15 Signs It’s Time to Change Your Project Time Tracking
by Alexander Huber
Time tracking is more than an administrative necessity. It’s a central tool to manage projects profitably, keep an eye on team utilization, and make success measurable. But what if your current system no longer reflects how your company really works?
In over 15 years of implementing time cockpit as a project time tracking system, we’ve repeatedly seen the same patterns for why systems hit their limits. Here are 15 signs that say: It might be time to switch.
1. Costs - a double‑edged sword
Costs alone aren’t a good measure for a good or bad time tracking system. A cheap system is of little help if it doesn’t do what you need then every euro is too much. Conversely, paying for a “Mercedes” among tools makes no sense if you only drive in city traffic and never use half the features.
💡 What matters is fit: The system must match your current situation functionally and financially. A clearly priced product that grows with your company is the best long‑term choice. So the question shouldn’t be “What does it cost?” but “What value do we get for our money?“
2. Missing critical capabilities
Modern project time tracking should do more than capture working time. It must actively support project business.
Example 1: Your team works on fixed‑price projects, but the system only knows hours, not budgets. You have no way to see whether a project is on track or already off the rails.
Example 2: You want to distinguish billable vs. non‑billable time, but the system only allows a single “total time.” That leads to manual controller work and jeopardizes correct invoicing.
If everyday challenges like these aren’t supported by the system, you need to ask: Who is working for whom. The tool for you, or you for the tool?
3. Too many features nobody uses
Some tools are packed with modules you’ll never need, yet you still pay for, maintain, and have to understand them. That causes confusion, increases training effort, and reduces user acceptance. A focused system creates clarity and relieves everyone.
4. Too complicated for daily use
If employees regularly groan because time tracking is too cumbersome, sooner or later no one records time. Complex screens, nested menus, and slow loading waste time and trust. In practice: The simpler time tracking is, the more complete and reliable your data will be.
5. Missing integrations
In a modern IT landscape, time tracking cannot be an island. If integrations with project management, invoicing, or ERP are missing, duplicate work and errors are inevitable. Systems that integrate seamlessly save time long‑term and improve data quality.
6. Shadow processes creep in
A clear red flag: employees secretly keep their time in Excel or notebooks. These unofficial processes are usually attempts to make life easier and show that the official system fails. The result: double work, lack of traceability, and in the worst case billing problems.
7. Support leaves you hanging
Even the best system needs help at times, e.g. for adjustments, issues, or updates. If you wait forever for responses or never get a solution, the system becomes a burden. Good support isn’t a luxury, but it’s the basis for smooth usage.
8. Your company grows — the system doesn’t
As a company grows, requirements rise: more projects, more teams, more reporting. Systems that worked for 10 employees often struggle at 50 or 100. Scalability isn’t a bonus, it’s a prerequisite for sustainable use.
💲 And that gets expensive. Switching systems every two years doesn’t just mean license costs. It takes time for evaluation, data migration, training, and process changes. All of that can be avoided if the existing system is flexible and extensible. Time tracking that grows with you saves money, nerves, and productivity in the long run.
9. No innovation in sight
If your system hasn’t delivered any relevant improvements in the last five years, that’s a warning sign. Technology moves fast — think apps, activity tracking, or AI features.
☝️ Innovation isn’t just new features. It’s also about paying down technical debt. E.g. outdated frameworks, rigid data structures, or insufficient security standards. A modern system invests continuously in up‑to‑date foundations to stay stable, extensible, and secure long‑term. If you sleep on that, you risk performance issues and block future evolution.
10. People don’t record time (anymore)
A common issue many organizations don’t notice: the system exists, but it’s barely used. Whether from frustration, forgetfulness, or confusion. Missing bookings cause incomplete data, poor planning, and ultimately financial losses. The cause is usually the system not the people.
11. You still use Excel
As flexible as Excel is, it wasn’t built for project time tracking. It lacks safeguards, logs, user rights, and central administration. As soon as multiple people maintain their time, Excel becomes an error source often without anyone noticing.
12. No SSO or MFA
With rising data protection requirements, security is a must. Systems without Single Sign‑On or two‑factor authentication not only endanger data and they also slow users down. Modern access mechanisms deliver efficiency and protection.
13. No transparency across projects
If you can’t see at a glance how much time went into which project, you’re missing a central steering instrument. Without transparency, you can’t plan proactively or invoice cleanly. It’s especially problematic with fixed‑price projects or tight budgets.
With fixed‑price projects, you agree on a set amount with the customer, regardless of how many hours are ultimately worked. That means: Your margin depends directly on staying within the planned time. If your time tracking doesn’t provide clear transparency on how much time has already gone into a project, you can hardly assess whether it’s still “in the green” or already unprofitable.
Similarly with tight budgets: Every hour counts. If you don’t continuously see where time is spent, issues are often only recognized when it’s too late e.g., at invoicing or in post‑calculation.
A capable project time tracking solution shows deviations early and helps you actively steer projects not just analyze them after the fact.
14. Can’t model flexible work realities
Remote work, part‑time models, cross‑project activities — that’s daily life today. If your system can’t represent that reality, you’re constantly working against your own processes. The result is workarounds, frustration, and billing errors.
Example: In one project, employees in Germany, Switzerland, and Spain worked on the same customer engagement with different working hours and public holiday rules. The old system couldn’t represent that, leading to wrong balances and faulty billing. A customizable system with roles, regions, work models, and holiday calendars would have saved a lot of effort.
15. Only project or only attendance but not both
Many systems can either track attendance or project time but not combine both meaningfully. That’s especially problematic for service companies that need both views: When was someone present, and what did they work on? Only if both dimensions are captured cleanly do you get a complete picture of work reality and only then can topics like utilization, vacation entitlement, or billable hours be handled correctly.
Conclusion
An outdated or ill‑fitting time tracking system doesn’t just reduce efficiency, but it directly affects team morale, project profitability, and trust in leadership. If you recognize yourself in multiple points above, it’s worth taking a critical look at your current solution.
Switching doesn’t have to be painful — with good planning and an experienced partner, it can be surprisingly fast. And the difference in daily work? You’ll feel it.