Harvest
Time Tracking
Sign up free

Billable Hours App for Contractors

Harvest transforms how contractors track billable hours, manage projects, and streamline invoicing with flexible time entry and seamless payment integrations.

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

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

Understanding the Need for Billable Hours Apps

For contractors, tracking billable hours accurately is crucial for maintaining profitability and ensuring client transparency. Industry benchmarks suggest that achieving 75-80% billable hours is vital for financial sustainability. However, manual time tracking can result in a loss of about 20% of billable hours due to inaccuracies and inefficiencies. Transitioning to digital solutions like billable hours apps can mitigate these issues by automating time capture and reducing administrative overhead.

Billable hours apps are particularly beneficial for contractors who manage multiple projects and clients simultaneously. These tools streamline the process of capturing time data, converting it into invoices, and analyzing profitability. In sectors like construction and consulting, having real-time visibility into labor costs and resource utilization can prevent overruns and enhance project management efficiency. By adopting a digital time tracking solution, contractors can reduce labor costs by 5-10% and improve payroll processing times.

How Harvest Supports Contractors with Billable Hours Tracking

Harvest offers a robust solution for contractors looking to streamline their billable hours tracking and invoicing processes. With its flexible time entry options, users can track hours manually or through integrations with tools like Asana. This flexibility ensures that contractors can adapt their time tracking practices to fit their workflow, whether on-site or remote.

One of Harvest's standout features is its ability to automatically generate invoices from tracked project time and expenses. This capability not only reduces the time spent on administrative tasks but also enhances accuracy by minimizing manual data entry errors. Furthermore, Harvest integrates with popular payment platforms such as PayPal and Stripe, facilitating seamless billing and payment collection, which is essential for maintaining cash flow in contracting businesses.

Leveraging Detailed Reporting for Enhanced Project Management

Detailed reporting is a cornerstone of Harvest's offering, providing contractors with insights into client billing and project profitability. Harvest's reporting tools allow users to analyze their time data in granular detail, identifying which projects or clients are most profitable and where inefficiencies may lie. This level of insight is crucial for strategic decision-making and long-term planning.

Moreover, Harvest's client and project management features are tailored specifically for contractors. These features enable users to monitor project budgets and track progress against predefined milestones, ensuring that projects remain on schedule and within budget. While Harvest does not provide budget alerts, its comprehensive reporting tools offer a clear picture of financial performance, empowering contractors to make informed adjustments as needed.

The Benefits of Integration with Other Business Tools

Integrating time tracking with other business processes can significantly enhance efficiency and accuracy for contractors. Harvest excels in this area by offering integrations with a variety of platforms. For instance, linking Harvest with accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero streamlines invoicing and payroll, eliminating redundant data entry and reducing errors.

Additionally, integration with project management tools ensures that tracked labor hours are accurately reflected in the overall project plan. This alignment allows for better management of project scope, schedule, and budget. Harvest's integration capabilities extend to payment platforms, facilitating smooth billing processes, which is essential for maintaining healthy client relationships and ensuring timely payments.

Harvest for Billable Hours

Discover how Harvest helps contractors track billable hours, manage projects, and streamline invoicing with ease.

Screenshot of Harvest's billable hours tracking interface for contractors.

Billable Hours App for Contractors FAQs

  • Look for features that offer flexible time tracking options, integration with invoicing and payment platforms, and detailed reporting. Harvest provides these capabilities, making it a strong choice for contractors.

  • Billable hours apps integrate with project management tools to ensure that tracked time aligns with project schedules and budgets. Harvest offers such integrations, enhancing overall project visibility and control.

  • While there are free time tracking apps available, they may lack advanced features like integrated invoicing or detailed reporting. Harvest offers a free 30-day trial to explore its comprehensive features tailored for contractors.

  • Harvest automatically generates invoices from tracked project time, reducing administrative work and ensuring accuracy. It also integrates with payment platforms like PayPal and Stripe for seamless billing.

  • Real-time tracking minimizes errors associated with retrospective time entry, which can lead to under-reporting by 15-20%. This accuracy is crucial for maintaining profitability and client trust.

  • Yes, digital time tracking solutions can reduce labor costs by 5-10% by eliminating inefficiencies and improving payroll processing. Harvest's real-time tracking features support these savings.

  • Industries like construction, consulting, and freelancing benefit greatly from billable hours apps for managing project costs, client billing, and resource allocation. Harvest is well-suited for these sectors.

  • Harvest offers detailed reporting tools that provide insights into project profitability, helping contractors make informed decisions on which projects and clients are most lucrative.