Gotta’ Have It

Must Have Software for the Home Office

Name two pressing questions that small-business owners need to answer.
• How do I keep track of billable time spent for clients?
• How do I send critical 1M or larger files that my Internet Service Provider (ISP) can’t/won’t handle?

I’ve solved these needs with two downloadable software programs, Officetime and SendThisFile. Both are moderately priced:

Officetime costing $47 – a one-time fee
SendThisFile – a free version with advertisements or an upgraded no-advertisement version sending up to 5 files at a time costing me $4.95 per month.

I’ve used Officetime for 7 years and value it highly. It is a very intuitive time tracking software. It tracks time by project and category with notes available for each session. It can also track expenses. At the end of my billing period, I can with a few key strokes generate invoices. Additionally, Officetime easily generates reports that I can use or can send to clients who need to track expenses for their clients. Also, Officetime has both PC and Mac versions, a very unique feature for time-tracking software. You can find this software at http://www.officetime.net.

How often have you tried to e-mail an important file only to have your ISP refuse it or your e-mail program freeze? SendThisFile solves this problem. In three easy steps I can send my files to any e-mail address (the recipient actually gets an e-mail notification and a link to the website to download the file).

1. Enter the recipient’s address.
2. Select the file from your computer.
3. Click the Send-This-File button.

I started with the free version that sent any size file very efficiently. Sending lots of files regularly, I upgraded to the starter plan that allows me to send up to 5 files at a time (which sped up the process, nearly cutting the time in half). The only drawback to the starter plan (also true of the free plan) is that it only allows me 1 recipient per send. The only drawback to the starter plan (also true of the free plan) is that it only allows me 1 recipient per send. The enterprise plan allows one to send to multiple recipients at a time but costs $69.95 per month – right now my business is too small for that and I seldom have the need to send to more than one recipient at a time. You can find this software at http://www.sendthisfile.com.

So if you need solutions to the opening questions, I’d highly recommend both OfficeTime and SendThisFile.