Every now and then, an idea comes along that seems to gather its own momentum, like a snowball running down a hill, to become something bigger. In much the same way, TimeBank, a software application that began with a clear but focused purpose, is now ready to step onto a larger stage and make its mark in the business world.
TimeBank started as a solution to a small company’s problem, but today, it has grown into a tool that helps several businesses save time, increase transparency, and strengthen their business models. When Michael Nelson and Brad Colacino formed Five Towers Media, they knew that having an effective and efficient way to track clients’ time was crucial to their operations. After seeing how successful their homegrown application was within their own business, they realized it could be valuable to other companies as well. Now, after years of beta testing, new developments, and improvements, they are ready to release the application to the public.
Before coming together, Michael and Brad each ran separate businesses—Brad with Five Towers Design Company, and Michael with Spa City Digital. For Michael, time tracking was an essential part of his work at Spa City Digital. “We did a lot of managed marketing and so what that meant was we did a flat monthly fee and there was a prescribed scope of work,” he explained, “What we came to find out after a few years of working with our clients is that some clients love that and other clients like to be charged hourly.” However, hourly tracking proved to be extremely tedious and time consuming. “There’s plenty of time tracking solutions out there, but none of those solutions were easy and none of them tracked time the way that we needed to track time and none of them gave us, more importantly, the opportunity to report how much time a client had used, what it had been used on, and how much time they have left,” said Michael. He had to personally go through spreadsheets and reconcile all of his client’s accounts by hand. This meant figuring out how much time a client had used, what hours were billable vs non-billable, and determining how much time a client had remaining. Additionally, there was no way for a client to see how many hours they had left without reaching out to Michael.
Needing to find a solution, Michael pitched his idea to Brad to develop a new program. “My background in software engineering and also website development made it kind of a natural fit,” explained Brad. The two business owners would later merge their companies to create Five Towers Media, and Brad continued working on developing the prototype.
The program was an immediate benefit for the company. Initially, it saved Michael an enormous amount of time when it came to managing client’s hours. “If a client asked me how much time they had left and what they had used it on, it would take me around two hours per client in order to get them a clear and accurate report. Now I can get them that clear and accurate report in 30 seconds,” he said, “I would say anywhere from 5 to 10 hours a week I was spending just on answering this question for clients, and now that time can be spent on other things. On top of that, clients don’t even have to ask me that question anymore. Now they can just log into their account and they can see how much time they have left, and they can see what work we’ve done, and how much time we spent on each task to the minute. It’s been hugely impactful to our business.”
The program worked so well internally that both Mike and Brad found themselves talking about it with other business owners during networking events, and even casual conversation. A few companies became interested and asked if they could try it out for themselves. This was a big lightbulb moment, as it became clear how many other businesses could benefit from the application. Five Towers then used the feedback they received to further develop and strengthen the program. “In the two and half years since then, TimeBank has done nothing but evolve,” Brad explained, “And it's really just come to meet the evolving and complex needs of not only our company at Five Towers Media, but some of the other clients that have been helping us beta-test the application.” Looking ahead, Brad talked about the path forward, “We’re making it easier to use while adding additional capabilities to the program.” For example, a recent upgrade introduced the Alerts feature, which can send an email notification as the client’s account balance reaches a certain threshold. Clients can now also budget and limit the time spent on certain focus areas like social media, video production, website edits, etc.
Due to the program’s flexibility, the data can be reported at a client level for invoicing and bookkeeping, while also being summarized at an employee level for payroll, PTO and sick time. Additionally, being able to track work done to the exact minute allows for the business owner to see what projects are taking too much time and where there is room for improvement. “It basically gives us a window into our company with relation to our employees and labor and where labor’s being wasted,” said Mike.
This transparency on how hours are being used not only helps the business owner, but the client has a better understanding of what they’re getting for their investment. “Clients will always want to know how their money is being spent and where those dollars are going when they pay one of their vendors. With TimeBank, that’s fully transparent,” explained Brad, “It’s not common that companies open the window, so to speak, and let their customers know every step of where these hours are going, but that’s our strategy and we’ve seen it work with every client who has been a part of TimeBank as well. It’s not a requirement of using the application, but it’s certainly a feature we think is extraordinarily helpful for the business relationship.”
There is a wide range of companies that could leverage TimeBank for their organization, such as law offices, contractors, accountants, IT providers, consulting firms, and many more. “Any business that has multiple customers, multiple employees, and a need to tie those hours together is a potential candidate for TimeBank,” said Brad.
For more information on how you can save yourself time while increasing transparency within your company visit: mytimebank.us or contact Michael at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..