Time tracking for development teams that want to reuse their data
Time tracking as a data layer: quick to book for the team, reliable for billing and planning. And if you build integrations: readable and automatable via the Web API and queries, with clear permissions.
Fewer questions about the numbers, less of the “Excel ritual” at the end of the month.
Time tracking for development teams is time tracking that fits into a developer’s day: book time quickly, assign it to projects and tickets and reuse the data via an API. For this, time cockpit offers a Web API with REST, OData and TCQL, automation with IronPython and customizations that are versioned as code.
time cockpit at a glance
- Price
- €10.85 – per user per month
- Trial
- 30 days – free, no credit card, cancel any day afterwards
- Hosting
- EU hosting – Microsoft Azure in Amsterdam and Dublin, dedicated database per customer
- Vendor
- since 2010 – software architects gmbh, Leonding (Austria)
- Product
- time cockpit, project and employee time tracking as software-as-a-service
- Master data
- Unlimited clients, projects, tasks and invoices
- Platforms
- Browser on PC, Mac, Android and iOS; Activity Tracker for Windows
- Integrations
- Web API (REST, OData, TCQL) with personal access tokens, MCP server for AI assistants, Excel import and export, Office 365 appointments in the calendar
- Single sign-on
- Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD)
- Other plans
- Freelancer plan free in the first year; Starter €29.90 in the first year for up to 10 users
Why developers track time (and why it is often annoying)
Not because of bureaucracy, but for planning, billing, utilization and post-project costing. It goes wrong when time tracking is just a form and the data cannot be reused in the end.
Typical failure modes:
- Booking is slow → entries are added late and inaccurately
- Data ends up in an export → nobody really trusts the reports
- The model is too rigid for roles, workflows and “types of effort”
- Permissions are unclear → integrations become risky
When it is done well, time tracking becomes a useful data stream: faster for the team, reliable for the numbers and technically integrable.
If you mainly want to record project hours: Project time tracking.
If you need to adapt fields and structures to your process: Customizable time tracking.
Your benefits with time cockpit
Quick to book, so it actually gets used: Time tracking rarely fails because of its feature set, but because of friction. Good UX, sensible defaults and clear structures make sure times are not added “some time later”.
Less context switching: When entering and correcting times is easy, your flow stays intact.
Numbers that end discussions: Reliable data per project, customer and team, with approvals, reporting and reproducible analyzes.
Billing, forecasting, utilization: When the data is right, nobody has to “argue about numbers” any more.
The reality of a developer’s day
Software development is complex. Developers work on features, bug fixes, code reviews, meetings and support cases at the same time. Projects run in parallel, requirements change at short notice and context switching is part of everyday work.
Typical activities include, for example:
- Implementing new features
- Analyzing and fixing bugs
- Code reviews
- Coordination within the team
- Architecture decisions
- Documentation
- Supporting the support or operations team
- Meetings with project management or customers
It is exactly in this working environment that time tracking problems often arise:
- Activities are hard to separate
- The context changes frequently
- Times are reconstructed after the fact
- Information gets lost
The result is inaccurate or late entries. Time data then quickly loses its value for project controlling and planning.
Typical challenges of time tracking in development teams
Context switching
If time tracking is done manually on top, every switch means another administrative task. In practice, this often leads to times being entered only at the end of the day or even at the end of the week.
Reconstructing work manually
If time data is not captured straight away, developers have to reconstruct their activities later. This is error-prone and costs extra time.
Missing integration between tools
If time tracking is not integrated into the existing toolchain, data has to be maintained twice. This significantly reduces acceptance.
Little transparency about project effort
Without reliable time data, analyzes of project effort, profitability or bottlenecks are only possible to a limited extent. An important basis for strategic decisions is missing.
Time tracking that adapts to development processes
time cockpit takes a different approach from classic time tracking systems: instead of forcing developers to adapt the way they work to the tool, time cockpit is designed to be integrated into existing work processes.
This means:
- existing tools stay in place
- processes can be automated
- customizations are possible
Integration into existing system landscapes
time cockpit provides a Web API based on HTTP/REST/JSON. Other systems can communicate directly with time cockpit through this interface.
This makes scenarios like the following possible:
- taking over ticket information from project management systems
- creating time entries automatically from worklogs
- synchronizing project data
- automated reports for business intelligence systems
The API supports classic CRUD operations via OData as well as more complex queries via the query endpoint with TCQL.
More: Integration & Web API and the Web API overview.
Auth & permissions (so integrations do not get out of hand)
Stable does not mean that everyone may do everything.
- Authentication via Personal Access Tokens (PAT)
- Scopes and permissions clearly separate who may do what
- Actions and automations run with defined roles and rules
If security and data protection are a gate for you: Security & data protection.
More: Authentication (PAT) and Permissions.
Customisability as a core concept
Many time tracking systems offer only limited options for customization. time cockpit deliberately takes the opposite approach.
Among other things, the system allows you to:
- extend the data model
- define additional fields
- adapt forms
- extend business logic
More complex requirements can be implemented as well, such as project-specific billing models, individual approval processes or automated validations.
More: Customizable time tracking.
Automation with IronPython
Besides structural customization, time cockpit also supports integrating your own logic. A scripting environment based on IronPython and .NET is available for this.
This lets companies implement business rules, for example:
- automatic calculation of fields
- validation of input
- integration with external services
- creation of complex workflows
More: Scripting overview.
Managing customizations as code
time cockpit supports an approach in which customizations can be managed as code. This means:
- customizations can be versioned
- changes can be tested
- migrations between test and production environments are traceable
For technically minded teams in particular, this approach fits much better into existing development processes.
Support from activity tracking
Another way to support time tracking is the optional activity tracking. It records activities on the local computer, for example the applications used, the files opened and the periods of activity.
What matters here:
- using it is voluntary
- every user can configure the feature individually
- the goal is support, not control
Activity tracking therefore works more like a digital assistant for time tracking.
More: Activity tracking.
A clear view in the calendar
All activities and time entries are shown in a graphical calendar. This calendar lets you get a quick overview of your working day:
- activities become visible as time blocks
- entries can be adjusted directly
- missing times are easy to fill in
For developers whose work consists of many small tasks, this view makes reconstructing the working day much easier.
Transparency for projects and companies
Companies can analyze, for example:
- time spent per project
- distribution of activities
- team utilization
- development of project costs
This information is an important basis for project planning, budgeting, resource management and strategic decisions.
Areas of use
time cockpit is particularly suited to organizations that work on a project basis. Typical areas of use include, for example:
- software companies
- IT service providers
- consulting firms
- agencies
- in-house development departments
Conclusion
For many developers, time tracking is at first an unloved chore. At the same time, time data is indispensable for companies.
That is why time cockpit follows an approach based on three core principles:
- Integration into existing systems
- Customisability to individual processes
- Support through automation
The result is a solution that does not treat time tracking as an isolated tool, but as part of a company’s entire project and system landscape.
Next steps
If you want to find out how time cockpit can be used in your organization:
- Book a free consultation
- Try time cockpit for 30 days without obligation
- Learn more about integration options and customization options
FAQ: time tracking for development teams
How can I make my time tracking more accurate?
Book times on the same day if possible instead of reconstructing them at the end of the month. time cockpit helps with the Activity Tracker, which records on Windows which applications, files and tickets you worked on and shows these signals in the calendar. This turns them into time entries with a few clicks instead of from memory.
How do I get time entries from time cockpit into other systems?
Via the Web API: the OData endpoint returns every entity as JSON, filterable and secured with a Personal Access Token. The Query and ExecuteList endpoints return TCQL queries and lists, and Power BI and Excel connect without code.
Can I book time on tickets from Jira or Azure DevOps?
Yes, if the tickets exist as projects or tasks in time cockpit. Via the Web API, ticket systems can create projects and tasks and read bookings back. We build individual interfaces to Jira or Azure DevOps on request.
Can managers see what the Activity Tracker records?
No. The signals are encrypted locally with a key that only the person themselves knows. Neither administrators nor managers can view them; only the time entries created from them are visible to the team.
Does time cockpit fit your process, from time tracking to invoicing?
In 30 minutes you will know whether time cockpit covers your project hours, project controlling and invoicing.
- What we cover
- You tell us how you track and bill time today. We show you live how that works in time cockpit and what switching involves.
- Who you talk to
- Someone from the team that builds time cockpit and rolls it out for customers, for example Alexander or Michael.
- How
- 30 minutes online via Microsoft Teams, free and without obligation.
You pick a free slot in Microsoft Bookings (opens in a new tab) and receive the confirmation with the Teams link by email. Prefer to write? support@timecockpit.com