Professional time tracking and recouping system and software

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for tracking time spent on one or more Internet sites. The tracked information may then be used to generate detailed records containing the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) of the sites visited, the exact time spent on each site, and a record of any downloads, file transfers, or other activities performed by the user. One or more reports may be generated from the detailed records and list the activity by each user, tabulating the web site accessed and the time spent on that web site. This information may then be utilized to generate an invoice for the work performed. The reports may be generated are stored electronically, and may be accessed by an invoicing program which uses stored hourly rates in conjunction with the information in the report to generate a detailed invoice for the client. The invention may be deployed on a personal computer, and enabled by a service operator who provides the time tracking and recouping system (e.g., a software means).

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of recording Internet activity performed by a user on behalf of a client, comprising: 
 initiating, by the user, a client session by providing, at least one of a client identifier and a client matter identifier;    during said client session, performing at least one respective Internet activity by the user on behalf of the client;    for at least one of the at least one performed Internet activity, generating a respective time value based at least in part on at least one of a start time defined by when the user begins performance of the respective at least one Internet activity, and a completion time defined by when the user completes performance of the respective at least one Internet activity;    for each of the at least one performed Internet activity, generating a respective activity record corresponding to the respective Internet activity performed by the user;    storing a session record comprising activity data based at least in part on each generated time value, each generated activity record, and the at least one of a client identifier and a client matter identifier;    generating at least one of a bill and a report based at least in part on said session record; and    forwarding, to the client, the at least one of a bill and a report;    wherein the at least one of a client identifier and a client matter identifier corresponds to the client, and the at least one Internet activity comprises a request for data from a publicly available Internet location.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user performs a plurality of Internet activities, and the plurality of Internet activities comprises a request for data from a publicly available Internet location, and at least one of data entry of a network address, data entry of a URL, data entry of at least one search term, data entry of at least one data instance, selection of a hyperlink, a data transfer, and an input device event.