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What timesheet features does Jira have?
First of all, let’s see what features are available in Jira timesheets.
They include:
- basic time tracking with for an employee,
- timesheet that can later be reviewed by their manager,
- progress tracking in project tasks and in the project as a whole,
However, that’s where Jira’s capabilities come to an end.
What timesheet features are not included in Jira?
Naturally, to analyze and draw conclusions from timesheets, a project manager would need some more features such as:
- Jira timesheet reports for all the team members or only chosen employees,
- Gantt chart that could dynamically display the time tracked by teams and individuals,
- comprehensive progress monitoring for all the projects at once,
- information on the costs of billable hours in the tracked time and general financial performance of the project,
- information on capacity, including holidays and time offs.
However, Jira has none of the features above, making Jira resource planning and monitoring a great burden.
Still, Jira is a tool that was made to be integrated with other project scheduling tools. While there is definitely some strength in numbers, the features matter most in this case. Let’s take a look at the features a good Jira timesheet app should have.
What features should a perfect Jira timesheet plugin have?
To cover all the use cases, a good Jira timesheet plugin should have:
- an excellent integration with Jira with real-time updates and no delays to keep the data accurate under any circumstances,
- comprehensive overview of timesheet for: individual employees, teams, specializations, and more,
- different access levels for managers and executives, should they need to review the timesheets,
- data on finances related to time tracking, such as wages, hourly rates and profitability per person / team / department / project / company,
- advanced reports that combine timesheets with finances and tracking employee performance.
These are the features we are going to look for in our ranking od Jira timesheet apps.
Now, let’s jump straight to them!
Jira timesheet plugins: ranking
Primetric
Primetric is a comprehensive resource and project management tool that was designed to cover a multitude of use cases in the service companies. Timesheets are not an exception here - here’s what they include.
Timesheets in Primetric
First of all, timesheets in Primetric are not just a separate feature. Of course, the system can gather the information from its own or Jira’s time tracking module. However, that’s not where the fun ends - in fact, it begins there.
After gathering the time tracking data, Primetric can use them to:
- show the worked hours for the employees in an intuitive Gantt chart that can be changed by simply dragging and dropping allocation bars.
- browse the information on employee’s capacity, time offs, and more,
- create timesheet for an individual employee, all the team members or all the employees in the company in a single report,
- calculate the costs generated by the work using either the wages (for employees) or hourly rates (for contractors) and display them in either reports, allocations or general Gantt charts,
- generate advanced timesheet reports that include both financials and tracked time compared to the plans, and can later be used for billing purposes.
"I’m a great fan of Primetric’s time offs and time tracking. I can easily manage time off requests in the system and plan work based on the available hours."
Adam P., Primetric review on g2.com
Of course, not all of these options are available to an average specialist. The tool also offers a variety of access levels and management options that can be either enabled or disabled from the administration panel.
Additional features in Primetric
Primetric’s capabilities do not end here. The tool takes pride in being a mixture of various project management tools, including:
- resource planning,
- skill management,
- project portfolio management,
- project accounting,
- business intelligence.
Despite its complexity, Primetric remains one of the most reliable and quick tools in the category. It has no problems with long loading times or unexpected crashing; in fact, many users praise this Jira timesheet app for its excellent performance.
"I like the overall quality of the tool. I’ve been using it for a few months now, and during this time I had noticed no problems with loading times and delays, and was very reliable in general."
Przemysław G., Primetric review on g2.com
Jira integration in Primetric
Last but not least, a perfect Jira time tracking plugin should be able to gather the data from Jira with no delays or other significant problems. That is the case for Primetric.
The tool imports the data from Jira in the real time with no significant delays. What is more, it automatically converts the information into reports, charts and other summarizations available in the system with just a few clicks. As a result, it provides project managers with an excellent view of the work that’s being done in their projects. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the tool received a staggering 4.9/5 rating on both G2 and Capterra.
Timesheets for Jira
Judging by the name, Timesheets for Jira should be one of the most obvious choices in the category. However, with only a 3.6/4 score on Atlassian Marketplace, the tool seems to miss the mark. Let’s see why.
Timesheets in Timesheets for Jira
Timesheets for Jira base their design of the timesheet on Jira’s task. They are clearly visible in all of the features that include:
- tracking time and analyzing the results based on Jira structure,
- simple timesheet reports divided into tasks - just like in Jira,
- some collaboration options, including sharing the reports (no access levels are included in the tool),
- a number of customizable tools with very few ready-to-go options.
As you can see just by looking at this list, Timesheets for Jira are just that, as they offer a very limited range of options and they have no systematized structure a company can use right away.
This state of things did not escape the attention of users. Many of them claim to find the tool too basic for their needs, or even confusing in general. Some were also discouraged by the lack of access levels - in the tool anyone can act as a manager, changing the entire project in a few clicks!
"This is very basic. It is scary that any one in the team can create any one, add any one in the entire system user list to the team and access their timesheets besides the ability to log time on their behalf."
ZAG Insights review on Atlassian Marketplace
Additional features in Timesheets for Jira
Timesheets for Jira also do not have any other tools that a manager may find useful. Just like in the name, they can only offer project managers some timesheets with no additional options. Therefore, if you are looking to combine timesheets with resource planning or finances, you may want to consider other solutions.
Jira integration in Timesheets for Jira
Timesheets for Jira were created to work seamlessly with this tool - and they do that quite well, as there are no negative comments regarding the matter. However, in this case the sole integration is not enough, especially for companies which would like to delve into some more advanced analysis.
Timesheet Reports and Gadgets
Timesheet Reports and Gadgets are another popular option for companies interested in analyzing their time tracking reports. However, many users also see some disadvantages to the tool that simply cannot go unnoticed.
Timesheets in Timesheet Reports and Gadgets
Timesheets in Timesheet Reports and Gadgets include a few simple options designed to expand Jira’s capabilities. The features include:
- entry-level reports summarizing the worked hours tracked in Jira,
- simple project Pivot report that shows the time worked on a task in a given period,
- project progress reports.
- some visualization options, such as pie charts (no Gantt charts included).
However, as you probably noticed in that description, Timesheet Reports and Gadgets has a very narrow specialization - the tool only focuses on reports and some analytical options. As a result, they miss out on other valuable options, such as analyzing the business performance or creating invoices. Therefore, the tool just covers a fraction of the use cases a service company needs.
To make things worse, some users claim that despite the limited functionalities the tool is also lacking in its intuitiveness. Some options are hard to find, while others seem inaccessible altogether.
"I would think it would be obvious how to generate a report but it's not; you need a PHd in time tracking to use it."
Jason Leach review of Timesheet Reports and Gadgets on Atlassian Marketplace
Additional features in Timesheet Reports and Gadgets
Just like we mentioned in the paragraph above, Timesheet Reports and Gadget focus exclusively on the reports and timesheet-related analytics. As a result, it does not offer any additional options, such as finances, project accounting or project portfolio management.
Jira Integration in Timesheet Reports and Gadgets
Despite its limited functionalities, Timesheets Reports and Gadgets work very well with Jira. Most users agree that the tool imports the data regularly and it does not cause any significant delays. However, some voices claim that the integration itself was quite lengthy.
All in all, Timesheet Reports and Gadgets may be valuable for smaller organizations. Still, those looking for some more advanced options or a holistic approach in general may be disappointed.
Tempo Timesheets
Tempo Timesheets prides itself in turning Jira time tracking data into valuable insights. However, based on the ¾ rating on Atlassian Marketplace, many users care to disagree with this claim. Let’s see why.
Timesheets in Tempo Timesheets
As far as the timesheets are concerned, Tempo Timesheets offer features such as:
- customized reports,
- visualizations (i.e. column charts, pie charts; no Gantt charts included),
- different access levels for administrators and employees,
- some financial data, incl. billable and non billable hours,
- project progress monitoring.
These features are capable of covering a large fraction of use cases in small companies.
However, while the multitude of the features may seem convincing, some users report that they come with a price. The exchange of information is sometimes delayed, and some features are unintuitive and hard to find.
"Time reports page is being slow and unresponsive when displaying the whole month + some other frustrating bugs."
Denis Zyk, Tempo Timesheet review on Atlassian Marketplace
Additional features in Tempo Timesheets
If we only take Tempo Timesheets into consideration, the tool does not have much more to offer. However, the same provider also created a number of other systems that can be added to this one - of course, for a price. Still, other features are not included in a basic package of Tempo Timesheets.
Jira integration in Tempo Timesheets
If you are looking for a Jira timesheet plugin, you certainly should also take a closer look at the integration itself. In this case, it leaves quite a bit to be desired. Some users who have left their reviews of the tool online claim that the onboarding process was quite burdensome, and the integration itself was not as reliable as expected. Therefore, if you are a dedicated Jira user, you may want to look for your solution elsewhere.
Tempo [Timesheets] has a feature of automatic generation time-sheets from Jira activities. This feature caused a big mess in timesheets (every click to some task automatically logs 15m to the time-sheet - yes, users can delete this but this is very uncomfortable) and there is no possibility to deactivat
Clockify
Clockify is a time tracking tool that tries to win over the hearts of the public simply with its cost - it’s one of the few free tools on the market. However, in this case even being free has its price.
Timesheets in Clockify
The free version of Clockify offers a few basic features that can be used in small teams. These features include:
- time tracking,
- timesheets for individual employees,
- basic timesheet reports,
- collaboration with other team members.
However, these features do not cover all the needs of an average service company. They are hardly scalable, and they focus on basic functionalities instead of in-depth analysis. Additionally, some users also point out that the interface itself might be misleading at times.
Additional features in Clockify
The features in Clockify do not include numerous crucial processes, including financials, project accounting or project portfolio management - the tool focuses only on timesheets and time tracking. Therefore, it is incapable of helping project managers with some more advanced processes.
Jira integration in Clockify
Finally, let’s take a closer look at Clockify’s integration with Jira. While many customers are happy with its result, some point out critical mistakes they encountered when working with this tool. As a result, Clockify as a Jira timesheet plugin may not be the best choice.
"Clockify clients equate to Jira projects, and Clockify projects to Jira epics, so the integration app doesn't make the joins we need for it to be effective."
Lachlan McKenzie, Clockify review on Atlassian Marketplace
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