Harvest
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Expense Tracking Software

Harvest transforms traditional expense management by automating and streamlining expense tracking, saving businesses time and money while ensuring compliance and accuracy.

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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 Transformative Power of Automated Expense Tracking

Automated expense tracking software revolutionizes the way businesses handle expenses, eliminating cumbersome paper-based systems and manual data entry. This transition not only reduces administrative burdens but also accelerates employee reimbursements, significantly enhancing satisfaction and morale. According to research, manual expense reports can take up to 20 minutes and cost about $58 each, with 19% containing errors. By automating these processes, companies can reduce processing time by 49% and save approximately $40 per report.

Furthermore, automated tracking boosts accuracy in financial records, providing real-time visibility into spending patterns. With expense tracking software, businesses can better manage cash flow and make informed decisions. The global expense management software market is set to grow from USD 8.33 billion in 2025 to USD 17.26 billion by 2034, reflecting a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.30%. This growth underscores the increasing reliance on technology to streamline financial operations and improve productivity.

Essential Features for Modern Expense Management Software

Modern expense management software offers a host of features designed to streamline financial processes and improve accuracy. Key among these is automated receipt capture, which utilizes mobile apps, OCR, and AI to extract data from receipts, eliminating manual input. Additionally, policy enforcement and spend controls automatically flag or block expenses that don't comply with company rules, ensuring adherence to budgetary constraints.

Another critical feature is customizable approval workflows, which route expenses to the appropriate approvers based on organizational hierarchy and spending thresholds. Integration capabilities with accounting systems like QuickBooks and Xero facilitate seamless financial reporting, while real-time reporting and analytics provide insights into spending trends. Lastly, modern software must offer mobile accessibility, allowing for on-the-go expense submission and approval, and support for multiple currencies to accommodate international operations.

Navigating Free vs. Paid Solutions: What to Expect

When evaluating expense tracking software, businesses often weigh the benefits of free versus paid solutions. Free options typically offer core tracking features suitable for small teams or individuals with minimal transactions. However, these often come with limitations such as reduced automation, limited data history, and basic reporting capabilities. For instance, free solutions may cap data history to 3-12 months and offer fewer bank connections.

In contrast, paid solutions provide comprehensive automation, advanced reporting, and robust integrations. They are designed to scale with business growth, supporting increased transaction volumes and complexity. While "free" solutions might seem appealing, the hidden costs of manual effort and limited functionalities can outweigh the subscription fees of paid software, particularly for growing businesses. As such, investing in a paid solution can offer long-term value and scalability.

Ensuring Compliance and Security with Expense Tracking Software

Compliance and security are paramount in expense tracking software. These tools help businesses adhere to internal policies and external regulations, such as tax laws and GDPR, by enforcing rules and maintaining comprehensive audit trails. Real-time monitoring and policy enforcement are critical in detecting and preventing fraud, ensuring that all spending aligns with company policies.

Moreover, expense tracking software aids in audit readiness by creating a digital, unalterable record of all transactions, receipts, and approvals. This simplifies the audit process and reduces the risk of penalties. Data security is also a key consideration, with strong measures like end-to-end encryption and role-based access control in place to protect sensitive financial information. Additionally, features like automated VAT reclaim processes and detailed tax reports ensure accurate compliance with tax regulations.

Expense Tracking with Harvest

See how Harvest's expense tracking software enables real-time logging and receipt capture for accurate financial management.

Harvest expense tracking software screenshot demonstrating real-time logging and receipt capture.

Expense Tracking Software FAQs

  • Expense tracking software streamlines the process of recording and managing expenses, reducing manual errors and administrative burdens. It accelerates reimbursements and provides real-time insights into spending patterns, improving cash flow management and decision-making.

  • Key features to consider include automated receipt capture, policy enforcement, customizable approval workflows, integration capabilities with accounting software, real-time reporting, and mobile accessibility. Multi-currency support is also essential for international operations.

  • Expense tracking software enforces company policies, maintains audit trails, and automates VAT reclaim processes, ensuring compliance with tax regulations. It also provides real-time monitoring to detect and prevent fraudulent spending.

  • Free options are available and typically offer core features like basic tracking and categorization. However, they may have limitations such as reduced automation and fewer advanced features compared to paid solutions, which offer greater scalability and support.

  • Harvest integrates seamlessly with accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero, facilitating efficient financial reporting. This integration eliminates manual data entry and syncs financial data automatically.

  • Yes, Harvest supports real-time expense tracking with features like receipt capture, ensuring accurate and timely logging of expenses. This enables remote teams to manage expenses effectively from anywhere.

  • Harvest's expense management includes capturing expenses in real time, categorizing them, enforcing policies, routing for approval, and syncing with accounting systems for streamlined reporting and reimbursement.

  • Yes, Harvest offers customizable approval workflows for expense submissions, allowing businesses to route expenses to the correct approvers based on predefined rules and hierarchies.