Schedule and Cost Summary Calculator About this template This Cost Estimate and Scheduling spreadsheet provides a lightweight method for learning to estimate time to complete a web design project, and calculating cost for completion. The intended audience is individual freelancers or contractors who need to prepare proposals for potential clients. This may not be an ideal format for the calculation of project team estimates. The purpose of the document is to teach you to get acquainted with spreadsheets as tools for cost estimation, with the hopes that you will learn to use and modify it to suit your needs. How it works This spreadsheet works by breaking your phases into individual tasks. Calculating time The spreadsheet calculates time to complete each task based on an estimated low and high number of hours for each task in each phase of work, and calculating the mean or average of those values. Calculating cost Cost is calculated by taking the mean hours for a task and multiplying by the rate of pay you select. Disclaimer
Project management software, online collaboration: Basecamp ProTimes - Project Time Tracking 5 Productivity Tools for the Busy Freelancer Do you struggle for productivity? I, for one, find it hard to stay focused and productive all the time. It is often easy to lose focus with a ton of buzzing social networks all around us. But the good news is there are tricks and tools to overcome distractions and constantly stay on track of productivity. Here are 5 great apps I am using every day to efficiently manage my time online. # 1 Coolendar – The coolest calendar in town This is one of the most intuitive to-do lists I have ever used. So if you type “21st June 5pm finish project for Joe’s firm” it will automatically make an entry. Best bit: What I love is that you can receive reminders for your appointments via Google Talk. # 2 Buffer – Tweet efficiently without flooding (Full disclosure: I work on Buffer) I use Buffer to save my time on Twitter, while still remaining genuine. In addition, it allows you to share an article from any website with its browser extensions for Chrome, Safari or Firefox. What do you think about these apps?
A to-do list to organize your tasks 6款时间追踪管理软件 当我初次开始作为一个自由职业者和软件开发人员的时候，估计项目的时间表并作出合适的报价是件让人头疼的事情。有时对于一个很费劲的项目报价过低导致最后获得的收益跟我所投入的时间不成比例，而在有些时候报价过高引起客户的不满和愤怒。 经过这些年，我吸取了教训。现在在开始接手任何项目前，我会告诉我的客户，我按小时收费，并预估一个完成该项目所需的时间。然后，我将使用一个桌面时间跟踪软件跟踪我在项目上花费的时间量，并对我的客户收取相应的报酬。 如果你和我一样，为客户提供服务，按小时收费，这里有一些免费，并且挺有用的桌面时间跟踪工具，你可以用它来追踪你在任何项目上所花费的时间。 Baralga baralga是一个简单的，轻量级的应用程序，允许你跟踪自己项目花费的时间。 Baralga Rachota Timetracker rachota看起来比Baralga稍微复杂，但它实际上是一个功能实用并很容易上手的程序。 rachota配备了一个分析工具，你可以用它来对比自己花费的时间和已经完成的工作量。 rachota Klok Klok尽管仍处于测试阶段(现在已经是成品了，商业版售价$15.99，但同时提供免费版)，它有一个非常不错的实时跟踪应用，对于每一个项目，你可以进一步分解成更小的子项目，并且可以像管理其他任何项目一样管理。 klok可以在所有平台上工作，但需要安装Adobe AIR支持。 Klok actiTime Basic actiTime基本是免费的，但功能强大。 actiTime Basic Time Tracker Time Tracker是一个基于Windows的应用程序。 Time Tracker有三种不同类型的可视化统计数据：文字，图表和网格。 Time Tracker还支持插件。 Time Tracker Time Tracking Tool Time Tracking Tool是一个名副其实的轻量级的应用程序。 Time-Tracking-Tool 原文：6 Useful Desktop Time Tracking Software 翻译：网络发现者
9 Tools For Managing Your Freelance Design Business Being organized is not something creative types are necessarily known for. However, in managing your freelance design business, it’s a must. In fact, with the exception of one or two, every successful freelancer I know (design or otherwise) has this one thing in common. Organization. Of course there are a lot of different ways to organize your projects, clients, potentials, leads, invoices, etc. Organization & Client Management 1. – 4. Let’s get started with the “suite” of apps I recommend the highest, and happen to use the most – Zoho CRM, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs. The main benefit to using CRM software is it’s one place that gives you a birds-eye view of where you’re at with all your clients, the ability to easily track how much money your marketing efforts are bringing in, and it provides features you need to nurture and grow your client base. 5. 6. Payment Tools 7. Next up we have Freshbooks, the self proclaimed painless way to do billing. 8. 9. What do you think?
Free Time Tracking Software - Klok Free and Klok Pro Pricing plans Free Trial - No Credit Card Required Don't worry about handing over your credit card info until you try us out. We will notify you by email before your 15 day trial ends. If you decide not to sign up after 15 days, your account will simply expire. Custom Template Building For Pro and Team plans, we will work closely with you to match your existing proposals and brand for a one-time fee of $299 Basic $19/mo 15 Day Trial - Cancel Anytime Delivered Proposals: 15/mo Analytics Real Time Notifications Branding Storage: 1gb Pro $29/mo 15 Day Trial - Cancel Anytime Delivered Proposals: Unlimited Analytics Real Time Notifications Branding Storage: 4gb Dedicated Account Manager Team $79/mo 15 Day Trial - Cancel Anytime Delivered Proposals: Unlimited Analytics Real Time Notifications Branding Storage: 10gb 3 Users included *$15/mo/additional Custom Domains Team Collaboration Sales Manager Users Dedicated Account Manager
Toggl - Insanely simple time tracking 40+ Well Designed Apps for Running Your Freelance Business There are hundreds of business apps out there for running virtually any kind of small business online. And a lot of those apps are well-suited, functionally, for designers. But there's something a lot of them are lacking: good design! After all, we're designers. We want to use apps that are attractive and designed to be both functional and beautiful. The apps below fill both those criteria, combining form and function into an app that you can be proud to use to run your design business! Invoices, Quotes, and Other Financials Financial management is often the least favorite part of running a business, but also one of the most vital to a freelancer's success. 1. QuoteBase is a free service that lets you create PDF quotes quickly, with your own logo, and even email to create a quote. 2. FreeAgent is a bookkeeping and invoicing application specifically designed for small businesses and freelancers. 3. 4. Xero offers online accounting, invoicing, billing, and banking. 5. inDinero 6. 7. 8. 9.