FreshBooks
A couple of weeks ago I decided to sign up for FreshBooks, the online book keeping software. I was originally using Less Accounting, but was not of fan of it for several reasons. FreshBooks on the other hand, is clean, organized, user friendly, and convenient. It has invoicing and expense tracking, time tracking, report generation, and it creates a username and password for your clients when you invoice them so they can log-in, pay the invoice though whatever online gateways you set up, and it automatically marks the invoice as paid. It makes my life 100 times easier. I’ll be doing a full write up on my other blog, but I did want to recommend it here. I’m not a huge fan of paying a monthly subscription for software, but the $14/month I pay to FreshBooks is well worth it.
(link to post)Visit FreshBooks
Another alternative for freelancers is Intervals. It includes time tracking and task management, as well as other useful project management features.
You should also check Fanurio: http://www.fanuriotimetracking.com
Fanurio helps with the less appealing aspects of freelancing like keeping track of time and invoicing. It’s a useful application, with a user-friendly interface. It also has idle time detection and it can be used on Windows, Mac and Linux.