2025 Checklist for Project Time Tracking Success
by Alexander Huber
Implementing a new project time tracking system is a strategic step for any organization. Especially today, where transparency, compliance, and real-time reporting are essential.
Why structured time tracking matters is summarized in our article on mandatory time tracking in Austria. Equally important: employees must see the system as fair and helpful, see our insights in how to motivate employees to track time.
Rolling out a project time tracking system is not a routine IT project. Especially not for growing service companies. From years of implementation experience at Time Cockpit, we know: the more structured the approach, the smoother your daily operations.
This checklist is a proven, practical framework we use in real Time Cockpit onboarding projects. It helps you implement your project time tracking system in 2025 efficiently, transparently, and future-ready.
Why Structured Implementation Matters
Time tracking doesn’t just affect IT or controlling. It directly impacts the daily routines of your workforce. At the same time, legal requirements, customer project needs, and internal business rules must all be reconciled. Whether your staff embrace the system or resist depends heavily on your preparation.
Key Steps for Implementing Project Time Tracking
1. Define Your Use Cases
Not every company tracks time the same way. Some focus solely on project hours; others want to include presence, absences, and breaks. Clarify early what’s relevant for you and how different employee groups will interact with the system.
- Project time tracking vs. attendance tracking: Will you cover both?
- Clarify relevant use cases for your company
- Communication guide: When and how should time and/or absences be tracked?
2. General Preparation
Before diving into system configuration, define the framework for a successful rollout: timing, internal messaging, and alignment across departments. A well-communicated rollout date sets the foundation.
- Choose a realistic go-live date (e.g. avoid post-holiday periods)
- Start internal communication: Why change the system? What’s the benefit for different roles (employees, PMs, controlling, management)?
3. Configure Project Time Tracking
Project tracking is usually the core of time tracking systems. It ensures that time entries are correctly linked to projects, tasks, and clients. Clean data and clear rules are essential.
Master Data Management
- Define the leading system: Time Cockpit, ERP, or CRM?
- Data maintenance: Manual, Excel import, or automated via IronPython scripts
- If data comes from external sources: plan for integrations
- Assign data responsibilities
Booking Granularity
- Time tracking only at project level or down to task level?
- Optional: use cost centers for internal billing
Hourly Rates & Budgets
- Define hourly rates by client, project, or task
- Clarify which services are billable vs. internal
4. Prepare for Working Time Recording
Besides project tracking, working time management (presence, absences, vacation, legal compliance) is critical. Well-maintained base data ensures daily time tracking runs smoothly.
- Access management: who gets access? Role concept for internal/external users
- Define working time models (e.g., full-time, part-time, hours/day)
- Handle overtime and time-off policies accurately
- Weekly vacation accruals, correct conversion from days to hours
- Vacation entitlements: hire date, calendar or fiscal year?
- Maintain regional holiday calendars
- Absence workflows: define processes for vacation, sick leave, special leave incl. approvals
- Time rules: activate standard checks, add rules (e.g., for apprentices)
- Set passive booking deadlines: when must entries be completed?
5. (Optional) Use the Activity Tracker
The Activity Tracker helps employees record time accurately by tracking app usage and activity in the background. Properly introduced, it’s a support tool, not surveillance.
- Decide whether the Activity Tracker will be used
- Communicate clearly: it’s not a monitoring tool
- Make installation optional
6. Prepare Project Billing
If you plan to invoice projects, billing becomes a key component. Decide early whether billing is done in Time Cockpit or another system. Integration with accounting is essential.
- Billing in Time Cockpit or via external system?
- What data needs to be transferred (e.g. billable hours)?
- Can invoice layout follow corporate design?
- Prerequisite: company structure maintained in Time Cockpit
7. Plan Customizations & Extensions
Every company has unique needs. Think early about custom fields, workflows, and dashboards to make the system fit your processes.
- Do you need custom entities, fields, or workflows?
- Which KPIs and reports are essential?
- Do you need custom dashboards?
Need help? The Time Cockpit team supports you at every step. More under The Difference.
8. Plan Integrations Early
Your time tracking system won’t exist in isolation. It needs to fit into your IT ecosystem. Plan integrations early for example, with Jira, Business Central, or Personio.
- Single Sign-On via Microsoft Entra (Azure AD)?
- Automatic user provisioning needed?
- Interfaces to:
- Jira / Azure DevOps (development)
- Business Central (finance)
- Zendesk / Freshdesk (support)
- Personio (HR data)
9. Model Permissions & Roles
A clear role and permission model ensures data privacy and reduces interface clutter. Define early which roles your organization needs.
- Who can see/edit what?
- Use standard roles: AccountAdmin, CustomizationAdmin, BaseDataAdmin, etc.
- Activate/deactivate modules as needed
- Clean up views: remove unnecessary fields
10. Plan Data Migration Professionally
Data migration is one of the most critical success factors. Only if the right data is transferred can employees continue working without disruptions.
- What data will be migrated?
- Users & departments
- Clients, projects, tasks
- Time models, absences, vacation entitlements
- Historical time entries
- Schedule test runs and validation
- Use the opportunity to clean up your data
Conclusion
Implementing a project time tracking system is a company-wide initiative not just an IT task. If you establish clear rules, clean data, and focus on usability early on, you’ll see high adoption, better reports, and more efficient operations.
This checklist is your practical guide built from years of real-world experience with Time Cockpit.
Thinking about introducing Time Cockpit or optimizing your current setup? Get in touch, we’re here to support you.