Hoursmith vs spreadsheets
An honest look at tracking time in a spreadsheet vs a dedicated tool — what sheets do well, where they fall down, and when to switch.
A spreadsheet is where a lot of time tracking starts, and for good reason. This page is an honest look at what spreadsheets do well, where they start to cost you, and how to move to Hoursmith when the time comes — without losing your history.
What spreadsheets do well
Credit where it's due. A spreadsheet is:
- Free and already on your machine. Nothing to buy or set up.
- Completely flexible. Any columns, any layout, any formula you want.
- Familiar. Everyone knows how to type in a cell.
For a single client and a handful of hours, that can genuinely be enough.
Where spreadsheets fall down
The trouble shows up as you grow:
- They're error-prone. A dragged formula, an overwritten cell, or a copy-paste slip quietly changes your numbers — and you may not notice until a client does.
- No live timer. A sheet can't time your work, so you reconstruct hours from memory, which is both slower and less accurate. Hoursmith has a one-click timer.
- No invoicing. You re-key hours into a separate invoice by hand. In Hoursmith, billable time becomes invoice lines directly. See Create an invoice.
- No payments. A spreadsheet can't take a card or mark an invoice paid. Hoursmith accepts card payments into your own Stripe account.
- Hard to share safely. Hand a billing sheet to a contractor and they see everything. Hoursmith keeps Members money-blind and scoped to their projects.
- No structure. Clients, projects, rates, and invoices are conventions you maintain by hand, rather than a model the tool enforces. See The core workflow.
The tradeoffs at a glance
| Consideration | Spreadsheet | Hoursmith |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to start | Free | Free plan available |
| Flexibility | Total | Structured around a billing workflow |
| Live timer | No | Yes |
| Invoicing | Manual, separate | Built from your billable time |
| Online payments | No | Card payments to your own Stripe account |
| Safe to share with contractors | Risky | Members are money-blind |
| Error resistance | Low — manual everywhere | Higher — rates and totals are computed |
When to switch
It's usually time to move when you notice any of these:
- You're billing clients and re-typing hours into invoices.
- You want to get paid online instead of chasing bank transfers.
- A second person (an assistant or contractor) needs to log time.
- You've been bitten by a formula or copy-paste mistake in your numbers.
How to switch without losing history
You don't have to abandon what you've logged.
Export your sheet to CSV
Tidy your data into clean columns — date, client/project, duration, note — and save it as a CSV.
Import it into Hoursmith
Use the CSV import and map your columns to Hoursmith's fields.
Track live from here on
Set up clients and projects, then use the timer instead of typing rows. See the full walkthrough in Leaving spreadsheets behind.
Worried about lock-in? Hoursmith exports back to CSV any time. See Export data.
Ready to switch?
Bring your history in with the CSV import, or jump into the Quickstart. New here? Create a free account.
Hoursmith vs FreshBooks
An honest comparison — who Hoursmith is best for, who a broader accounting suite like FreshBooks may suit better, the tradeoffs, and migration notes.
Flat-fee vs per-seat pricing
The pricing-model tradeoff explained in plain terms — how per-seat and flat-fee differ, and why Hoursmith chose one flat price per plan.