Tools of the Trade: Essential Invoicing & Time-Tracking Apps for Solo iOS Developers
Carl Bailey
Tools of the Trade: Essential Invoicing & Time-Tracking Apps for Solo iOS Developers
Time-Tracking Software: Know Your Worth and Bill Accurately
Why Every Developer Should Track Time
Top Tool: Harvest
Top Tool: Clockify
Top Tool: Toggl Track
Invoicing and Accounting Software: Getting Paid Faster
Key Features of Good Invoicing Software
Top Tool: Hubstaff
Top Tool: Buddy Punch
Project Management Tools: Keeping Your Solo Projects on Track
Why Solo Devs Need Project Management
Top Tool: Trello
Top Tool: Notion
Top Tool: GitHub Issues
Building Your Ultimate Freelance Tech Stack
The Importance of Integration
Start Simple and Scale
Focus on the Workflow, Not Just the Tool
References
Tools of the Trade: Essential Invoicing & Time-Tracking Apps for Solo iOS Developers
Running a solo iOS development business means wearing many hats. You're not just writing code—you're managing projects, tracking billable hours, and chasing down payments. The good news? The right tools can handle most of the administrative heavy lifting, leaving you more time to focus on what you do best: building great apps.
For independent iOS developers, efficiency isn't just nice to have—it's essential for survival. A well-chosen tech stack can transform how you run your business. It automates tedious tasks, gives you clear insights into how you spend your time, and most importantly, helps you get paid faster and more accurately. Whether you're looking to discover iOS development talent for collaboration or simply want to streamline your solo operation, having the right tools in place is crucial. And when tax season rolls around, you'll be grateful for the organized records these tools provide, making managing your freelance finances and taxes much less of a headache.
This guide breaks down the essential software categories every solo iOS developer needs: time tracking, invoicing, and project management. We'll look at the top tools in each category, focusing on features that actually matter for developers. No fluff, just practical recommendations based on what works in the real world.
Time-Tracking Software: Know Your Worth and Bill Accurately
Time is literally money when you're freelancing. Yet many developers still rely on rough estimates or manual spreadsheets to track their hours. This approach leaves money on the table and makes it harder to price future projects accurately.
Modern time-tracking tools solve these problems without getting in your way. The best ones integrate seamlessly into your development workflow, running quietly in the background while you code. They capture every billable minute without requiring constant attention or disrupting your flow state.
Why Every Developer Should Track Time
Even if you prefer fixed-price projects, time tracking provides invaluable data. It shows you exactly how long different types of tasks take, helping you create more accurate project estimates. You'll quickly spot which activities eat up time without adding value—those endless client revision cycles, for instance.
For hourly projects, precise time tracking is non-negotiable. Clients expect detailed breakdowns of how their money was spent. Good time-tracking data builds trust and justifies your rates. It also protects you from scope creep by clearly documenting when a project exceeds its original boundaries.
Beyond billing, time tracking reveals patterns in your productivity. You might discover you code best in the morning but handle client calls better in the afternoon. This self-knowledge helps you structure your days for maximum efficiency and profitability.
Top Tool: Harvest
Harvest stands out for its developer-friendly approach to time tracking. The interface is clean and distraction-free—exactly what you want when you're deep in code. Starting a timer takes one click, and the app remembers your recent projects and tasks for quick selection.
What makes Harvest particularly powerful is its project budgeting feature. You can set hour or dollar budgets for each project and get alerts when you're approaching the limit. This prevents those awkward conversations where you have to tell a client they've blown through their budget without warning.
The reporting capabilities are where Harvest really shines. You can generate detailed timesheets, see which projects are most profitable, and analyze your capacity for taking on new work. The visual reports make it easy to spot trends and make data-driven decisions about your business.
Integration is another strong point. Harvest plays nicely with popular project management tools, accounting software, and even your calendar. This means less manual data entry and more accurate records across all your business tools.
Top Tool: Clockify
Budget-conscious developers love Clockify because it offers robust features without the monthly fee. Don't let the free price tag fool you—this is a serious tool that handles everything from basic time tracking to complex project reporting.
The timer interface is straightforward and works across all your devices. Start tracking on your Mac while coding, then switch to your iPhone when you're reviewing designs on the go. Everything syncs automatically, so you never lose tracked time.
Clockify's strength lies in its flexibility. You can track time using the running timer, add entries manually, or even import data from other tools. The manual entry option is particularly useful for capturing those quick client calls or design sessions you forgot to track in real-time.
For developers juggling multiple projects, Clockify's project and client organization features keep everything tidy. You can tag time entries, add descriptions, and even mark entries as billable or non-billable. When invoice time comes, generating a detailed report takes just a few clicks.
Top Tool: Toggl Track
Toggl Track wins developers over with its "set it and forget it" approach. The tool is designed to be as unobtrusive as possible while still capturing accurate time data. Browser extensions and desktop widgets mean you can start tracking without switching contexts.
The one-click timer is genuinely one click—no navigating through menus or filling out forms. Toggl remembers what you were working on and suggests the most likely task. This smart prediction gets better over time, learning your patterns and reducing friction even further.
Where Toggl really excels is in helping you understand your time usage patterns. The analytics dashboard shows where your hours actually go versus where you think they go. Many developers are surprised to discover how much time gets eaten up by "quick" email checks or social media breaks.
The idle detection feature is particularly clever. If you step away from your computer, Toggl notices and asks whether you want to keep or discard that idle time. This ensures your tracked hours reflect actual work time, not just computer uptime.
Invoicing and Accounting Software: Getting Paid Faster
Getting paid shouldn't be harder than doing the actual work. Yet many developers still cobble together invoices in Word or rely on basic templates that look unprofessional. Modern invoicing software changes the game entirely.
Professional invoicing tools do more than just create pretty documents. They automate payment reminders, accept online payments, and track which clients pay on time. This systematic approach to billing can dramatically improve your cash flow and reduce the time you spend on administrative tasks.
Key Features of Good Invoicing Software
The best invoicing software for developers includes several must-have features. Customizable templates let you create professional invoices that match your brand. You're not stuck with generic designs that scream "I downloaded this for free."
Recurring invoices save massive amounts of time for retainer clients. Set them up once, and the software automatically sends invoices on your chosen schedule. No more remembering to bill clients or scrambling at month-end.
Online payment integration is perhaps the most important feature. When clients can pay directly from the invoice with a credit card or PayPal, you get paid faster. Studies show that invoices with online payment options get paid up to twice as quickly as traditional invoices.
Automated payment reminders remove the awkwardness of chasing down late payments. The software sends polite, professional reminders on a schedule you set. This keeps cash flowing without damaging client relationships.
Expense tracking rounds out the feature set. Being able to log expenses and attach them to projects gives you a complete financial picture. Come tax time, you'll have all your deductible expenses organized and ready to go.
Top Tool: Hubstaff
Hubstaff takes an integrated approach that developers appreciate. Instead of using separate tools for time tracking and invoicing, Hubstaff combines both into one seamless workflow. Track your time, then generate invoices directly from those tracked hours.
The automatic invoice generation feature is a game-changer for hourly billing. Hubstaff pulls in your tracked time, applies your hourly rate, and creates a detailed invoice complete with task descriptions. What used to take 30 minutes now takes 30 seconds.
For developers working with international clients, Hubstaff's multi-currency support is invaluable. Set different rates for different currencies and let the software handle the conversions. Payment processing supports multiple methods, making it easy for clients anywhere to pay you quickly.
The payroll features might seem overkill for solo developers, but they're useful if you ever bring on contractors. You can pay team members directly through Hubstaff, maintaining a clear audit trail of all financial transactions.
Top Tool: Buddy Punch
Buddy Punch approaches invoicing from a slightly different angle. While primarily known for time tracking, its approval workflow features make it excellent for client transparency. Clients can review and approve tracked hours before you generate invoices.
This approval process eliminates disputes before they start. Clients see exactly what they're being billed for and can raise questions before the invoice is sent. This transparency builds trust and speeds up payment processing.
The software integrates smoothly with major payroll providers, making it easy to process payments once invoices are approved. While you might not need full payroll features as a solo developer, the integrations ensure you can scale if your business grows.
Project Management Tools: Keeping Your Solo Projects on Track
Flying solo doesn't mean flying blind. Even one-person operations benefit from structured project management. The right tool keeps all your commitments visible, prevents important tasks from falling through the cracks, and helps you deliver consistently great work.
Project management for solo developers is about finding the sweet spot between structure and flexibility. You need enough organization to stay on track but not so much that maintaining the system becomes a job itself.
Why Solo Devs Need Project Management
Without a system, it's easy to lose track of project details. That feature request from last week's client call? The bug you promised to fix "when you have time"? These commitments have a way of disappearing into the ether without proper tracking.
A good project management tool creates a single source of truth for all your work. Every task, deadline, and client request lives in one place. This centralized approach prevents the anxiety of wondering what you might be forgetting.
Visual organization is particularly powerful for developers. Seeing all your projects and their current status at a glance helps you make better decisions about what to work on next. It also makes it easier to communicate progress to clients who want regular updates.
Project management tools also help with capacity planning. When a potential client asks if you can take on their project, you can quickly assess your current workload and give an accurate timeline. No more overcommitting and burning out.
Top Tool: Trello
Trello's visual Kanban board system clicks immediately with most developers. The concept is simple: cards represent tasks, and you move them across columns as work progresses. "To Do," "In Progress," and "Done" columns create an instant visual snapshot of your workload.
What makes Trello particularly effective for solo developers is its flexibility. You can keep things dead simple with basic boards or add power-ups for time tracking, calendar views, and automation. Start simple and add complexity only as needed.
The card detail feature is where Trello shines for development work. Each card can contain checklists, due dates, attachments, and detailed descriptions. You can break down a feature into subtasks, attach relevant designs, and track everything in one place.
Trello's mobile apps deserve special mention. They're actually useful, not just desktop ports. You can update project status during client meetings, add tasks on the go, and stay connected to your work without being chained to your desk.
Top Tool: Notion
Notion takes a different approach—it's less of a project management tool and more of an everything workspace. This flexibility makes it perfect for developers who want to consolidate multiple tools into one platform.
You can build exactly the project management system you need. Create databases for projects, tasks, and clients. Build custom views that show you what's due this week or which projects are waiting on client feedback. The possibilities are endless, which is both Notion's strength and potential weakness.
Beyond project management, Notion excels as a knowledge base. Document your development processes, store code snippets, and maintain project documentation all in one place. This centralization is incredibly powerful for solo developers who can't rely on team knowledge.
The learning curve is steeper than Trello, but the payoff is worth it. Once you've customized Notion to match your workflow, it becomes an extension of your brain. Everything you need is exactly where you expect it to be.
Top Tool: GitHub Issues
For developers who live in GitHub anyway, using Issues for project management keeps everything in one ecosystem. There's no context switching—your tasks live right next to your code.
GitHub Issues might seem basic compared to dedicated project management tools, but that's actually its strength. Labels provide flexible organization, milestones track progress toward releases, and the whole system integrates perfectly with your development workflow.
The real power comes from linking issues directly to pull requests and commits. Your project management and code changes create a complete history of how features were implemented. This documentation is invaluable when you need to understand why something was built a certain way.
For client projects, GitHub's project boards provide a Kanban-style view similar to Trello. You can give clients read access to track progress without exposing your entire repository. This transparency builds trust while maintaining appropriate boundaries.
Building Your Ultimate Freelance Tech Stack
Choosing individual tools is just the first step. The real magic happens when you connect them into a seamless workflow. A well-integrated tech stack multiplies your efficiency and eliminates repetitive tasks.
The Importance of Integration
Integration transforms good tools into great workflows. When your time tracker talks to your invoicing software, you eliminate manual data entry and reduce errors. When your project management tool syncs with your calendar, you never double-book yourself.
Look for tools that play nicely together. Many modern apps offer native integrations or work through services like Zapier. A few hours spent setting up integrations can save dozens of hours over the course of a year.
The goal is to create a system where data flows automatically between tools. Track time in Harvest, and it appears in your invoicing software. Complete a task in Trello, and your time tracker suggests logging time for it. These small automations add up to significant time savings.
Start Simple and Scale
New freelancers often make the mistake of adopting too many tools too quickly. Start with the basics: one time tracker, one invoicing solution, and one project management tool. Master these before adding more complexity.
Free tools are perfect for getting started. Clockify for time tracking, Wave for invoicing, and Trello for project management create a solid foundation without any monthly costs. As your business grows and your needs become clearer, you can upgrade to more powerful paid options.
Pay attention to which features you actually use versus which sound good in theory. That advanced reporting module might seem essential, but if you never look at the reports, you're paying for complexity you don't need.
Focus on the Workflow, Not Just the Tool
The best tool is the one you'll actually use consistently. A simple spreadsheet that you update daily beats a sophisticated system you ignore. Choose tools that fit naturally into your existing habits and workflows.
Consider your working style when selecting tools. If you're a visual thinker, Trello's boards might click better than text-heavy alternatives. If you live in the terminal, command-line time trackers might suit you better than GUI applications.
Remember that tools should reduce friction, not add it. If you spend more time managing your project management system than actually doing project work, something's wrong. The goal is to spend less time on administration and more time on billable development work.
Building the right tech stack is an investment in your freelance business. The time you spend now setting up efficient systems pays dividends for years to come. Start simple, integrate smartly, and always prioritize tools that help you deliver great work and get paid promptly.
Your ideal setup might look different from another developer's, and that's okay. The key is finding tools that support your unique workflow and business goals. With the right combination of time tracking, invoicing, and project management tools, you'll spend less time on business administration and more time doing what you love—building amazing iOS apps.
References
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Posted Jul 6, 2025
Streamline your freelance workflow with the best tools. We review top invoicing, time-tracking, and project management software for solo iOS developers to boost productivity and get paid faster.
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