1. Enable the FreshBooks export within Chrometa by going to Account - Integrations, and entering your FreshBooks URL (sans the "www" - you just need the URL).

The quickest way to do this is via a bulk import of your list in CSV format.  Go to the Projects tab in Chrometa, and click the Import Clients button (upper-right) to access the bulk import feature.

3. Create an Invoice by going to the Invoices tab, selecting the New Invoice button.

4. Create a new invoice, save it, and export it to FreshBooks.  You can combine the Save and Export steps by taking advantage of the "And" menu located immediately below the Save button.

For a case study example, time and billing expert and technology thought leader Dustin Wheeler wrote an excellent blog post detailing how he has integrated Chrometa and FreshBooks into his CPA practice.

Like you, I hate keeping track of my billable time. I used to spend hours each week going through sent emails, my calendar and my notes to figure out what I did every day.

I knew there had to be a better answer than notepads and start/stop timers.

The problem with the start/stop timer, for me, is that I'm constantly getting interrupted throughout the day. So I'd start the timer once in the morning — and realize 5 hours later it'd be running against the same task ever since, because I forgot to toggle it!

Time entry methods were equally ineffective — I am far too busy and multi-task far too much during the day to be bothered with the tedious effort of creating a new time entry when I change tasks.

Finally in 2007, I'd had enough — so I designed a product that'd automatically track my time and let me easily organize that time so I could accurately and easily bill my clients.

I'm excited to announce that our groundbreaking timekeeping product, Chrometa, is now available

You can get started with Chrometa for free — and be up and running in a matter of minutes.

Please start capturing your billable time automatically with Chrometa now. (Available for PC and Mac)

FREE VIDEO: HOW I KEEP TIME WITHOUT HANDWRITTEN NOTES OR START/STOP TIMERS

Does Chrometa sound too good to be true? That's typically the reaction attorneys have when they first hear about our product.

The "magic" of Chrometa is that its data collector runs in the background of your PC and/or Mac, quietly making note of your activities. It's like having your very own personal timekeeper.

When you open or compose an email, Chrometa will capture that activity. Same for documents you draft, web research you do, and even phone and meeting time — everything is captured passively without you lifting a finger.

I'm very proud of the killer time keeping app our guys have built — it's been a tremendous hit with solo and small firm attorneys, and has already been featured in The Economist, The Chicago Tribune, and TechnoLawyer.

Please take our 2-minute video tour now.

Sincerely,

Adam Tope, Esq.
Special Advisor to Chrometa, LLC

Our users who don’t have a billing or practice management system have often asked us: 

“How can I get my Chrometa time entries directly onto a bill?”

Good news - now you can create and even email an invoice with the click of a button!  Head over to our new Invoices section to get started.  Once there:

1. Select your time period
2. Select the Client and Project you want to invoice
3. Click the "Get Time" button

Chrometa will pull your categorized time entries, with annotations, and whoila!  You've got an invoice that you can now export (to Word, PDF, Excel), and/or email directly to your client.

Sample Chrometa Invoice

PS - Not yet a Chrometa user?  You can get started capturing your time automatically - and invoicing for it - for free, today.

Our good friend and Chrometa user Kent Healy - author, entrepreneur, productivity expert, and all around Renaissance Man - has been extremely kind in granting us exclusive access to Part 1 of his new book Be Uncommonly Productive - 15 unbreakable, paradigm-bending principles for slaughtering stress, taking charge, and doing more than commonly possible.

Kent called me last week to offer this great resource up free for fellow Chrometa users - thanks Kent, you're the man!

If you're looking for a run of the mill productivity book, this is NOT for you.  

What this is, is an irreverent, practical look at gaining more time and freedom, from a guy who runs his own business and has his hands in countless ventures.  If hearing productivity tips from a bare knuckled, seasoned entrepreneur sounds interesting, then this IS the book for you.  

Without further adieu, here is Be Uncommonly Productive for your reading and downloading pleasure (in fact, please download a copy now, because we're only able to offer it up free for a limited time...)

Be Uncommonly Productive - Chrometa

We're excited to announce that we've partnered with Clio to deliver a seamless time capture and practice management experience for solo and small firm attorneys.

1. Click the Add button from the Imports section.
2. Select Import Activities from CSV in the drop down.
3. Choose and Upload the file you exported from Chrometa.

Click to enlarge.

If you need a hand setting this up, please contact Chrometa support via email or phone (1-888-340-6425 x2).

While network proxies and computer firewalls are often more annoying than helpful these days, they are an existing pain that we sometimes still have to deal with still, like it or not.

So, we've created a way for Chrometa users to manually upload their data around a potential nasty proxy or firewall with just a couple of mouse clicks.  

How do you know if a proxy or firewall is stopping your Chrometa data from syncing up?

Chrometa typically uploads data for you once an hour.  The first thing to check is the Test Connection function - which you can locate by right-clicking on the yellow menu tray icon (an orange icon accessible via a left-click on a Mac), and selecting the Options menu (Preferences on Mac):

Here, you'll see your Upload settings:

The Test Connection button will let you know if Chrometa is able to sync up your time entries from your desktop.  The most common reason a Test Connection fails is due to a Username/Password mismatch - sometimes users will change their password to the web interface, but forget to manually update their password in their desktop client settings.  This is where you would update that password (and if you forget your password, you can reset it here).

If your Test Connection is unable to reveal clues about why your data is not syncing, it may be a proxy/firewall issue (especially if this is a consistent problem for you).  If you find this is happening, you are welcome to email our support team (support@chrometa.com) so that we can help you diagnose what's up.

How to manually upload your Chrometa data (around a proxy or firewall)

Click the Upload Behind a Proxy/Firewall button to get started (Windows users should upgrade to the latest version (build 75 for those scoring at home) for this feature - please download the manual upload version here).

This will bring up the Devices screen within the Chrometa application (which you can also access directly by going to Account - Devices).

1. Click the Select stats.ttb file button next to your Windows device
2. Navigate to your User Folder - ChrometaV2
3. Select the file called stats.ttb
4. Click the Select timemappings.ini file button, and select the file called timemappings.ini

This will upload your Active and Away Time, respectively.  

Mac

1. Click the Select timestamp.plist file button next to your Mac device
2. Navigate to your User Folder/Library/Application Support/Chrometa
3. Select the file called timestamp.plist

How long will it take for your data to sync up?

Typically just a few minutes, but it could take a bit longer if you have a lot of time entries to sync up.  You can navigate over to the Reports tab within Chrometa to see your time entries after they are done syncing.

How often should I do this?

If your data never syncs automatically, you would only need to do this when you need to reconcile your Chrometa time entries.  BUT - I personally would feel much better if you did this exercise more often, so that you can assure your valuable time is being captured!

Questions?  Please email us at support@chrometa.com or call 1-888-340-6425 x2.