Harvest
Time Tracking
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Billable Hours Tracker for Engineers

Engineering projects often lose 10-15% of billable time due to manual tracking. Harvest automates this process, recovering lost hours effortlessly.

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How much revenue is your team leaving on the table?

Most agencies run at 55-60% utilization. Even a small improvement means significant revenue. See what closing the gap looks like for your team.

Number of people who track billable time
$
Blended rate across roles (junior, senior, lead)
55%
Percentage of total hours that are billable. Industry average is 55-60%.
75%
A realistic target for service businesses is 70-80%.
Monthly revenue gap $0
Revenue at current utilization $0/mo
Revenue at target utilization $0/mo
Extra billable hours needed per person/day 0h
Annual revenue opportunity $0

Start tracking team utilization

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

The Strategic Imperative of Accurate Time Tracking for Engineers

Accurate time tracking is crucial for engineering firms to maximize project profitability and maintain client trust. Traditional time tracking methods, often dependent on manual entry, can lead to significant loss of billable hours and revenue leakage. In fact, fragmented data and inefficient processes can result in a 10-15% loss of billable time. This not only affects the bottom line but also undermines the accuracy of project cost estimates and overall financial planning.

With Harvest, engineers can leverage automation to capture time spent across various digital platforms, including CAD and BIM software, thereby recovering lost billable hours. This integration helps bridge the gap between project phases and ensures seamless tracking of hours, contributing to informed decision-making and enhanced project outcomes. By connecting precise time data to project profitability, firms can better manage budgets, prevent overruns, and build stronger client relationships.

Essential Features of a Specialized Engineering Time Tracker

For engineering projects, having a specialized time tracker that accommodates multi-phase and task-level tracking is essential. Harvest stands out by offering automated time capture and activity detection across engineering software like CAD and BIM. This ensures that every phase and task is accounted for, providing granular insights into project progress and resource allocation.

Engineers benefit from Harvest's mobile and GPS tracking capabilities, which allow for accurate time logging even in field or site-based work environments. The platform's robust reporting and analytics features provide detailed insights into utilization, budget monitoring, and compliance, which are critical for maintaining project efficiency. Additionally, its seamless integration with project management and accounting tools streamlines workflows, reduces manual data entry, and enhances overall productivity.

Implementing Best Practices for Effective Time Tracking in Engineering Firms

To fully leverage the benefits of time tracking, engineering firms should adopt best practices that promote efficient use and accurate data capture. Establishing clear project goals and breaking down tasks into manageable phases are fundamental steps. Harvest facilitates this by allowing engineers to organize projects according to specific phases, ensuring detailed tracking and reporting.

Promoting a culture of consistent and timely time logging is essential for data reliability. Harvest's user-friendly interface encourages daily or near real-time logging, preventing forgotten entries. Regular review of time data, supported by Harvest's comprehensive reports, enables proactive project management and helps distinguish between billable and non-billable hours. Simplifying the tracking process not only improves user adoption but also enhances the overall accuracy of project insights.

Navigating Pricing Models and Maximizing ROI

Understanding the pricing models of time tracking software is vital for firms looking to maximize their return on investment. Harvest offers flexible pricing structures, including per-user fees and flat-rate subscriptions, making it adaptable to firms of different sizes. With prices often starting around $10-$20 per user per month, firms can choose a model that aligns with their budget and operational needs.

The value proposition of investing in a robust tracking tool like Harvest extends beyond mere cost savings. By generating client-ready invoices directly from tracked hours, firms can ensure 100% billing accuracy. This capability not only streamlines the invoicing process but also enhances client satisfaction by providing transparent and precise billing information — ultimately translating to recovered revenue and improved operational efficiency.

Track Engineering Billable Hours with Harvest

The preview shows Harvest's interface for tracking billable hours in engineering projects, highlighting phase-based tracking and reporting features.

Harvest interface showing engineering billable hours tracking

Billable Hours Tracker for Engineers FAQs

  • Essential features of a billable hours tracker for engineering include multi-phase and task-level tracking, automated time capture, and robust reporting tools. Integrations with engineering software like CAD and BIM are also crucial for seamless workflows. Harvest offers these features, ensuring accurate time tracking across all project phases.

  • Harvest supports phase-based tracking by allowing engineers to organize projects and tasks according to different phases of an engineering project. This ensures that time spent on each phase is accurately logged and reported, providing detailed insights into project progress and profitability.

  • Yes, Harvest allows you to generate professional invoices directly from tracked time data. This ensures 100% billing accuracy by linking logged hours to client-ready invoices, streamlining the billing process and enhancing client satisfaction.

  • Harvest integrates with various engineering and project management tools, allowing seamless data capture from platforms like CAD and BIM. This integration facilitates accurate time logging and enhances project management by combining time tracking with engineering workflows.

  • Engineering firms can generate detailed reports with Harvest, including utilization, budget monitoring, and compliance reports. These reports can be customized to meet specific project management needs, providing insights into project progress and financial performance.

  • Harvest offers detailed reporting and analytics that help engineering firms track utilization rates and resource allocation. By providing insights into how resources are being used across different projects and phases, Harvest enables firms to optimize resource distribution and improve project efficiency.

  • Harvest offers flexible pricing models, including per-user fees and flat-rate subscriptions. This allows engineering firms of various sizes to choose a cost-effective plan that meets their operational needs while maximizing return on investment through accurate time tracking and billing.