How to set up Lucen Track Based on your Company's Needs

Lucen Track
·
Apr 6, 2023
In this article

Lucen Track is a time tracking software that aims to help you and your company to work bettersave time, and achieve your business goals while staying on budget. 
But how do you set up your workspace to better track what interests you the most? 

In this guide, you will find:

  • A short recap of Lucen Track’s main features for tracking projects and tasks;
  • A few practical case studies;
  • The best ways to use Lucen Track to perform your daily work.

Before we begin: Lucen Track vocabulary (what is what?) 

  • Time entry: the individual unit of time you register in Lucen Track 
  • Project: the core of Lucen Track time tracking, every time entry you create must be assigned to a project 
  • Phase: a sub-level of project, to break down projects into smaller steps 
  • Billable project: a project that is billed by the hour, with an hourly rate 
  • Client: the person you’re doing the project for. 

Use cases: how Time tracking adapts to your needs

 

marketing & communication
USE CASE #1

The Marketing Agency

A Digital Marketing Agency creates modern websites for its clients.
While using Lucen Track, the agency creates projects like “Manodoodle new website” for each website and then assigns a client to it with the “Client feature.”

           

software house
USE CASE #2

The Software House

A software agency is developing a new time tracking software.
To track time and stay productive, they can create projects that reflect all the different activities of developing a new software: “Development,” “Marketing,” “Technical support,” and “Administration.”
In this case, the client feature isn’t used at all.

           

consulting agency hero image
USE CASE #3

The Consulting Firm

A consulting firm provides clients with professional advice and guidance on several topics.
We recommend naming the Projects as the clients and then using the phases as the field of expertise in which they offer counseling. (“Business strategy,” “Social media strategy,” “Training,”…). The projects are also set as “billable” so that the firm can invoice the clients correctly.

           

Software Development hero image
USE CASE #4

The Web Designer

Usually, freelancers charge by the hour.
In this case, with Lucen Track, it is necessary to mark every project as billable and set the hourly rate in the system. The Lucen Track user can track the billable hours and mark them as billed as the invoice progress. The freelance can also track how many billable hours will be sent in the invoice and how many have already been billed.

           

                           

                                                                           

               

               

                Amanda Smith                  

FOUNDER, CEO & EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

               

               

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How do I track all the work effectively? 

You have to set up projects, clients, and phases  

           In Lucen Track you can set the projects you are working on and split them into steps: the so-called phases.
Phases can be the actual phases of the project or the single activities you perform for that client within the project. Remember to create at least one phase per project!             

Examples of how to set up the phases:

           

               
  • A project called “Marketing” can have phases like “Social Media” or “Email Marketing”, “Market Research”;
  •            
  • If you make an app, the phases can be “App 1.0”, “2.0”, and so on;
  •            
  • Not sure what phases to use? Select the option “Copy from…” and use our templates! 
  •            

           

Sometimes some businesses do not have actual projects but perform a portfolio of activities for their clients. 
In this scenario, we recommend still using the Projects feature but giving the projects the names of your clients.
Indeed the phases can be the activities you do for your clients. 

                       

What if I need to classify my time with multiple labels? 

           

In Lucen Track, you can assign tags to your time entries 

           

            The tags are labels that you use to categorize your time further
Tags are grouped in tag lists for order and reporting purposes
Examples of tags related to the tag list called “Marketing” can be Online Promotion, Paid Promotion, Offline Events …
Examples of HR/administration-related tags can be Remote Work, In-Office Work.                          

What if I don’t want my team to access or edit certain core data? 

           

You can replicate the hierarchy of your team in Lucen Track using roles and permissions. 

           

             In Lucen Track, different permissions change what users can and cannot visualize in the workspace and what features they can and cannot use.  
The top permission level is the Owner, who can access all of Lucen Track’s features. Then there is the Admin, who has access to all of Lucen Track's features, except starting a subscription or deleting the workspace. 
Simple members can only track time for the project they are part of and do some reporting but only on their own time.                             

My company has many departments. Would it be possible to replicate one of them on Lucen Track and use it for the others?

             

Yes, you can use a feature called Groups 

             

              We especially recommend this feature for big teams. In the Team management section, there is a feature called Groups. 
You can use this feature to replicate the teams or departments in your company. You can create a “Dev team” group or a “Marketing” group.               

The benefits of using groups are: 

             

                   
  • A tidy Lucen Track workspace;
  •                
  • You can assign whole groups to specific projects with just one single click;
  •              

             

                   
  • You can run a specific report on a particular group to see how the team have been working on.
  •              

             

You can also assign a group manager to help you run reports on the groups if you need to. 

                             

How do I get the reports for my daily, weekly, and monthly meetings?  

             

You can automate and schedule any report and receive it directly in your inbox 

             

               Every report has an automation feature called Schedule. All you have to do is click the automation iconset the desired frequency, and save it. 
We recommend this option in case you need to run many reports regularly. It’s much better to let Lucen Track do the work and open the reports in an email, don’t you think?                                 

I need to bill my clients for the hours worked. How do I track billable hours in Lucen Track? 

               

You can easily track the billable hours and also mark them as billed 

               

                First, you have to remember to set all your projects as billed by the hour and set your hourly rate. As you track time for that project, the platform will calculate the totals for you.
You can extract all this data in a report from the Entries section: this report is an itemized list of all the time entries you have created, with the billable total. You can attach this report to your invoice or give it to your client as proof of work done. 
In the Entries section, you can select the billable entries you have tracked. The platform automatically updates and shows you the difference between the billed and yet-to-be-billed amount.                

               

Productivity awaits!

               

                Now, go to your Lucen Track Workspace to try all these tips!                

             

             

           

           

         

 

How do I track all the work effectively? 

You have to set up projects, clients, and phases  

In Lucen Track you can set the projects you are working on and split them into steps: the so-called phases.
Phases can be the actual phases of the project or the single activities you perform for that client within the project. Remember to create at least one phase per project! 

Examples of how to set up the phases:

  • A project called “Marketing” can have phases like “Social Media” or “Email Marketing”, “Market Research”;
  • If you make an app, the phases can be “App 1.0”, “2.0”, and so on;
  • Not sure what phases to use? Select the option “Copy from…” and use our templates! 

Sometimes some businesses do not have actual projects but perform a portfolio of activities for their clients. 
In this scenario, we recommend still using the Projects feature but giving the projects the names of your clients.
Indeed the phases can be the activities you do for your clients. 

What if I need to classify my time with multiple labels? 

In Lucen Track, you can assign tags to your time entries 

The tags are labels that you use to categorize your time further
Tags are grouped in tag lists for order and reporting purposes
Examples of tags related to the tag list called “Marketing” can be Online Promotion, Paid Promotion, Offline Events …
Examples of HR/administration-related tags can be Remote Work, In-Office Work.

What if I don’t want my team to access or edit certain core data? 

You can replicate the hierarchy of your team in Lucen Track using roles and permissions. 

In Lucen Track, different permissions change what users can and cannot visualize in the workspace and what features they can and cannot use.  
The top permission level is the Owner, who can access all of Lucen Track’s features. Then there is the Admin, who has access to all of Lucen Track’s features, except starting a subscription or deleting the workspace. 
Simple members can only track time for the project they are part of and do some reporting but only on their own time. 

My company has many departments. Would it be possible to replicate one of them on Lucen Track and use it for the others?

Yes, you can use a feature called Groups 

We especially recommend this feature for big teams. In the Team management section, there is a feature called Groups. 
You can use this feature to replicate the teams or departments in your company. You can create a “Dev team” group or a “Marketing” group. 

The benefits of using groups are: 

  • A tidy Lucen Track workspace;
  • You can assign whole groups to specific projects with just one single click;
  • You can run a specific report on a particular group to see how the team have been working on.

You can also assign a group manager to help you run reports on the groups if you need to. 

How do I get the reports for my daily, weekly, and monthly meetings?  

You can automate and schedule any report and receive it directly in your inbox 

Every report has an automation feature called Schedule. All you have to do is click the automation iconset the desired frequency, and save it. 
We recommend this option in case you need to run many reports regularly. It’s much better to let Lucen Track do the work and open the reports in an email, don’t you think? 

I need to bill my clients for the hours worked. How do I track billable hours in Lucen Track? 

You can easily track the billable hours and also mark them as billed 

First, you have to remember to set all your projects as billed by the hour and set your hourly rate. As you track time for that project, the platform will calculate the totals for you.
You can extract all this data in a report from the Entries section: this report is an itemized list of all the time entries you have created, with the billable total. You can attach this report to your invoice or give it to your client as proof of work done. 
In the Entries section, you can select the billable entries you have tracked. The platform automatically updates and shows you the difference between the billed and yet-to-be-billed amount.

Productivity awaits!

Now, go to your Lucen Track Workspace to try all these tips!