Does your agency need separate time tracking software next to your CRM?

"Shouldn't we start tracking hours too?" is a question that usually comes up at agencies once something has already gone wrong: a project that structurally takes more time than budgeted, or a discussion with a client about what exactly was done for the amount on the invoice. The honest answer is that not every agency needs separate time tracking, and the question that actually matters is not whether your team logs hours, but whether you bill or steer based on them.

Time tracking software is software that lets employees log how much time they spend on a task or project, usually per client or project, so that it shows up in invoicing or reporting.

When do you actually need time tracking?

If you bill based on hours spent, time tracking is not a choice, it is a precondition. Work with punch cards or hourly rates, and you need to be able to show exactly where the time went, or you stand on weak ground in a discussion with a client. It is also useful internally if you want hard numbers, instead of a gut feeling, on whether a certain type of project structurally takes more time than budgeted.

When is it unnecessary weight?

Work mostly with fixed project prices or subscriptions, and hour-by-hour tracking often adds little. You bill the same amount either way, whether a client took three hours or five. In that case, capacity planning, knowing how much room a team has for new clients, is far more useful than granular time tracking. I wrote about that earlier in how to keep an overview of multiple clients: it is about capacity, not ticking off hours.

There is also a culture side to it. Mandatory time tracking for a team that works on results tends to feel like control rather than direction, and that costs more in grumbling than it delivers in insight.

Take an agency like Bep's, working with a small team on fixed monthly prices. She gets little from a system that tracks who worked on what down to the minute, what she actually needs is something that shows whether there is room for a new client next week. That is a different problem than time tracking, even though the two often get mixed up in practice.

What does separate time tracking software cost, if you do need it?

A tool like TimeChimp, built specifically for time tracking, charges from around €10 per user per month at the entry level with no base fee, rising to €14 per user per month plus a flat €60 per month for the most extensive tier with project planning and integrations. That comes on top of a CRM or project management tool, unless you pick a suite that already includes it, such as Gripp or Simplicate, which I compared earlier in Gripp vs Simplicate vs Teamleader.

Why doesn't Wecooking offer time tracking or invoicing?

Simple: that is deliberately not part of Wecooking. Wecooking focuses on CRM, project overview, a client portal and turning meetings into tasks, not on tracking time or invoicing. If time tracking is a precondition for your agency, Wecooking is not complete for you right now, and you genuinely need a separate tool like TimeChimp, or a suite that already has it built in.

Where Wecooking does excel is the part before and after: a lead becoming a client, a project that stays organised, and a client portal where the client can follow along. From €19 per month, all included, currently free in beta.

That is a deliberate choice, not a stepping stone toward an invoicing module coming later. Wecooking explicitly leaves the hours and invoices side to specialised tools, and focuses on the part around it: keeping an overview of clients and projects, without first having to set up an extensive time tracking system.

How do you decide for your agency?

Three questions that help. Do you bill on hours or a fixed price? With hourly billing, time tracking is a precondition, with fixed pricing usually not. Do you already have a concrete signal that projects are running over on time, or is it a vague feeling? And does the extra tool and the extra monthly cost outweigh what you gain in insight?

Still wondering about the broader question of what a CRM should actually cost for an agency? I laid that out earlier in what does a CRM cost for an agency. Want to see how far you get with CRM and project overview without time tracking added? You can try Wecooking for free.