Harvest
Time Tracking
Sign up free

Billable Hours Tracking Template

Harvest offers a comprehensive solution for tracking billable hours, helping professionals avoid losing 10-25% of potential billable income due to delayed time entries.

Try Harvest Free

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

How this hourly rate calculator works

It works back from the income you need to the rate you must bill, accounting for the hours you can't bill.

  • Billable hours/year = working weeks × hours per week × billable %.
  • Break-even rate = (target income + business expenses) ÷ billable hours.
  • Recommended rate = break-even plus a 20% buffer for taxes, slow periods, and profit.

Raising your billable percentage or trimming expenses lowers the rate you need.

Track Billable Hours with Harvest

See how Harvest tracks billable hours accurately, offering detailed reports and customizable templates for various professions.

Screenshot of Harvest's billable hours tracking feature

Billable Hours Tracking Template FAQs

  • A billable hours tracking template should include fields for Date, Client/Project, Task Description, Start/End Time, Duration, Billable/Non-Billable Flag, Hourly Rate, and Total Amount. These components ensure comprehensive tracking and transparency.

  • Yes, templates can be tailored to different professions. For instance, freelancers may use simple spreadsheets, while legal professionals require detailed task descriptions to meet ethical obligations. Harvest offers customizable templates suitable for various needs.

  • Customizing a billable hours template involves adding fields that are specific to your work requirements, such as client names, project codes, and detailed task descriptions. Harvest allows for such customizations to fit different professional needs.

  • Best practices include real-time tracking, establishing clear timekeeping policies, categorizing tasks effectively, and providing detailed descriptions. Regular review and reconciliation of entries are also crucial to maintain accuracy.

  • Yes, billable hours tracking templates can be used in Excel or Google Sheets. These platforms allow for easy customization and sharing. Harvest also integrates with these tools, providing additional functionalities.

  • Harvest integrates seamlessly with tools like Asana and Slack, allowing users to start/stop timers from within these platforms and sync tracked time back to Harvest for comprehensive reporting.

  • Yes, Harvest allows you to track expenses alongside billable hours. You can capture receipts and assign expenses to specific projects, ensuring a complete overview of project costs.

  • Harvest helps reduce lost revenue by providing one-click timers for real-time tracking, detailed task descriptions, and flexible reporting. This minimizes guesswork and ensures accurate billing.