20 posts tagged with "Business"

One of the most important things that most freelancers probably don’t focus on, considering it useless, is invoicing. However, every freelancer should maintain an invoice as the benefits of invoicing one cannot afford to miss; some are as follows:

• It makes the basis of filing taxes
• It keeps a record of financial information
• It gives a sense of professionalism
• It gives protection in terms of the content of your project etc.

When freelancing, imagine that with every job you are also hiring yourself as your own accountant. If you are new to the concept of invoicing then don't you worry as after reading this article you will know what to include in an invoice and how to make a perfect invoicing template.

The Ultimate Guide to Creating an Invoice:​

Creating and managing invoices is a whole separate field, with complex literature and ways that only an accountant may know. But, there are a few basics that everyone must know and follow, which are as follows:

1. The Freelancer's Information:

An accountant should be able to get all required information about you, from the invoice alone. So the information about you on the invoice holds priority and should be completely legit, with the following fields:

• First Name,
• Last Name,
• The company you operate under,
• Email,
• Address,
• Phone Number,
• Any other information that may be required for your services.

The information should be complete enough for the accountant to be able to contact you in case of any questions or problems.

2. The Client's information:

The client that you are serving and invoicing the services to should also be mentioned on the invoice. The client's information includes (but not limited to):

• The client's Company name,
• Company's Address
• The person who authorized your transaction.

All this information will speed up the whole payment process by contacting the person in question with the details provided in the invoice.

3. Date:

A date is mandatory on an invoice as it tells when service was completed and also when the payment is due. It serves as a security and also speeds up the whole payment process for the freelancer, in case of late payment, as late payments are usually charged with penalties.

4. Terms of payment:

Terms of payment hold very important conditions from:

• Payment penalties,
• Payment due date (net-30, upon receipt, etc.),
• Terms for when penalties might occur

The conditions answer all the how, when and what to charge questions for an accountant.

5. Invoice number

This is another easily missed but important piece of information. It helps in managing all the invoices and keeping track of them in the system. A special numbering scheme may also help avoid frauds and scams. There are even cases in which invoices are rejected just because of a missing invoice number.

6. Project Requirements:

A brief description of the project and its requirement must also be mentioned, as it can help in the billing of the invoice. This serves as insurance that the required services were provided, and the amount being charged is per the requirements set.

7. Tax Information (OPTIONAL)

Usually, freelancing companies requires Tax information from the freelancers in one of the following two formats:

• Tax ID
• W-9 form

However, in the case of the freelancer being a sole proprietor, there is no need to mention the SSN on every invoice. However, in the case of the freelancer being registered as an LLC, a tax ID is required. However, in the end, this all boils down to the freelancer, whether he wants to or doesn't want to include the tax information.

8. Payment method

Each company has its own sets of preferences on the type of payment method they use for payments. It is preferable if the freelancer can list down all the methods through which he accepts payments, then the company can choose the one it prefers. It is also possible to link the invoice with a credit card process, PayPal, or other similar services.

9. Be Grateful:

Everyone likes when they are being treated politely and with respect. It also helps in creating a positive image. So try to insert a fancy “Thank You” note at the end, showing that you are grateful to the customer for his/her continued patronage.

The above rules are what make an invoice complete, and should be followed for a perfect invoice. Try investing some time once in this, and you will always be thanking yourself for your time in the future.

What features should a Perfect Invoice Template for Freelancer have?​

Whenever you are searching for an invoice template, make sure it has the following features:

1. Covers all the Basics of an Invoice:

This one is a no-brainer as a good invoice template should have all the above-described fields in the template, and even if it doesn't have all of them, it will allow its user to edit all those fields himself. The invoice should have all these fields (but not limited to):

• Freelancer's information,
• Client's information,
• Invoice Number,
• Project Description,
• Date,
• Payment Note,
• Tax Information,
• A Thank-you Note etc.

2. Customizable:

It is better to find a super customizable invoice template, not only allowing its user to edit fields, but also allowing him/her to change the format to his own needs. Customizability is important as different clients might have different needs (for example one being an LLC while the second being a sole proprietor) and all these needs should be catered with.

3. Accessibility:

If you can find a template or a template software that is cross-device compatible, then it would be a bonus. Especially if you are one of those freelancers who are always on the go and work from different locations. A cross-device, mobile-compatible template will ease half of your burden.

4. Niche-Specific template:

No invoice is a one-fit-all, and different industries might require a different type of invoice. The information described above remains the same, but with some additional fields depending upon the field, you are providing your services in. So it is better to choose an invoice template belonging to your field rather than randomly picking out any invoice. If you can't search for a template meeting your field's requirements, then jot down the requirements and customize a basic invoice yourself.

5. Digital Automation:

It is now possible to automate a lot of tasks, and payment is one of those. If possible, choose a template through which a client can pay simply by clicking a button on the invoice. It is also possible to automate the billing schedule if that is what your services require. It is also advised to choose software with the correct payment method rather than just picking any. Some software programs allow their users to automatically fill in clock-in and clock-out timings. They automatically create a timesheet which can then be billed through an automatically generated invoice.

Top 3 Freelancing Invoice Template Software products Not to Miss:​

The following are the top 3 sites to look for an invoice template as they give you the most (advanced features) bang for your buck:

6. Clockbook:

A perfect choice in terms of price, and features that you get. Clockbook is a full-blown productivity managing automated app that also gives an invoicing option to its users.

It all starts with the app recording your clock-in and clock-out timings and then using that information to generate all sorts of automated reports, timesheets, and even automatically generating invoices that can be edited and downloaded according to user's preferences.

Clockbook may be a paid software, but it is the cheapest among its competitors with equal or even more features and generates automatic reports without any human interference.

7. Elorus

It is another online invoicing software that is easy to use and can also time track. The UI is beautiful and it also features a client portal through which the clients can log in to monitor their working hours and productivity and make payments when the work is complete. Elorus also supports a Live template editor that allows you to change the formatting of the invoice. There is also a forever-free package, through which you can invoice up to 5 clients with a one-time purchase.

8. Ronin

It is another invoicing template software that even gives free trials to get a feel of the software. The most amazing thing about Ronin is its payment methods which allow the client to pay with PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net.

Ronin even supports recurring invoices, it lets you manage multiple currencies and provides you with customizable templates. Its cross-device accessible features make it accessible to everyone, anywhere, and at any time.

CONCLUSION:​

After spending all that valuable time and effort on your services, it's time to give a treat to yourself and your work by using invoicing template software. It will save you valuable time and give insights into your work to yourself and your client like never before. It will help build trust and a sense of partnership with your client, as he will now know where all of that money is going. It can make you more productive by showing you all the numbers right where and when you require them.

Offshoring is usually adopted by the companies belonging to industrialized countries to outsource operations overseas, usually the less-developed countries, to reduce the cost of doing business." -Britannica However, offshoring is not all gold; and there are many factors involved that may turn into a nightmare if not considered on time. But thankfully they are not something that cannot be taken care of. That is why I pieced up this article to help you explore the disadvantages of offshoring as well as the ways to overcome them.

The CONS of Offshoring and How to tackle them?​

Offshoring comes with many challenges which if not overcome could be a potential threat to your business. So, it is better to have an idea about them before getting your hands dirty with offshoring.
The following are some cons and their solutions to offshoring:

1. Time Zone Differences

Offshoring to countries with different time zones can be a big challenge. As the company not only has to adjust to a new culture but will also have to adjust to new time zones. But imagine how challenging the same situation becomes when offshoring to more than one country, all having different time zones (Philippines, Pakistan, China, and India).
The company would now have to face a 5+ hour difference when organizing meetings for collaboration with offshoring partners. It will become harder to arrange a meeting that can be attended by all offshoring partners. There will be delays in communications, deliverables, and a higher chance of poor collaboration.

SOLUTIONS:

• Find an overlapping working hour to arrange daily meetings.
• Another small, dedicated team can be set to work on making the coordination between the two teams possible.
• If overlapping hours does not exist, then try using a tool for coordination.
• Round-the-clock work is possible, with the in-house and offshoring teams collaborating by continuing each other's work at their own working time.
• The Customer Support department (call centers) might benefit from such a time zone difference.

2. Cultural and Social Differences:

Cultural and social differences are inevitable and cannot be avoided. The company must work toward educating their employees to respect the differences, instead of getting put off by them. The cultural and social differences may appear in the following form:

• Employer-employee relationship,
• Different holidays,
• Body language,
• Sense of Humor etc.

These differences can cause awkwardness and misunderstandings between the teams. The differences might severely affect the project with personal as well as business misunderstandings.

SOLUTIONS:

• Research thoroughly about the offshoring location beforehand, to assess if the differences can be overcome or not.
• Plan occasional events to educate and bridge the gaps between the two teams.
• Celebrate and acknowledge the holidays together.
• Design employee-friendly policies keeping both side's culture and social differences in mind.
• Teach the employees to respect and understand each other's culture.

3. LINGUISTIC DIFFERENCES:

The company might face a communication barrier due to linguistic differences. Even if the other person can speak English quite nicely, there are still chances for the company to face collaboration issues. Even if English is spoken as a second language, still there is no comparison between a person who speaks English as a second language and a Native speaker. Many factors come into play here, but the accent is the top one.

SOLUTIONS:

• Scout the offshore destination beforehand for communication challenges.
• Educate the in-house team about the linguistic difference.
• If the accent is the only problem, and it is posing problems, then maybe organize training sessions to bring it to an acceptable rate.

4. Geopolitical Unrest:

This is quite a crucial factor that needs to be taken into account. There are many countries where everything is ideal, from the talent pool to costs, but due to the country falling to political unrest frequently without any warning there might be some risks involved. It is quite common for developing countries to have political unrest, so the company should be understanding and prepared for it beforehand. Geopolitical unrest might involve:

• Government shutdown
• Military coup
• Election Riots
• Political party's conflicts etc. These faraway issues might become real and affect your business in real-time.

SOLUTIONS:

• Thoroughly research the political situation of the country beforehand.
• If the political unrest is much more than what the company can handle, then it is better not to go offshore until the situation calms down.
• If political unrest happens suddenly, the company should be understanding of the situation.
• A backup plan of remote work should be available and ready to execute wherever and whenever possible.

5. Quality Assurance:

When talking about a product's development, then the topmost issue that arises is quality assurance. Many causes might get past the quality control line, from which some are:
Local production Conditions, Local production Environment, Local production Regulations, Breaks and delays in the local supply chain etc. Even if there are repeated instructions, there is still a bright chance of the deliverable being quite different from the company's expectations. The fault does not lie with the offshore country, but with the differences that were not recognized by the company beforehand.

SOLUTIONS:

A separate team to understand the local administration regulations and business should be formed and dispatched early in the process.
A local guide with local knowledge might be of significant help to the team.
A detailed and easy-to-understand quality assurance check and balance sheet must be prepared beforehand.
A team of quality check-in trained professionals should be dispatched periodically for quality testing. Use the carrot and stick method for penalties on delays and low quality, and award incentives on fast and superior quality delivery.

6. Security and Intellectual Property (IP) Issues

The security risk increases with geographical distance. The leakage of even a bit of sensitive information can cause a company's downfall and maintaining this security becomes, even more, harder when user data is scattered around different offshoring locations.
Usually, companies hesitate on spending any extra capital for acquiring local protection, when this should be the topmost priority of any company. Patent protection is usually country-specific and should be acquired as it will help guard the security of your company's IP.

SOLUTIONS:

Research domestic laws and their violations completely before offshoring any sensitive information. Introduce transparency in your process, by officially releasing data storage information. Acquire all the paperwork to protect your IP before laying out any physical foundation.
Hire a legal advisor to understand IP, data security laws, and regulations. Find trustworthy local partners that can represent you if any issue were to arise abroad.

7. Displacement of Domestic Jobs:

Offshoring does not have much of a positive image but is frowned upon by the locals in most countries as they point it to being the main cause of depleting job opportunities from their home country. Any company planning to offshore should be ready to face a lot of backlashes and if this backlash is not managed properly, it could affect the image of a company quite badly.
If we were to think as a third party, then we will come to acknowledge that this fear from the locals isn't baseless, and catering to locals should be the priority of any business.

SOLUTIONS:

The reasons for offshoring should be clearly explained to the critics and employees. Efforts should be spent on announcing the benefits of offshoring to the public. If the locals get the bad side of the situation, then the situation should be dealt with carefully and the loss of locals should be avoided as much as possible.
Rehabilitation or compensation should be provided to employees if possible, to deal with the repercussions of offshoring.

Does Offshoring Even Have Any Benefits?​

After reading all those cons, the first question that comes to mind is if offshoring even has any benefits. Then I can assure you that there are as many benefits to offshoring as there are disadvantages, from which some are as follows:

• Developing countries usually have low production, administrative and operational costs.
• The skilled talent pool at a lower price.
• Most of the recruitment hassle gets off the shoulder.
• Opportunity to explore a new market at a lower cost and greater benefit.
• 24/7 operations possible, if managed smartly.
• Benefit from favorable government policies.

CONCLUSION:​

Even though the disadvantages listed will make the company rethink its offshoring decision, but the benefits are worth the risk. However, it is important to know the risks beforehand to be ready to tackle them when they arrive instead of getting panicked and ruining such an excellent opportunity.

This article can be a real eye-opener to all the challenges that an offshoring business might face, and the solutions presented make it clear that there are no problems that cannot be tackled. However, the main thing to keep in mind for offshoring is to do thorough research of the pros and cons beforehand and to welcome the differences with open hands instead of neglecting them.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the current workplace trends. As the world is trying to adjust to the current remote working trend, many still prefer co-working places over working from home. According to a study by Iqra (Hafee et al. 2019), Behavioral as well physical environmental factors all help in promoting an employee's health and productivity, and these factors are hard to find at home, thus it’s leading to the popularity of co-working workplace trends. Most freelancers prefer co-working places instead of home-based setups as it helps them stay focused and increases productivity and quality of their work, and the same goes for the work from the home trend.

9 Future Coworking Trends You Probably Don't Know About:​

Are you feeling a change in your work practices? Then these 9 predictions might help you go through this change:

1.Shifting to Remote Work:

The traditional workplace gives total control over the employees during their working hours. The company's sense of control felt threatened with the rise of remote work during the pandemic. However, soon they realized that there are as many pros to the remote working trend as there are cons.
So, if companies can recognize the root of the problem, then they can weigh the pros to cons and cater to the cons and get more efficient and productive employees while saving costs. The following are some pros and cons of remote working:

The PROS:

• Employees feel more relaxed by losing their employer's control over them.
• Increased employee morale, productivity, and performance.
• Flexible working hours (employees can work at their best).
• Companies save costs on office spaces and supplies.
• The employees and employer become more technology aware.

The CONS:

• Employees might get more relaxed, less focused, and distracted at home.
• A poor working environment can lead to a decrease in employees' productivity.
• Less interaction between employees can lead to lowered motivation and awareness.
• Lower check and balance can lead to a high turnover rate.
• Loss of human touch.

Due to the above-mentioned cons, companies usually prefer to invest in co-working spaces and benefit from the benefits like no other.

2. The rise of automation:

The diversity of people in a co-working space works as a double-edged sword for the owner of the place. The diverse nature of a co-working place not only works as a customer appeal point, but can also be quite burdensome in terms of cost and customer satisfaction for the space owner.
As different people working for different fields in different companies have different working hours, which might lead to hiring extra workforce for their management. But as usual, technology can yield a long-term cost-effective solution with which the owner won't have to hire any additional workforce.
This automation rise is what has given birth to the concept of "automated workspaces", where technology solutions are adapted for a 24/7 operating co-working space with less workforce. The technology solutions are in the form of:

• Biometric or card-based entry and exit.
• Surveillance cameras for monitoring.
• Special Automated software for specialized tasks (like billing, timesheet, room booking, etc.).
• Touchless Automated hardware (like printers, RFID door access, vending machines, etc.).
• Security cameras for surveillance.
• And many more.

3. Branding and Marketing:

Branding and marketing work hand in hand with each other. A good brand with flop marketing can make all the branding work go to waste, similarly, good marketing without branding can lead to a high customer turnover rate.

A positive and strong brand image can go for a long time. It is important to invest a substantial budget in branding, especially during these COVID-19 times. Make the branding positive enough to attract valuable customers to the point that whenever even the work co-working space is mentioned, the first thing that comes to their mind is you.

If you want to acquire long-term customers, then you need to focus on compelling discounts and offers. To spread more awareness about your co-working space, use digital marketing. Build a website, with SEO empowered details, blogs, and articles to drive traffic to your site. The website should hold complete updated details about the space so that potential customers can satiate their curiosity and questions from the website alone and decide fast.

The following are some of the features that your website should have:

• Professional pictures and videos of the space.
• Clear-cut and transparent pricing and policies.
• Complete contact information (from location to contact number).
• Updated discounts and offers.
• Updated Social media links and sharing buttons.
• Detailed services and promotions information.

Once your website is up and running, half of your work is now complete and now you can focus on running digital advertisements that link back to your website. This might look costly at first, but is a one-time investment that can reap more returns than the investment.

4. Birds of a feather stick together:

Selective membership can lead to the co-working space becoming a community with people of similar interests working together and adding more value to the existing community. This method can not only boost morale, but can also lead to longtime customer benefits.

By gathering people of similar interests together, space becomes more harmonious and can lead to the people working there creating more connections and collaborations. "Birds of a flock stick together" will not only attract more customers but will also make the customers stay longer by providing a workplace-like environment.

Field-centric vs Diverse Community Workspaces: By making the workspace field-centric, you will not need to apply the selective membership approach, but the space itself will attract people of the targeted field/niche.

A diverse workspace might require more maintenance and management than a niche-specific one. This also reduces cost, as the services need to be designed for only specific niche-related customers.

Niche-specific workspaces also help in building new connections and collaborations with people of the same industry. The workspace now acts as a community working towards the same goal while helping each other out.
It is not only the customers who benefit from such an idea, but also the space owners. As they now only must cater to a specific community of people rather than a diverse community.
Niche-specific workspaces do not necessarily mean people within the same field working together, they can aggregate people based on:

• Their gender (e.g., female-only spaces).
• Their roles (e.g., Parent only spaces).
• Their skills (e.g., Co-working kitchens).
• Field and Skill Specific (e.g., Laravel developers).

6. The Hybrid Workspaces Evolution:

Instead of creating only co-working spaces, hybrid co-working spaces are also a thing now. Some restaurants serve customers in the daytime and become co-working kitchens at night.

Hybrid co-working spaces are cost-effectual with high benefits for both the owner and the customers. The customers can enjoy the benefits of the space, without applying for any kind of membership, and can also work at the same time.

People can not only work but can also attend networking events, seek new opportunities, meet mentors, and much more. The Hybrid co-working space is an ingenious idea that is slowly evolving and will be seen even more in the future. It serves as a win-win opportunity for both the owner and the customer.

7. Multi-location Workspaces:

Multi-location workspaces are another trend whose benefits will be seen even more in the future after COVID-19 when the co-working business owner will start to expand and scale their business. Then the customers will be able to benefit from global membership passes, through which they can access workspaces in other branches other than the current one they are working in. By multi-location workspaces it means that the service provider remains the same, it is just that the customer can now use any branch of the workspace they are registered with. Now imagine a co-working space having multiple branches, e.g., in the US, China, and Pakistan. This means that businesspeople can access these places without any extra charges if they are to travel due to work in any of the above-mentioned countries.

8. Modern Intelligent Designs:

It is important to adopt new modern living trends to make the co-working spaces unique and attract more customers. Instead of old dense cabins fitted in a small space, the new spaces will be focused more on wide-open eco-friendly spaces.
Instead of the design being only catered towards it being a working place, more focus should be placed on making the space more relaxing and comfortable. The spaces will be equipped with the following spaces:

• Presentation rooms.
• Discussion rooms.
• Telecom rooms.
• Relaxation rooms.
• Cafeterias. Etc.

These new modern spaces will be equipped with a touch of nature in the working space.

CONCLUSION:​

The Covid-19 has changed many things; one of them is the future of the co-working space, evolving from being a simple working place to a community of workers working together towards a common goal. These changes are not just a temporary trend, but they are here to stay, and that for a long time. So, it is better to adopt these changes ASAP and make a name in the co-working industry.

Reference:​

Hafee, I. et al. (2019) ‘Impact of workplace environment on employee performance: Mediating role of employee health’, Business Management and Education, 17(2), pp. 173–193.

There are many reasons why offshoring might be needed, ranging from reduced costs to expanding overseas, and India is considered as one of the top offshoring destinations and a technology hub by major western technology giants. There are a myriad of reasons, ranging from cost to the quality of services, making India one of the top offshoring destinations. Most technology-based companies are more likely to offshore to India, as you will get to know in the article below, with much other information.

The “What” and “Why” of Offshoring to India1?​

"Offshoring, the practice of outsourcing operations overseas, usually by companies from industrialized countries to less-developed countries, to reduce the cost of doing business." -Britannica

Similarly, if we were to talk about what is offshoring to India, it is when a foreign business decides India as its expanding destination and decides to move its operations there to save costs and benefit from the talent there.

There are many reasons why India is considered one of the top offshoring destinations, which includes not only the cost but also the lenient government policies, round-the-clock work, skilled talent pool, and many more.

• Types of Offshoring in India: India supports the following two types of Offshoring:

• External: Outsource and trust your projects to an external service provider hired in India, who will be responsible for taking care of the task and the project. This is also referred to as "offshore outsourcing".

• Internal: The Company hires its personnel itself for managing operations, instead of using an external service, after setting up a company in India.

The PROS:​

The following are some reasons and answers to the question “why offshore to India?”

• To Save Cost: This is a no-brainer, as developing countries usually have fewer development costs as compared to developed countries, and the same rule applies here.
• 24/7 Work: The time-zone difference can be taken advantage of to complete a project faster, by both teams communicating progress in overlapping time.
• Quality Assurance: Due to high competition, the quality of work is what differs a company from the other. Similarly, in India work is passed through multiple quality assurance tests before being delivered (especially in IT).
• No Language Barrier: There is no language barrier, as India has the second-largest English-speaking population in the world.
• Government Policies: India is very outsourcing friendly, the IT Act 2000, the Specific Relief Act 1963, the Indian Contract Act 1972, or the Foreign Exchange Regulations are all examples of government-friendly policies.

The CONS:​

There are always two sides to a coin, the same applies here. Besides all those tempting pros, some cons are mentioned below:

• Time Zone: The time difference can act as a barrier, where communication delays cannot be afforded, as one of the two would have to compromise and set up an office at night.

• Cultural Differences: Even if there is no communication barrier, the cultural and social differences remain the same. The most obvious example is public holidays.

• Productivity and performance tracker: Tracking productivity and performance becomes hard, even if you are working remotely, so you can just imagine how hard it would be when you are countries apart.

Thankfully, there are solutions available now in the form of applications to cater to such problems. Clockbook is one of those solutions, as it helps:

• Keep track of the offshore team's performance and working hours.
• Provides a management tool for managing shifts and schedules.
• Website and app monitoring with distraction alerts allow the employer to monitor the employee's progress.
• Payroll is now easy to access and process.

Top IT Trends Not to Miss in 2021:​

The IT industry of India holds the largest share in offshoring. The following are the top 5 trends in the IT sector in 2021:

• Intelligent Machines:

Intelligent applications are the future of the IT industry and the trend is hot in India too. Technologies including machine learning, deep learning, artificial intelligence, IoT (Internet of Things), etc. are all the technologies used to construct intelligent machines to automate tasks.

The intelligent machine gives rise to automation, which in turn can reduce the workforce and save costs. This rise in automation will lead to human-less workplaces and eliminate human errors.

• Speech to Text:

Speech to text is also part of the intelligent machines and falls in the category of speech recognition. It converts spoken words to text, which can then be used for searching. Alexa and Siri are the top examples of voice search.

India is making progress with leaps and bounds in this area to the point that it may become the top player in this industry.

• Smart Systems:

Smart systems are another by-product of AI and IoT. Smart home system is one of the top examples of smart systems, with an ever-growing market.

Big names like Philips are taking part in these smart systems trends and are providing solutions. IoT-based devices paired with AI-based solutions give rise to smart systems which are automated and cut off any human interference.

• Cloud-Based Solutions:

Cloud-based solutions have made companies more secure, and make it easy to store, manage and process data. Especially during these COVID-19 times, the companies have become reliant on cloud-based technologies. The trend importance of cloud-based technologies can be deduced from the fact that Google is going to set up its second cloud region in India. This will make India a major hub for cloud computing services.

• 5G:

This trend was especially saved for the last in the list, as it is expected to revolutionize the service delivery system by 2022 in India. 5G is a technology that is expected to revolutionize the world and can improve any country which holds a major share in its financial situation.

India's giants like Airtel, Jio, Vodafone Idea, and MTNL are all running 5G trials.

5 Offshoring Giants in India:​

The bigger the client's value, the greater is the importance of the business, the same rule applies here. The following big giants are part of the Indian offshoring Industry:

1. Microsoft:

Since 2010 Microsoft has been a part of India's offshoring industry. It all started when a three-year contract was signed off between Infosys technologies (Indian) and Microsoft to manage important parts of its global internal IT operations. This deal includes outsourcing services like:

• Software development
• Quality Assurance
• Technical Assistance etc. Recently during the COVID-19 pandemic, Satya Nadella (CEO Microsoft) said:

"We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months."

2. CISCO

CISCO is another well-reputed and World-leading networking solutions provider with 7 offices in India spread across different cities. An investment of $150 million was made to expand its offshore development center (Cisco Global Development Center) in Bangalore, India. India serves as 15 percent, of the total global employee strength of 73,000.

3. General Electric (GE)

GE in India has two listed companies – GE Power India Limited and GE T&D India Limited, which are listed on the stock exchanges in India.

An investment of $250 million worth, was made in the following categories:

• Infrastructure
• Healthcare
• Real Estate

The research center in Bangalore is considered one of its second-biggest research centers.

4. Ford Motor Company (FMC):

FMC is an American multinational manufacturer and it offshore the following services to India:

IT. 24/7 Customer Support. Software development.

It all started with the company only offshoring small office back work to India, however, with time it grew into the above categories.

5. Norscot:

It is a European-based oil and gas company with its office in Mumbai. The branch in Mumbai was first registered as a consultancy firm, which has evolved enough to offer the following additional services: Rig project management. Drilling services and supervision. Specialized in oil and gas equipment and services, etc.

6. Genpact:

Genpact has been operating since 1997, it is the largest business process outsourcing company in India. IN 2007, a contract was made with an Indian company known as NDTV to offer outsourcing services for the media industry.

7. Transocean:

It is a Switzerland-based offshore drilling company having offices in 20 countries, from which one is India. Recently, Transocean has won many contracts, from which one is Reliance. NSE (RELIANCE) exercised a seven-well option in India for the Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1 drillship until Nov. 2022 ($127,000). CONCLUSION:

India is truly one of the largest offshoring destinations for western developed countries due to its highly skilled workforce available at low cost and round-the-clock quality work. Even though the pandemic has caused an economic decline globally, and concerns were raised about outsourcing in India too, India has still proved its worth (especially in the IT industry) by winning new deals and increasing revenue.

Focusing on the core tasks or addressing the customers calls; a dilemma that almost every business owner faces today. If you're among those, you can get out of it and keep yourself set aside for your core business aspects by hiring a virtual phone assistant. Let them handle all your customers' calls and inquiries while you pay attention to your important business tasks. A virtual phone assistant can be either an IVR (interactive voice response) or personnel receiving the company's all incoming calls. To get you started with this, we have highlighted in this article what is the virtual phone assistant all about, the tasks they can handle and why should hire the one to reap the benefits. For your further convenience, we have also included some top virtual assistant service providers that you can assess and hire the one most suitable to your needs, instantly.

What Is A Virtual Phone Assistant?​

A virtual phone assistant (also called a virtual receptionist) is either an independent professional or software that offers a virtual call answering service to customers. Usually, companies hire the services of a virtual assistant firm or a freelancer for this. They usually give a virtual service from a virtual location but can access the required planning documents, like shared calendars.

The Working Mechanism​

All your company’s incoming calls are directed to the virtual phone assistant who answers your company’s inbound calls, directs the calls to the concerned person in the company, and/or takes a message. Moreover, the virtual phone assistant can also be made to make outbound calls to the existing and potential customers of the company. Usually, they also handle the social media inquiries, answer the FAQs, set appointments, do a live chat, manage the company's management schedule, reserve the venues, etc. from a distant location. Serving also as a virtual assistant, you can engage them for customer support, secretarial tasks, and admin duties. Virtual assistants are great for all industries especially call centers, real estate, healthcare, and hospitality.

These Businesses Get the Most Benefits from a Virtual Assistant​

1. Startups and SMEs (Small & Medium Enterprises)​

It is the most common and cost-effective way for startups and SMEs to start their professional business phone system. The least hardware requirement and no office space requirement further cut the cost down, making their overall operational expenses reduced.

2. E-Commerce Businesses​

Using a virtual assistant for your virtual business that doesn't have any physical location, is a smart, easy, and economical solution. This is because an e-commerce business receives more calls from customers. A virtual assistant, promptly handling all those calls, can help such a business get more customers. Moreover, the customer waiting time on the call can also be reduced, which boosts customer service quality.

3. Businesses Having Clients in Different Geo-Locations​

Businesses having operations and customers in different geographical locations, can use virtual assistant services that can handle various time zones and locations at a time. This ensures 24/7 operations.

Why Should You Hire a Virtual Phone Assistant?​

Let's take a look at its benefits divided into two classifications; one related to the setting up such a phone system, and the other with hiring the assistant.

A. Virtual Phone Assistant Systems​

1. Remote Work from anywhere​

Since these are virtual phone systems, they are 100% managed online. These are integrated with your current phone numbers. Hence, it is possible to run the business using a cell phone.

2. Cost Saving​

A virtual phone system has all the features like those of a traditional phone system, but with a cost-efficient package. There is no requirement for costly telecommunications equipment that should be installed on-site.

3. More Credibility​

Getting such a system is a cheap way to have a toll-free number that increases your credibility among the customers. Having your business 1-800 number or toll-free vanity number establishes your company's reputation.

B. Virtual Phone Assistants​

1. More Business​

A professional virtual assistant helps your business gain more customers and sales. This is because almost all customer queries can be answered timely and resolved. There will be a lower number of missed or unattended calls going to voicemail. Additionally, with a human dealing with your customers, a more personalized experience delivery is ensured – improving your customer satisfaction and sales.

2. Team Scaling​

As the virtual assistant receptionist functions from a remote location, adding a new assistant to your physically located teams is easier, which in turn, scales up your team without resulting in additional overhead costs.

The Tasks of a Virtual Phone Assistant​

1. Calls Screening​

A virtual phone assistant is assigned the task of handling call routing and forwarding important calls to designated people.

2. After-Work Calls Handling​

Do let the after-work calls disturb your work-life balance. Let the virtual receptionist handle and acknowledge after-hour customer calls.

3. Making You Free for Business Goals​

By outsourcing your calls to the telephone answering service or some remote working professional, you get more time to pay attention to your core business activities like financial management, marketing, etc.

The Top Virtual Phone Assistant Service Provides​

1. Abby Connect​

Abby Connect’s virtual receptionists manage all tasks including appointment scheduling, receiving calls, doing research on potential customers, etc. Key features include 24/7 answering services as per your customized hours, message-taking ability and screening and forwarding as per importance, bilingual answering services (English & Spanish), appointment scheduling integrated with Google and Outlook calendars. Paid plans are available from $2.79 per minute.

2. Virtual Headquarters​

Its trained and experienced virtual phone assistants answer all calls when you are unable to handle the calls. Key features include handling all incoming calls, taking messaging, business information sharing like postal address, parking info, services offered, etc. with the new callers, redirecting of the office landline calls to designated people's mobile phone, and call transferability to a different department. The paid plan is available from $20 per month.

3. Ruby​

Ruby is a live virtual receptionist and chat company specifically offering services for small businesses. Its staff is based in the United States. Key features include custom call handling, personalized greetings, in-house chat tool, call recording, and analysis, etc. The paid plan is available from $319/month for up to 100 virtual assistant minutes.

4. Grasshopper​

It offers a virtual phone system at affordable value rates with many business phone system features. The tool can be integrated with your current devices. Key features include custom greetings or an auto attendant to, calls making ability from a mobile phone, desktop, and mobile app, Grasshopper’s virtual number, screening business messages, and voicemail via Grasshopper’s voicemail box. The paid monthly plan is available from $29/month per user.

5. Unitel Voice​

It is a cloud-based virtual PBX more suitable for startups and small-size businesses. With this service, your business phone number can be added as a second line to your existing cell phone or office phone. All its cloud-based components are managed online. Key features include call forwarding, notifications on email or Unitel’s smartphone app for faxes or voicemails, automatic voicemail transcriptions, caller ID to display the caller’s number or your virtual phone systems number. The paid monthly plan is available from $9.99/month per user. You can also use their 30-days free trial.

Our Top Pick for Virtual Phone Assistant Professional In 2021​

If you already have a virtual phone assistant professional in place, you will also need to track their work hours. Use Clockbook as a tool to track the same and to calculate the productivity of your virtual assistants.

About Clockbook​

Clockbook is a tool that tracks your virtual assistants' work time and performance. Big companies like Ericsson and Verizon and even small businesses, like Thrive Market and Firehouse Subs are using this incredibly helpful tool to manage their remote and virtual staff effectively. Let your virtual receptionist know that they are being monitored during work hours so that they remain focused and productive.

The key features of Time Doctor’s are:

• Real-time Time Tracking
• Task tracking
• Project management
• In-Depth Reports

Final Thoughts​

Hiring a virtual assistant is not enough to scale up your business successfully unless you make sure your virtual assistant is productive and working consistently. Time Doctor makes a perfect solution to monitor your virtual or remote employee’s performance. Make the most of its easy user interface and exclusive productivity features that can help you manage your virtual assistant like a pro.

Many businesses hire virtual assistants (VA) for email marketing, administrative support, and other mundane business activities successfully. Choosing the right VA services out of hundreds of VA websites out there is not an easy task. This article highlights the top 25 VA websites along with their key features, after a thorough and careful review. Also, know how you can monitor the VAs in the best way possible.

Key Features of a VA Website​

Traditionally, this website usually featured freelancers such as work-at-home moms or solopreneurs offering specialized VA services. Now the virtual assistant businesses provide skilled VAs for several virtual assistant services. The best virtual assistant website should have these key features:

• User-friendly interface
• Transparent pricing and clearly explained payment modes
• A significant number of positive reviews

The Top 25 VA Websites to Consider in 2021​

1. WoodBows​

WoodBows is a US-based VA services provider.

Key Features​

• Dedicated account manager
• daily status update
• 24/7 phone or email support
• Transparent pricing
• Unused hours can be carried forward and will never expire.
• Make a virtual team without paying additional for various tasks like website design, email marketing, routine admin tasks, cold calling, and so on.

Pricing​

Pricing starts from $49/week for 4 hours of VA services per week.

2. Magic​

Magic’s text-based virtual assistance manages the business and personal activities including marketing, administrative tasks, and customer support.

Key Features​

• Automatic free VA-backups
• No early cancellation fees
• Third-party plugins with communication tools such as Slack and Telegram.
• No monthly subscription

Pricing​

Pricing starts from $10/hour per virtual assistant.

3. Virtalent​

Virtalent is a UK-based VA company.

Key Features​

• Experienced VAs
• Dedicated client managers
• Any unused hours automatically rolled over to the next month.
• Availability of switchable plans

Pricing​

Pricing starts from $361.50/month for 10 hours of VA support.

4. Fancy Hands​

It is a US-based VA company for VA services for booking reservations, handling phone calls, and personal tasks.

Key Features​

• Teamwork platform to manage multiple VAs
• Unused tasks are carried forward to the next month.
• Third-party plugins for project management tools

Pricing​

Pricing starts from $17.99/month for 3 VA service requests.

5. Virtual Staff Finder​

Virtual Staff Finder is based in the Philippines and great for administrative tasks.

Key Features​

• High-quality virtual assistants having communication skills.
• VAs payment is based on a mutually agreeable pricing plan.
• Exclusive video assistance
• 24/7 VA assistance
• Can work with your VA outside the platform at your ease.

Pricing​

Pricing starts at $395 (one-time fee).

6. Time Etc​

It is a US and UK-based virtual assistant website for entrepreneurs and businesses.

Key Features​

• Experienced VAs
• Powerful centralized dashboard
• Unused VA hours are carried forward to the next month
• Support for unlimited phone calls

Pricing​

Pricing starts from $270/month for 10 hours of limitless task requests.

7. 24/7 Virtual Assistant​

It offers virtual assistance for many personal tasks such as food delivery, ticket booking, administrative task support, email marketing, and search engine optimization services.

Key Features​

• 24/7 availability
• Free cancellation
• Real-time customer support

Pricing​

Pricing from an offshore office starts from $299. In the U.S., it starts at $399.

MyOutDesk​

It is designed for real estate services and also offers digital marketing services such as SEO, social media management, and Google advertising.

Key Features​

• lock-up periods - Free cancellation
• Data security and legal protection
• Integration with project management software

Pricing​

Pricing starts at $1788/month for a yearly plan.

9. Hello Rache​

It is medical professionals and is based in the United States. It provides Filipino work-from-home assistants for healthcare and administrative tasks.

Key Features​

• HIPAA-compliant virtual assistants
• Data confidentiality.
• Video resumes of Vas
• VAs are skilled in EHR (Electronic Health Record) software, Practice Fusion, and patient management systems.
• custom VA solutions

Pricing​

It offers a flat rate of $9/hour.

10. Upwork​

Upwork is a great platform to hire freelancers. It provides virtual assistance for data entry, graphic design, social media management, and WordPress site development.

Key Features​

• Advanced search filters to
• Customer support
• A built-in work diary that counts the total billable time of all Vas

Pricing​

Pricing starts at $49.99/month.

11. Fiverr​

Fiverr is ideal for small businesses that need VAs for tasks such as web design, copywriting, and podcast editing.

Key Features​

• Expert VAs
• Multiple search filters
• High-quality customer support

Pricing​

All services have a $2 processing fee for service rates up to $40 and 5% on rates above $40.

12. LinkedIn​

LinkedIn is one of the biggest business and employment networks that connects professionals and VAs globally.

Key Features​

• Automatically generated JDs and templates to make an ideal job description.
• Standardized fields such as location, industry, skills, and experience
• Screening questions and skills assessments

Pricing​

You can post your opening for free or can put a budget to increase a job’s visibility.

13. VA Networking​

VA Networking is a comprehensive platform to find fresh and experienced virtual assistants.

Key Features​

• Job board for posting requirement
• Option to directly talk with experienced VAs.
• VA networking forum
• career startup system

Pricing​

Requests for Proposals can be submitted for free.

14. Freelancer.com​

Freelancer is an Australia-based website where you can hire freelancers for categories like software, sales, and telecommunications.

Key Features​

• Live chat
• Desktop app for Windows, Linux, or Mac to track work hours
• Employer Following feature

Pricing​

Post your jobs free. You just need to pay an additional 3% fee while paying your VAs.

15. PeoplePerHour​

PeoplePerHour is a job site that connects freelancers and virtual assistants.

Key Features​

• VAs for many industries such as technology, writing, and digital marketing.
• Filter searches by language, availability, popularity, and more.
• Dashboard

Pricing​

Signing in and the job posting is free of cost.

16. Zirtual​

It is a virtual assistant company that offers businesses a virtual VA that can handle data entry, event planning, research, and other tasks.

Key Features​

• Calendar management
• expense reporting and organization
• invoicing
• Social media virtual assistant

Pricing​

Pricing starts from $449/month for 12 hours of task work.

17. Indeed​

It is a free platform for virtual assistant talent, where VAs post their resume, make job alert emails, search for jobs, and apply for the same. It also includes job listings from key job boards, associations, newspapers, and company career pages.

Key Features​

• Indeed Assessments to screen candidates
• Automatic grouping of candidates
• Businesses can have their recruitment systems with Indeed.com

Pricing​

You can use both free and sponsored job postings.

18. Vasumo​

It offers services for beginner entrepreneurs, a startup or even individuals.

Key Features​

• Tasks management dashboard
• Chat Widget
• Offers Web, smartphones, and tablet apps connection

Pricing​

Pricing starts from $498/month for up to 25 hours of monthly service.

19. VAVA Virtual Assistants​

It is great for the entrepreneur looking to start a business. The skilled assistants are available for bookkeeping, branding, social media, graphic design, web design, etc.

Key Features​

• Digital and social media marketing like copywriting and online advertising.
• Support for travel booking, calendar setting.
• Graphic design services

Pricing​

You can connect to their sales representative to give you a custom quote.

20. Belay​

Belay is great to have a virtual bookkeeper, social media strategist, and web specialist.

Key Features​

• VAs are available from Monday to Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM
• Managing inboxes and executing travel plans.
• Assists in industry data gathering and research.

Pricing​

You can connect to their sales representative to give you a custom quote.

21. Prialto​

Prialto is a US-based VA company for supporting executives.

Key Features​

• VAs can research, make viable lists, and respond to reviews.
• Schedule meetings
• Manage calls
• Workflow management

Pricing​

Pricing starts from $1200/month for 55 hours of monthly service.

22. Boldly​

Boldly, formerly called Worldwide101, offers the highest quality, reliable and experienced virtual assistants for top-notch services.

Key Features​

• Client dashboard
• Backup to cover vacation or illness.
• Integrate with workspace through company email and collaboration tools.

Pricing​

Pricing starts from $1470/month for 30 hours of service.

23. UAssist.Me​

UAssist.Me virtual assistants and outsourcing services are available for startups, small businesses, and entrepreneurs.

Key Features​

• UAM app to track projects
• Personal errands support including online purchasing, research, etc.
• Bilingual virtual assistants

Pricing​

Pricing starts from $1059/month for a shared assistant.

24. Premier VEBA​

Premier VEBA offers executive, creative, and technical business services.

Key Features​

• Provides services for finance, writing sales, etc.
• security measures for data security
• technical solutions for operating systems, big data analytics, and app development

Pricing​

You can connect to their sales representative to give you a custom quote.

25. Virtual Employee​

Virtual Employee virtual employee services for domains like software programming, accounts, law, and many non-technical areas.

Key Features​

• 1-week free trial.
• Assistants for data entry, customer support, and more.
• Free cancellation
• 24×7 support
• Virtual services in 150+ domains.

Pricing​

Pricing starts from $4.5/hour.

Monitoring the VAs​

Hiring your VA is of no use unless you monitor the work they do that you have assigned. You need to make sure you are billed for the worked hours only, and not for the idle hours of the VA. You can achieve this with smart performance tracking tools like Clockbook that offers everything you require to track your VAs’ timeline and tasks.

About Clockbook​

Clockbook is a comprehensive and robust employee productivity management software used by both small businesses like Firehouse Subs and big corporations like BBB (Better Business Bureau) and Verizon who seek to enhance their VAs productivity. Clockbook lets you monitor your VAs and remote workers with the following key features:

• Project Reports to keep track of your VAs working hours
• Prevention of idle hours billing through build-in inactivity tracker
• Ensuring VAs work with most focus with poor time use pop-up alert
• Payroll management to easily pay VAs

In the past, the rate of remote working adoption has consistently been high; however, it jumped to its peak during the Covid-19 pandemic. Millions of people shifted to this new working model while businesses struggled to keep pace with the new challenges by addressing the associated challenges. Fortunately, the path becomes easier for both remote workers and employers with the remote work software and apps. The article highlights what these software and apps are all about, why your remote work teams need the same, and the top 15 remote work software or tools that you should consider in 2021.

About Remote Work Software?​

Remote work software is a team management tool that helps employers keep their remote employees working collaboratively. All the features of a physical workplace are provided to the employees in an online environment. Remote teams can easily do their tasks through features like messaging, chat, team collaboration, video conferencing, employee tracking, etc. It directs them in the right direction as a team.

The Top 15 Remote Work Software & Apps​

1. Clockbook for Employee Productivity Tracking​

Clockbook serves as a perfect time tracker and workforce productivity tool used by both small and big businesses. The key features include tim.tracking and integrations with mainstream management software such as Trello.

Key Features​

• Time tracking through detailed reports like Activity Summary Report, Attendance Report, Project and Tasks Report, Web and App Usage Report, Custom export, and Productivity Report
• Productivity ratings like Productive, Unproductive, Unrated, Neutral
• Optional screencasts to let you know what remote employees do on their computers. Offline time tracking.
• Simple user-interface and employee-friendly settings
• Project assignment
• Employees’ idle time tracking
• No keystroke logging to save employee privacy
• Strict privacy and data security policies.
• Powerful Chrome extension
• Payroll feature to make payments directly through PayPal, Gusto, Wise, etc.
• 24/7 monitoring from productivity from anywhere using an app

Pricing​

You can use Clockbook’s free trial (no credit card required) for its basic and premium plans, while their paid version starts from $3.99 and $5.99 per user per month respectively. The Enterprise plan starts from only $11.99 per user per month.

2. Slack​

Slack is a remote work software that enables real-time communication between teams. Users can send direct messages individually or in channels containing team members.

Key Features​

• Collaboration between clients and freelancers
• Built-in Slack calls.
• Integrate with other platforms like Clockbook, Trello, and Github.

Pricing​

The paid version starts at $8/user per month.

3. Zoom​

It is the most popular video conferencing through which businesses can host webinars as well as team meetings. It has robust audio, video, and collaboration features, and connects remote teams for face-to-face interaction.

Key Features​

• One-on-one video calls and host meetings for up to 100 participants (in free version)
• Breakout Rooms feature makes a virtual conference room
• Record meetings
• Screen sharing feature to demonstrate practical workflows and procedures

Pricing​

The paid version starts at $149.90 per license.

4. Asana​

It is a project management tool that lets you create and assign project tasks and projects to a remote team. Its automation abilities streamline workflows.

Key Features​

• Task delegation to remote team members
• Kanban-style boards to see projects’ statuses.
• Live chats to organize conversations.
• Make teams and projects private as per settings you define

Pricing​

• Paid plan starts from $13.49/user per month.

5. Google Drive​

Google Drive is a cloud storage and collaboration tool, with Google Docs as comprehensive writing software and Google Sheets to organize data online. You can save and share files in any format and access them from any device.

Key Features​

• photos, videos, documents can be saved
• Categorization of files into folders and sorting files
• File sharing and collaboration
• Collaborate in Microsoft Office files

Pricing​

It gives 15GB of free storage. In addition, you can buy.

6. Evernote​

It is a note-taking and knowledge base app through which users can share, edit, access, and upload their notes from any device or browser. It’s a great tool for quick to-do lists.

Key Features​

• syncing across multiple devices
• Access to notes even being offline.
• Pin notes to keep a reminder for important points
• Integrates with Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, and Salesforce.

Pricing​

Pricing starts at $14.99/user per month.

7. Calendly​

It is a calendar and scheduling app, with a 'team view' page best for remote teams. The team’s calendar schedules the time that is suitable for all.

Key Features​

• Connect with six of your calendars for automatic availability checking.
• Confirmation and reminders for emails and texts.
• Cap the meetings on the calendar each day.
• Schedule appointments for customers directly from your website.

Pricing​

Pricing starts at $8/user per month.

8. Krisp​

It is a noise-canceling app that enhances the quality of a virtual call by reducing noise.

Key Features​

• No need to mute on calls as this app removes all noise and echoes in the background
• Integrates with communication apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
• Supports microphones, headphones, and speakers.
• Offers HD voice quality.

Pricing​

Pricing starts at $8/user per month.

9. Loom​

It is a simple screencasting app that records your screen and shares it with your co-workers.

Key Features​

• Take screencasts, record voice, and display face
• Send quick videos
• Apps for Windows, Mac, and iOS platforms.
• Chrome extension

Pricing​

Pricing starts at $10/user per month.

10. Donut​

Donut lets your virtual team members know each other and enhances employee engagement. You just make a Slack channel and get Donut to invite people.

Key Features​

• Make virtual informal meetups for your remote employees
• Offers cross-department get-togethers virtually
• Connects teams for a mentorship program, job-shadowing sessions, etc.

Pricing​

Pricing starts at $59/month for 1-24 users.

11. Teamflow​

It is a virtual office for teams to come together.

Key Features​

• Remote team members watch their video in a bubble on a virtual workspace floor plan.
• You can move the ‘character’ around the virtual office
• You can hear people around their virtual bubble.
• Screen-sharing
• Whiteboard
• Office scratchpads

Pricing​

Pricing starts at $20/user per month.

12. Docusign​

This tool is great for signing documents virtually and thus helps to print and manually scan paperwork.

Key Features​

• Sign documents securely with manifold layers of built-in security and authentication.
• Supports all file formats
• PDF conversion before sending.
• Document retrieval from cloud storage services, including Google Drive, Microsoft Office 365, Dropbox, Evernote, etc.

Pricing​

Pricing starts at $15/user per month.

13. Brain.fm​

Brain.fm plays music in the background to keep employees from tasks or relax by positively enhancing the brain.

Key Features​

• Purpose-driven music sessions from 30 minutes to 2+ hours.
• Background music for relaxation or falling asleep.
• Compatible with Chrome, Safari, and Firefox, as well as iOS and Android

Pricing​

Pricing starts at $6.99/user per month.

14. World Time Buddy​

It is a world clock app, time converter, and online meeting scheduling app.

Key Features​

• Visual time conversion and scheduling.
• Integrate with Google calendar
• Create an event page to share with teams
• Supports DST (Daylight Savings Time.)

Pricing​

Pricing starts at $2.99/month for 20 locations.

15. Lastpass​

Lastpass saves teams’ passwords in a virtual vault, so there is no need to remember. Key Features

• Store & access all your passwords from your vault from any device
• Easy access to LastPass vault with a single click
• Add and manage all your passwords in the password vault
• Multi-Factor authentication

Pricing​

Pricing starts at $3/user per month when billed yearly.

Why Using Remote Work Software? It gives your remote teams a lot of benefits like:

• Better communication
• Office-like environment
• Attendance and productivity management
• Work-life balance

Final Thoughts​

Here is a quick review of all the top remote work software we presented.

• employee productivity: Time Doctor
• instant messaging platform: Slack
• video conferencing: Zoom
• task management: Asana
• Cloud document storing and collaboration: Google Drive
• note-taking: Evernote
• scheduling appointments: Calendly
• background noises: Krisp
• record and share video walkthroughs: Loom
• team bonding: Donut
• a virtual office: Teamflow
• Sign documents digitally: DocuSign
• boost focus: Brain.fm
• time conversion: World Time Buddy
• password management:LastPass

No matter what, one thing Covid-19 has revolutionized so far, replacing the traditional workplaces operating in physical offices with virtual working platforms with remote teams. With the increasing popularity of the remote work model, team managers and project leads require developing a productive remote work plan for their employees who work at home. They want to know how a perfect remote work plan looks like with all essential elements. This article talks about the same, and also gives you a free remote work plan template that you can download to start instantly.

Remote Work Policy Template – A Sample​

The standard remote work policy template includes the following elements:

• Company Goals

It highlights the guidelines remote employees need to follow to meet company strategic goals.

• Scope

This section defines whether remote working or teleworking is a temporary or permanent mode of work for the employee. If it is temporary, it mentions the duration.

• Remote Working Contract

Employees wishing to opt for remote working can apply for the same at the HR department of the company. The HR team will evaluate and decide the eligibility, prepare a remote working contract and send the same to the employee. The contract also includes the policies to follow, benefits, company culture, and roles and responsibilities of the employee. Employees who just became parents or are faced with any disability can have a mutual agreement with their direct management and HR department to extend their remote working contract.

• The Guidelines

The guidelines, with some examples given below, must be there to ensure that remote work structure enhances the employees’ performance.

1. Employees must have an uninterrupted internet access
2. They must work from a quiet and distraction-free space.
3. They must make their daily and weekly timelines to focus on their duties
4. Abide by the attendance and breaks policies as prescribed by their manager
5. Their working hours should be the same as those of employees working in-office for effective collaboration
6. They must conduct in-person or online meetings with their colleagues and managers to be updated about the progress and outcomes

• Adherence to Policies

Some of the remote work policies include:

1. code of conduct of the employees
2. Attendance
3. Dress code
4. Confidentiality
5. Data protection
6. Anti-discrimination
7. Compensation and benefits
8. Internet usage
9. computer usage
10. Cell phone usage

• Equipment

The equipment issued to the remote employee includes a laptop, cell phone, and headset. The software elements include VPN and Company’s ERP It is to be noted that the remote work plan template is only a company internal document and doesn't hold any legal obligations.

• About Remote Work Plan

It is the document that defines the remote work plan in a clear and user-friendly language. Its elements include remote employees' responsibilities, technical knowledge, expected challenges, and practical solutions.

Creating a Remote Work Plan​

1. Make Clear Rules

Though remote work can result in increased productivity, we cannot still ignore the odds of employees diverting from work. Hence, always mention the clear rules in a remote work policy so that the remote team remains focused all through the work timings.

For instance, your colleagues – can log in at diverse times, which might disturb the workflow. This can be avoided by implementing a defined time log in time for all employees.

2. Focus Employee Eligibility

You cannot give remote working privileges to all employees as some can misuse this facility by not logging in as per defined time, not working properly during working hours, etc. You should think of their job nature. For instance, a sales agent doesn't need to work remotely as most of his work is outdoors.

Furthermore, before the remote work proposal, check if the employees have:

• Good communication skills.
• Independently working acumen
• Time management ability

3. Help Employees

The remote employees should work in a way that they don’t disturb the company’s overall workflow, customer satisfaction, and team performance.

For instance, HR recruiters who hire employees might find it problematic to work from home since they are not able to have one-on-one meetings. The remote job plan for them may include online assessments, video calls, and telephonic assessments to carry on their remote hiring procedure.

4. Give the Right Technology & Tools

Employees surely need equipment, such as laptops or desktops and an internet connection, while working remotely. They might also need a VPN or internet security software for keeping information safe. It is recommended to provide some communication tools such as Slack so that all employees can work collaboratively in real-time. The plan should also include a video conferencing system such as Google Chat.

And more importantly, you must have a time tracking software like Time Doctor to keep a track of remote employees’ work starting and end timing.

About Time Doctor

Time Doctor is an all-inclusive employee time tracking and productivity management tool that many businesses of all sizes; from Keller Williams to Thrive Market, are using to enhance their remote staff’s productivity.

Its main features include:

1. Time tracking of each project or task
2. Detailed reports that help assess employee productivity
3. Screencasts to ensure actual working
4. Work schedules that compel employees to log in their work hours
5. Payroll integration with Wise, Paypal, etc. for easy and quick payment to employees

5. Make a Remote Work Schedule

Create task lists around which employees can make their flexible schedule to balance their personal lives. They may also make a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule that you can easily review.

6. Compensation and Benefits

Offer remote employees with additional bonuses and benefits.

7. Take care of Employees’ Legal Rights

Take care of legal rights that include payment for overtime.

8. Consider Health & Wellness Benefits

Remote work becomes stressful sometimes because of distractions, domestic responsibilities, and not easy collaboration with distributed team members.
Your remote work policy should prioritize the employees’ health and well-being by making remote work convenient. You may schedule breaks, quick chats, as well as informal team meetings that help team members maintain their physical and mental health.

Quick Tips for a Perfect Remote Work Plan

1. Smoothen your Team Collaboration framework by using collaboration tools
2. Enhance employee engagement with rewards, benefits, and constant observation and meetings
3. Being empathetic towards their needs and limitations

Final Thoughts Creating a perfect remote work plan is not the end of the story. You must include the right work tools such as Time Doctor; our top recommendation for employees' time tracking and increasing productivity.

As the trend of remote work is surging faster, especially after the advent of the Covid-19 Pandemic, a system that tracks the productivity and working hours of remote workers, has become a dire necessity for employers. Besides giving employers and businesses an idea of the work progress and performance of their remote workers, a remote time tracking system offers many benefits to the remote employees and freelancers as well, providing them an easy way to log in their attendance and keep their timesheets updated with only a few clicks. However, with many time-tracking platforms entering the market today. It is difficult to decide which platform offers the highest value. This article examines the same in terms of the pricing structure of the plans such platforms offer, by comparing few mainstream ones. Clockbook emerges as the most economical time tracking platform so far, beating the players like Hubstaff and Clockify.

The Significance of Clockbook Platform​

Before knowing the pricing structure of Clockbook, let’s quickly dig into its exclusive features that are identical to those offered by Hubstaff and Clockbook. Surprisingly, these are available at significantly lower prices at Clockbook.

Clockbook is an employee time tracking system that provides employee clock time (timesheet). It is a popular, easy to use, and intuitive solution designed to provide ease of completing the timesheets, generating invoicing, setting reminders and alerts, maintaining time tracking, and exporting customized reports. Employers don't have to worry about having to pay for the unproductive hours while employees enjoy the utmost convenience while working remotely. It also saves tons of hours of manually updating, signing, collecting, and reconciling the timesheets.

Clockbook Pricing Structure - The Differentiating Feature in Itself​

As mentioned before, Clockbook’s Basic, Standard, and Pro Plan are reasonably priced and offer similar features, even additional ones, as compared to Hubstaff & Clockbook. On these platforms, the basic plan starts from $4 to $7 per user per month while the PRO plan reaches as high as $10 to $20 per user per month.

Clockbook offers the following plan with differentiated pricing and exclusive features:

Basic Plan (Administration)​

• $3.99 per user per month
• All free features
• Add time for others
• Bulk edit
• Decimal format
• Customize export

Exclusive feature: Free first 10 users at the same cost of 01 user.

Standard Plan (Timesheet & Billing)​

• $5.49 per user per month
• All BASIC features
• Lock timesheets
• Time approval
• Manage role
• Targets & reminders
• Import timesheets
• Task rates
• Time rounding
• Invoicing

Exclusive feature: Free first 10 users at the same cost of 01 user.

Pro Plan (Productivity & Profit)​

• $5.99 per user per month
• All STANDARD features
• Labor cost & profit
• Scheduled reports
• Budget & estimates
• Alerts
• Custom fields
• Force timer
• GPS tracking
• Screenshots

Exclusive feature: Free first 5 users at the same cost of 01 user.

If you are an employer, business, or even a freelancer using a remote work mechanism, and want to enjoy premium-like features like those of Hubstaff and Clockify but at significantly economical prices, Clockbook serves as an accurate time tracking tool that allows you to measure the exact productivity with the utmost convenience and cost-effectively.

Time clock rounding, also called time rounding, refers to the method through which employers and managers track the working hours of their staff and convert the data into easy-to-manage accounting figures at the time of payroll calculations. The system is designed in a way that neither employers nor employees can misuse. Being an employer, you must be well-versed in time cloud rounding rules as it saves you from potential costly lawsuits.

The Timesheets​

These make a digital record of employees' working hours. The timesheet can be physical in certain cases. These sheets also record the employees' time spent on particular tasks, thus serving as an important time tracking tool in project management. Timesheets are beneficial since these ensure:

• project transparency
• Correct billing & invoicing
• Accurate and easier payroll calculation
• Faster payroll processing
• Identification of issues in workflow
• Productivity
• Efficient project management

Compliance with Timesheet Standards​

To make the most of this time tracking tool, there are certain industry standards to be complied with. Employees must know the rules by which timesheets will be filled and working. Managers or employers who make these timesheets should analyze the data for improvements from time to time The accounts personnel must know the rules on how to process the approved timesheets for billing, payroll, and invoicing.

Timesheets are governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that has explicitly defined rules about:

• Overtime
• minimum wage
• timekeeping
• paid time off
• Sick leave etc.

The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) carries an audit trail of your company, auditing all the records related to the timesheets, including timesheet approvals and their rounding. This ensures information transparency and integrity in the audits.

About Time rounding​

It is the practice or rule through which employees' hours are rounded up to be considered for times in a day that otherwise cannot be entered into the timesheet. These include bathroom breaks, kitchen, smoking, snacks, a few-minute breather, prayer, etc.

Legal Ways for Time Rounding​

• The 5-Minute rule

In this rule, the supervisor logs the employee’s time to the nearest 5-minute interval.

• The 6-Minute rule

In this rule, the supervisor logs the employee’s time to the closest tenth of the hour.

• The 7-Minute rule

It is the most commonly used rule by employers. Since it entails wider time intervals, it makes the tracking and rounding process easier.

In this rule, in the first 7 minutes of a 15-minute interval, the supervisor rounds the time back, and in the adjacent seven minutes, rounds the time forward.

The three time-rounding rules​

Imagine that your employee comes in 08:56 and goes out at 04:58. Thus, he worked for 8 hours and 2 minutes. You will round this time entry to the nearest time increment.

In this case, if you are using the 7-minute rule, the entries will be rounded up as 09:00 and 05:00.

The rule says that you should round the entry in favor of an employee, and the going out time in favor of the employer.

How to do the Timesheets Right?​

Besides ensuring compliance with the mandatory standards, it is important from the audit perspective that you and your staff ensure that the prepared timesheets are both user-friendly and legitimate. Hence, here are some tips to do the timesheets right.

• Ensure everyone is well aware of the significance and purpose of timesheets
• Add supporting information to timesheets for better communication of workflow information
• Use a standard format for timesheet for all departments
• Use a prescribed software for time tracking and timesheet creation
• Avoid physical or manually developed timesheets with complex formats
• Don’t micromanage timesheet development; just provide enough training for awareness and practice
• Enter the information truthfully and daily

Though the guidelines may differ from company to company as each company defines and follows its own time reporting preferences and calculation; however, the most vital thing that all must follow is the proper timesheet preparation and ensuring regular tracking and updates.

The more the delay in making the timesheets, the more incomplete and improper the timesheet will be. This badly affects the billing and payroll procedures, makes everything difficult for everyone, and will give an inaccurate picture of the project progress. Therefore, the standard timesheet practices must be there from day 1.

The Audit​

Besides following and ensuring compliance with industry best timesheet practices, it is also important to audit your time rounding practices. Most of the companies conduct a yearly audit for time tracking practices since it is a great means to keep an eye on existing procedures and come up with improvements in the process continuously. The yearly audit checks:

• The mandatory standards and the company's internal procedures are followed strictly
• There is no inaccuracy in the reports
• The reports are timely updated, maintained, stored, and reported
• The reports are secured and alteration-proof
• The privacy standards of the system are satisfactory
• There are no loopholes or gaps in the company’s timesheet and time rounding policies
• The staff is well aware of the timesheet preparation and time rounding procedures

Conclusion​

Time rounding serves as a valuable practice for analyzing and tracking employees' working hours, productivity and workflows. This also helps to streamline your billing and payroll functions. It can add significant value to your operations and save your business from lawsuits if applied fairly and properly.

Recommendations​

Though the manager or supervisor is advised to round the time hours in favor of an employee, if not neutrally, it is also advised to focus on how often those timesheets are seen with time and with which employees. If the supervisors observe that some people are staying shorter or longer than the prescribed time continuously, this is a high time to have a meeting with those and take corrective actions. The purpose of the timesheet tracking is to ensure all employees are giving the required time to the company; hence, steps should be taken to ensure that system is not abused by anyone. Similarly, strict audits should be in place to detect and report untrustworthy practices in a timely way. Lastly, the ERP or the software that is used to create timesheets should have a limited access feature, with full rights available only to the right and most relevant personnel; however, alteration and modification tracking must only be in control of the higher management.