since updated twice per year… It’s been amazing to watch the growth.  Granted, I still have a bit of trouble trying to get my windows 98 document to open, but you get my point.

In addition to tracking my net worth, I have always been passionate about building budgets and forecasting revenues and expenses, a CFO-like role for my personal finances. Then the last business I built had a very complex financial model with about 100+ line items on the Income Statement. After about 6 months of studying my own financials and with assistance from CFO’s of large corporations, I became an expert on financial engineering. Even to the point of doing several consulting projects for businesses of which my hourly bill rate was $925/hour to build their financial pro forma to get both a clear picture of the past and build a road map for the future.

Someday on my own personal blog, I will go further in details on how to do financial engineering; however, for now I’d like to share with you the absolute best Personal Financial Management tool that I have found on the market. It’s incredible and it’s free! In full disclosure, I get absolutely no kick-backs or benefits for me writing about this software, it’s just simply the single best tool that I have found for you to manage your personal finances.

The tool is called Yodlee.com. If you have a budget or are considering building a budget and don’t want the arduous process every month of having to update it, Yodlee.com will completely automate your budgeting process. You can customize each expense item from different stores and each revenue item to automatically go into your desired expense category. For those of you who are in the 60% of American’s who struggle with debt category, you can even set up your own “get out of debt” plan!

After building four different companies and having a fairly complicated personal income statement and balance sheet, this tool has taken my arduous personal monthly budget process that on average took 5 hours and turned it into a 30 minute cake walk!

Needless to say, the financial tool Yodlee.com has the endorsement of Matt Rissell . . . and his accountant!

Blackberry buzzing at 4am to report previous days’ sales figures. Review budget and change sales forecast. 6am Breakfast with potential investor. Blaze through 100+ emails. Oh, and don’t forget the ‘Tweets‘ in between. All this and more before 9am. And do they love it? Do they live and breathe it? You bet they do. And how do you get a CEO to unguardedly show their frustration? How do you get the coolest of cool to boil like a 4^th of July lobster pot?

Bring up the topic of “Productivity”.

As the CEO of TSheets, a productivity tool for business leaders, I have set out on a quest to find and interview CEOs on every level to find out what makes them tick, what makes them productive, and what their “secret sauce” is. I am calling this list the “Top 10 Productivity Tools CEO’s use to Manage their Time” From Steve Jobs to the start up CEO in their garage, I want YOU to weigh in.

My goal is to get into the heads of business owners on all levels, from local mom and pop drycleaners to Fortune 500 companies and the best-of-the-best Web 2.0 executives to find out how they stay productive and what they do to stay on top of their game.

So far, I have interviewed 15 CEO’s such as Frank Gruber, Brad Feld and Seth Godin, and there is a common thread – Passion! These CEOs are all relentlessly passionate about getting things done and making things happen but often get bogged down in the minutia.

Over the next few weeks, I want to speak with 50 CEOs on every level about this very issue. Specifically, I would love to hear from guys like Kevin Rose, Pete Cashmore, Jason Fried, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Arrington, Marc Benioff and Steve Jobs.

The icing on the cake: I have been asked to present my findings to Shel Israel and Robert Scoble on their new Work Fast Show. So consider this a shout out to CEO’s everywhere!

If you are a CEO ~ Here’s how to weigh-in: Email me (matt@tsheets.com) or Click here for updates on Twitter.

Let’s get into the minds of the best of the best!

What is time tracking software? Would some kind of time tracking software be right for you or your company? These are a few of the issues that surround the integration of time tracking software like TSheets and are the the topics of this discussion.

What is Time Tracking Software?

According to wikipedia time tracking software is accounting software that is used to maintain timesheets for each person in a company.

Is Time Tracking Software Right for Me?

Whether you are an individual interested in making sure your time is spent wisely or an employer looking to make your company more profitable, using some kind of time tracking software is a necessity. Having an accurate time tracking system is an invaluable asset to your company and personal life.

Many companies start with using some sort of honor system, whether it is paper timesheets or an excel document that employees manually enter their time into. Until recently, it was very expensive for employers to be able to afford more accurate methods of time recording. Employers didn’t realize the amount of money they were loosing from traditional rounding methods and the amount of money they were spending on the extra time it took them to collect, compile and calculate their employees’ time. These two items alone have the potential of equating to thousands of dollars every year. Now, individuals can record their time for free and a business owner can use time tracking software for as little as $9.95 a month.

The Impact of Time Tracking Software

If you’re an individual looking to manage your life better, time tracking software will bring clarity into where your time is being spent and how, and where you need to change your routines. If you’re an independent contractor your clients will appreciate the accuracy and the clear look into what they’re spending their money on. If you’re a business owner, time tracking software will bring a higher level of efficiency and profitability to your organization.