Honest Review:
Avaza

Powerful business management and custom invoicing features but misses the mark with time tracking.

Written by Asim Qureshi
By Asim Qureshi, CEO Jibble

August 21st 2024

As a CEO of a time tracking software company I need to know what my competitors are up to. That means my team and I are often researching about and/or playing around with their products, you know, it’s part of the job. Here, I share my findings of that research, giving credit to those competitors where credit is due and being honest about which products I believe you really need to avoid. And so, there you have it, this review, and in it, I try to be honest, fair, and insightful. I hope it helps you make the right decision…

This review covers:

Overview

Avaza is a business management software that offers a wide range of features, from time tracking and project management to invoicing and reporting. It pretty much has everything you need to streamline and optimize your business operations.

I found the Avaza project management feature particularly useful. It allows businesses to create custom projects, set deadlines, execute tasks, and even collaborate with teams and clients. I also appreciate how easy it is for businesses to generate custom invoices for each customer and country and track payments, credits, and returns. You can even create recurring invoices and have them generated based on your set schedule.

For added convenience, Avaza can also integrate with several third-party platforms such as QuickBooks, Xero, and Zapier so you can easily fit it into your workflow.

But while the software does offer a variety of great features, I do feel that its time tracking functionality is quite basic and could use some additional features like GPS tracking or a time kiosk. There’s also no option for users to track breaks and overtime.

And I have to admit that the software is a bit complex and has a steep learning curve. The number of configuration options under task management is impressive but can easily overwhelm new users. The same goes for the reporting options. The interface is so hard to navigate that businesses may have difficulty utilizing all of its functions and tools.

All things considered, I still believe that Avaza can be a good choice for businesses looking for basic time tracking and comprehensive business management, as long as you’re prepared to spend a significant amount of time learning the ropes, of course.

Avaza projects annual report web display

What Do Users Like About Avaza?

  • Detailed reporting
  • Features for team collaboration
  • Adaptable to businesses of different sizes
  • Third-party integrations
  • Includes custom invoicing functionality

What Don't Users Like About Avaza?

  • Complicated user interface
  • Lacks task prioritization feature
  • Difficult onboarding process
  • Basic time tracking

What Pricing Plans does Avaza offer?

Avaza offers several pricing plans to meet the needs of different types of businesses. All of which offer regular free updates, automatic backups, and mobile access. The higher the tier, the more features you’ll get to access. Prices for these tiers range from absolutely free to $47.95/mo.

Here’s a look at each plan and what you can expect.

Free

You read that right. Avaza does offer a free plan, and it comes with unlimited project collaborators and external contacts with chat access. It also includes 100MB of storage and access to all of Avaza’s basic features, including timesheets, expense tracking, finance management, and resource scheduling. Access to these features, though, is only limited to one user.

You’re also limited to generating only five monthly invoices and managing only up to 5 active projects. As for clients or customers, the free plan can only cater to a maximum of 10. This is probably fine for small teams or businesses just starting out, but if you’re looking to scale up or require more advanced functionalities, you’ll have to consider Avaza’s paid plans.

Startup

At US$11.95/month, the Startup plan offers everything available in the free plan, but this time with additional user access. Two users will get to access the timesheet and expense tracking feature, while one user will have admin/invoice access and resource scheduling access.

The limit for active projects under the Startup plan is increased to 20, while the monthly invoices that can be generated are up to 50. A higher 10GB storage is also provided, along with priority email and chat support.

Basic

The Avaza Basic plan offers everything in the Startup plan but with much greater access and extended functionalities. Under this plan, five users can access the timesheet and expense feature, and two users can get admin/invoice access. Active projects are capped at 50, and up to 100 monthly invoices can be generated. The storage is also expanded to 20GB of storage while retaining priority email and chat support.

All of this added access comes at a cost, of course. The basic plan will cost you $23.95/month, almost twice as much as the startup plan.

Business

At $47.95/month, the business plan offers everything from the previous tier. The only difference is that it includes ten users with timesheet/expense access and five users with admin/invoice access. It can also cater to an unlimited number of active projects and customers, as well as generate unlimited invoices per month. On top of all that, the Business plan has a higher data storage of 30GB, along with priority email and chat support.

What Are the Standout Features of Avaza?

1. Time Tracking and Project Management

Time tracking and project management often go hand in hand to ensure efficient and productive workflows. Avaza combines these essential functions seamlessly, empowering businesses to manage their projects with precision.

With Avaza’s project management feature, you can create new projects and tasks in seconds, set priorities and deadlines, and assign them to the appropriate team members and customers. Assignees will be automatically notified via email about their new task assignment. They can then view task details, leave comments, change task status, and indicate progress by selecting from the percentage dropdown.

Another thing I like about the project management feature is how project and task data can be viewed in multiple ways, including list views, Kanban boards, and Gantt charts, allowing you to structure your work in a way that suits your preferences. Tasks can also be grouped by various criteria like project, priority, and assigned personnel, ensuring that everyone stays organized and on track. It’s definitely a powerful project management tool.

The time tracking system, on the other hand, is simple and flexible. You can track time with just one click, no matter which device you’re using, be it your phone, laptop, or tablet. Once you stop the timer, you’ll be able to choose which project or task to allocate the tracked time to and set them as either billable or non-billable.

All time data is synced to the timesheets for more accurate recordkeeping. They can also be easily updated by directly entering the duration worked. It’s definitely a good feature, although I wish there was a way to track breaks and overtime via the timer.

Businesses can measure and manage the time spent on tasks and projects using the time tracking function in Avaza, which enables them to keep track of hours worked, create and assign tasks, and monitor progress. Time tracking can also be used to track billable hours for invoices and make automated timesheets for recordkeeping.

Avaza's Time Tracking feature tracking time for different projects.

2. Collaboration and Communication

Avaza facilitates communication among team members through its easy-to-use team chat and collaboration features.

The team chat pretty much works like popular chat apps in the market. You can send direct messages or create new channels with only a few clicks. Avaza Chat also enables you to attach and share various types of files, such as images, videos, and documents. To grab someone’s attention, you can use the ‘mention’ feature or format your text with italics, bold, or strikethrough, along with adding emojis for extra expression. There’s also a handy search feature that allows you to locate specific conversations without the need to scroll through lists.

Another way you can initiate discussions is by commenting on tasks, ensuring that all team members can contribute and stay in sync. Members can also reply to comments directly via email for instant feedback and easy follow-up.

All in all, Avaza’s powerful team chat and collaboration features can help ensure everyone is on the same page and that projects are completed on time and within budget. It promotes the “many hands make light work” mentality by enabling all team members to contribute and see the project’s progress at all times.

 

The Avaza chat and collaboration features displayed on different devices.

3. Invoicing Software

With Avaza, users can create customized invoices for each customer and country. Vary the format by adding or removing fields like currency, price, discounts, taxes, and more to meet legal tax requirements. You can also make invoices more personal and brand-relevant by adding your own logo and colors.

For international businesses, Avaza provides the ability to generate invoices reflecting various languages and territories. You can set templates for different locations, complete with business names, addresses, and translated labels and buttons.

Dealing with returns and credit notes is made simple, as you can apply credits to existing invoices or create credit notes for future use. There’s also an automated invoicing feature that helps with recurring revenue collection. You can customize your invoice schedule to automatically send invoices and reminders to clients according to your timetable, ensuring a steady flow of revenue without manual intervention.

Customers can simply click ‘Pay Now’ on an Avaza invoice, and they can be redirected to popular payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, Payoneer, and other Avaza payroll integrations.

All invoice data, including balances, due dates, and paid amounts, can be viewed right under the Invoices tab.

The Avaza Invoicing feature on the web and mobile app.

4. Business Reporting

Avaza’s reporting features allow users to easily track the progress and profitability of projects, as well as the utilization and productivity of teams. With the project dashboard report, users can see which tasks are running over budget, need to be invoiced, or are at risk, allowing them to take proactive measures to keep their projects profitable.

The staff utilization report provides a snapshot of everyone’s billable vs. non-billable hours, scheduled hours, and more, allowing managers to improve their team’s utilization and efficiency. The task report, on the other hand, enables employers to stay on top of their team’s tasks, giving them a bird’s eye view of the critical KPIs such as near or overdue tasks, time estimates, completion percentage, and remaining effort.

Other reports you can generate include project profit margin analysis, transaction lists, tax summaries, expense details, and more. Reports can be exported as PDF, Word, Excel, TTIF, and PowerPoint files above everything else.

Each report has several configuration options, which is both a blessing and a curse. For one thing, it allows your reports to be as specific as you need them to be. But they can also be really overwhelming and time-consuming to configure.

A screenshot of the Staff Utilization Report generated by Avaza.5. Integrations

Yes, you can connect Avaza with various third-party apps and services to streamline your workflow. There are currently 21 direct integrations available as per their site. These integrations include popular payroll software such as Xero and Quickbooks, as well as CRM and project management tools like Trello and Salesforce.

The app’s integration with Zapier also opens the door to countless other apps and automation. You can create customized workflows that connect Avaza to a wide range of web applications, enabling you to automate tasks and improve efficiency.

For businesses seeking even more tailored integrations to connect additional tools from their unique workflow, Avaza offers an API (Application Programming Interface). This API supports the common OAuth2 Authentication standard and provides a foundation for creating custom connections. Fair warning: this will require some serious IT expertise.

Web showing software Avaza integrates with

Selected Positive User Feedback: 

  • “I loved the tool’s precise usage; it seems very easy to use. All information is available with clicks and gives an overview of historical data, which is excellent for management purposes.” – Grace M. (Source GetApp)
  • “I’m pleased with Avaza. I switched over from monday.com, and of course, the price here is so affordable, which is great since the price is why we did not stay at monday.com past their free trial.” – Marylou (Source GetApp)
  • “Avaza has given us added advantage and fence to work efficiently on working closely on our projects and keep track of it.” – Analp (Source G2)
  • “The price point on this software is PERFECT for small startups, the support is included without a high add-on cost, and the support is VERY GOOD, quick, and EASY to understand! Architecturally the layout is very friendly, the user interface is easy to navigate, and the color scheme is pleasant.” – Nathan (Source GetApp)
  • “The customer service is fantastic– we can connect within a few minutes, either by chat or video, when necessary.” – Kimberley (Source G2)
  • “Avaza provides a fence-to-fence system for managing projects, forecasting resources, allocating tasks effectively, and enhancing productivity as our business grows. The added benefit of using Avaza, apart from the tool being a perfect fit for a civil engineering business of circa 60 people, is the customer service.” –Herbert (Source G2)
  • “Avaza is clean, simple, and yet powerful, providing great insights for small companies in its built-in report analytics. The price is highly competitive!” – Gabriel (Source GetApp)
  • “My team’s experience with Avaza has only been positive. Not only is the price extremely competitive, but customer service is top-notch, the platform is user-friendly, and the PM abilities are what my team was searching for.” – Kristin S. (Source G2)
  • “Avaza has the best price compared to all the other options, but it also has the best features for our company.” – Sofia (Source GetApp)
  • “I spent hours trying to find our small consulting firm’s best time-tracking and project-management tool. Avaza was the only service that met our needs, and for the price, it was a win-win!” – Maria S. (Source G2)
  • “The software allows the creation of invoices and all the accounting systems of the project, online invoices, customized invoices, accounts receivable and payable, and everything related to the economic performance of the tasks.” – Jessica (Source G2)
  • “This software has helped us a lot. It works great, and our whole team uses it every day.” –Robyn Kremer. (Source Google Reviews)
  • “I searched through so many different software platforms to use for tracking time and doing invoices. This one could achieve everything our small consulting firm needed – everything can be customized – hourly rate versus project rate, you can change the info in the invoices pretty quickly.” – Maria (Source GetApp)
  • “Reporting is compelling, but the timesheet facility was the deciding factor for us as a business. It has revolutionized the way we work.” – Keith W. (Source G2)
  • “Avaza is streamlined, simple to use, and accessible.” – Melissa D. (Source G2)

Selected Negative User Feedback:

  • “I don’t know if this is an option, but a task prioritization feature is always helpful to me. There’s always something that needs to get done, but deciding what to get done first and being able to identify it quickly is essential to me.” – Marylou (Source GetApp)
  • “The user interface needs to be updated, its complicated. Onboarding is difficult. They need to upgrade their app for iOS devices. It hangs up a lot. – Tarun (Source SoftwareAdvice)
  • It will be awesome if the tool can provide a “guide” for First Time User Experience.” – Grace M. (Source GetApp)
  • “The reporting tool could use a minor update to the user interface, so things are a little easier to use; the collaboration features could also use an update to have some chat-like function, making collaboration easier.” – Nathan (Source GetApp)
  • “It is a reasonably complex system due to its multiple functions and tools, I had a great time while onboarding. More introduction to the functions provided.” – Heidi F. (Source G2)
  • “Only offer basic features. Some project management functionality is limited compared to other systems I’ve used.” – Keith W. (Source G2)
  • “I have yet to find a way for external users to collaborate on our projects. I wish it had task prioritising feature.” – Gabriel (Source GetApp)
  • “User interface is complicated. I wish the reports could be more editable – adding in additional footnotes because we invoice all our clients in the system. Still, consultants have to create an invoice outside of the system when they want to invoice our company to get paid.” – Maria (Source GetApp)
  • “I get confused and get lost with so many reporting options. Also, I think the report should be under every particular subject.” – Anonymous (Source SoftwareAdvice)
  • “I’m not too fond of the fact that the app lags” – Billy S. (Source GetApp)
  • “My only complaint is that importing the data can be cumbersome.” – Anonymous reviewer (Source GetApp)
  • “No way to use offline on pc as it’s an online web-based application. It lacks task-priotorising feature.” – Anonymous (Source SoftwareAdvice)
  • “While there are some issues with Avaza, they’re all very minor. Simple things like limited viewing options for timesheets, the inability to assign tasks to multiple users, and the limited templates.” – Anonymous (Source SoftwareAdvice)
  • “I miss a Dark theme for the phone app, and it will be better in the eyes. – It does not allow you to personalize the background color of your tasks only provide basic features.” – Leonardo. (Source SoftwareAdvice)
  •  “A few things could be added, such as a data entry for Purchase Orders received and a section whereby sub-contractor Purchase Orders could be raised.” – Herbert (Source G2)

      What are Avaza's Review Ratings from Review Sites?

      (As of December 2023)

      • GetApp: 4.6/5
      • Capterra: 4.6/5
      • G2: 4.5/5
      • SoftwareAdvice: 4.6/5
      • App Store: 4.5/5
      • Google Play Store: 4.3/5
      • TrustRadius: 8.5/10

      What's my Final Verdict on Avaza?

      Needless to say, Avaza is indeed a powerful business management software with a ton of features that cover time tracking, billing, resource scheduling, and project management.

      One of the things I love most about it has got to be its project management capabilities. The fact that it lets you create custom projects and tasks, track time against them, set deadlines, assign them to employees, and go as far as notifying them about assignments is a game-changer and can save you a serious amount of time. For complex tasks, you can even create sub-tasks, breaking down larger objectives into manageable steps.

      The chat and collaboration features within Avaza are equally impressive. These tools facilitate seamless communication and teamwork within your organization by enabling direct and group chats, task comments, and seamless file sharing.

      Thanks to Avaza’s mobile version, businesses can track time and expenses from anywhere, making it simple to stay on top of finances. Plus, the ability to accept online payments from invoices is a handy feature – no more chasing down payments!

      Not all of Avaza’s features are made equally, though. A notable area where Avaza doesn’t excel as much is time tracking. The Avaza time tracking feature is very basic, with no way to track overtime or automate breaks. It also doesn’t notify you if you accidentally leave the timer on.

      Additionally, the software can be complex, with a sheer amount of configurations that can easily overwhelm new users. The learning curve is steep, and the setup process is not always straightforward. 

      All in all, Avaza remains a great solution for project and task management for those who are willing to invest a significant amount of time to learn the ins and outs.