Harvest
Time Tracking
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Billable Hours Calculator for Remote Workers

Remote workers risk losing up to 50% of billable time without accurate tracking. Harvest offers real-time tracking to prevent this loss.

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What should you charge per hour?

Most freelancers and consultants dramatically undercharge. This calculator accounts for what most people miss: non-billable time, taxes, and overhead.

$
Accounting for vacation, holidays, sick days
60%
Most freelancers can bill 50-70% of their time. The rest goes to admin, marketing, proposals, and learning.
$
Software, insurance, equipment, accounting, taxes beyond income tax, etc.
Your break-even rate $0
Recommended rate (+20% buffer) $0
Billable hours per week 0h
Equivalent daily rate $0

Start tracking your billable hours

Walk through the entire flow below. Start a timer, check your reports, and create a real invoice — all in three clicks.

Go ahead — start tracking!

One click and you're timing. Try it right here: start a timer, add an entry, edit the details. This is exactly how it feels in Harvest.

  • One-click timer from browser, desktop & mobile
  • Works inside Jira, Asana, Trello, GitHub & 50+ tools
  • Duration or start/end — your call
  • Day, week & calendar views to stay on top of it all
  • Friendly reminders so no hour gets left behind
Acme Corp
Website Redesign
Homepage layout revisions
1:24:09
Content Strategy
Blog calendar planning
1:30:00
SEO Audit
Technical audit report
0:45:00
Brand Guidelines
Color system documentation
2:15:00
Logo Concepts
Initial sketches round 1
1:00:00
Today's total 6:54:09

Why Accurate Time Tracking Matters for Remote Workers

Accurate time tracking is crucial for remote workers, as it directly impacts revenue and productivity. Inaccurate estimation can result in significant losses, with remote professionals potentially losing up to 50% of billable time if not recorded promptly. This can lead to a 15-20% reduction in billable income. Companies that adopt time tracking software, such as Harvest, are 44% less likely to encounter errors in timekeeping, ensuring that every minute of work is accounted for and billed appropriately.

Remote workers often face unique challenges in managing their time due to the lack of physical oversight. By utilizing a tool like Harvest, which offers one-click start/stop timers and manual entry options, remote teams can easily manage their time across various projects and tasks. This ensures that both billable and non-billable hours are accurately tracked, optimizing billing and improving overall productivity.

Optimizing Billing Rates as a Remote Worker

Setting the right billing rate is essential for remote workers to ensure fair compensation and cover overhead costs. The global average hourly rate for freelancers in 2025 was $101.50, with specific industries varying. For instance, software developers averaged $55/hour, while graphic designers earned around $25/hour. To maintain profitability, it's crucial to calculate a billing rate that incorporates these industry standards.

Harvest helps remote workers optimize their billing rates by providing detailed reports on time, expenses, and budgets. This allows users to analyze their work patterns and adjust their rates accordingly. Additionally, Harvest integrates with financial tools like QuickBooks and Xero, assisting in managing finances effectively and ensuring that remote workers can focus on delivering value rather than administrative tasks.

Integrating Time Tracking with Project Management

For remote teams, integrating time tracking with project management tools is vital for maintaining workflow efficiency. Harvest excels in this area by offering seamless integrations with platforms such as Asana, Trello, and Jira. This enables remote workers to log time directly from their project management environment, reducing the need for manual data entry and minimizing the risk of errors.

These integrations allow for real-time updates on project progress and team utilization, ensuring that remote teams remain aligned and productive. By using Harvest, teams can set project budgets and receive alerts when approaching limits, helping to prevent overages and ensure project profitability. This level of integration streamlines processes and enhances collaboration among remote team members.

Understanding Billable vs. Non-Billable Hours

Distinguishing between billable and non-billable hours is crucial for accurate invoicing and maximizing profitability. Billable hours typically include client meetings, project development, and research, while non-billable hours cover internal meetings and administrative tasks. For remote workers, maintaining this distinction ensures transparency with clients and aids in financial planning.

Harvest simplifies this process by enabling users to categorize time entries as billable or non-billable, providing clarity on how much time is being spent on revenue-generating activities. This feature helps remote workers optimize their utilization rates, which for professional service firms should range between 70% to 80%. By accurately tracking and categorizing hours, remote workers can improve their billing accuracy and client trust.

Billable Hours Tracking with Harvest

See how Harvest helps remote workers track billable hours and integrate with project management tools for seamless workflow.

Screenshot of Harvest's billable hours tracking for remote workers.

Billable Hours Calculator for Remote Workers FAQs

  • Remote workers can track billable hours effectively by using a tool like Harvest, which offers one-click start/stop timers and manual entry options. This ensures accurate logging of both billable and non-billable hours, optimizing billing and productivity.

  • The average hourly rate for remote freelancers varies by industry. In 2025, it was $101.50 globally, with specific rates such as $55/hour for software developers and $25/hour for graphic designers. Adjusting rates to match industry standards is essential for profitability.

  • Harvest helps optimize billing rates by providing detailed reports on time, expenses, and budgets. This data allows remote workers to adjust their rates based on work patterns and integrate with financial tools like QuickBooks for effective financial management.

  • Harvest integrates with several project management tools, including Asana, Trello, and Jira. These integrations allow remote workers to log time directly from their project management environment, streamlining data entry and reducing errors.

  • Billable hours typically include client meetings, project development, and research. It's important for remote workers to distinguish these from non-billable hours, like internal meetings, to ensure accurate invoicing and financial planning.

  • Distinguishing between billable and non-billable hours is crucial for accurate invoicing and maximizing profitability. Harvest allows users to categorize time entries, providing clarity on revenue-generating activities and improving client trust.

  • Harvest improves time tracking accuracy with features like real-time tracking and detailed reporting. This reduces the potential for errors and ensures that remote workers capture all billable time, optimizing revenue and productivity.