Harvest
Time Tracking
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Finance Time Tracking

Harvest provides a comprehensive finance time tracking solution, addressing the 12-15% revenue leakage from unbilled hours and ensuring accurate billing and budgeting.

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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
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The Strategic Imperative of Integrated Finance Time Tracking

Accurate time tracking is essential for financial success in service-based businesses, where labor represents a primary cost factor. Untracked or inaccurately tracked time can result in a 12-15% loss of billable income, a significant revenue leak that can turn profitable projects into losses. For instance, even a few missed hours on a $10,000 project can eliminate potential profits. Moreover, outdated systems contribute to errors, with 80% of employee timesheets requiring correction, further complicating financial management.

Integrated solutions like Harvest address these challenges by providing real-time visibility into labor costs and project profitability. By using Harvest, businesses can eliminate manual reconciliation errors, reduce delayed payroll processing, and ensure accurate billing. This integration is crucial for maintaining financial health, enhancing project management, and ensuring compliance with regulations like the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which mandates accurate record-keeping of wages and hours for non-exempt employees.

Core Features and Seamless Integration: What to Look For

When selecting a finance time tracking tool, it's critical to ensure it offers essential features such as real-time timers, project/task allocation, and mobile access. These tools should support customizable billing rates to accommodate diverse client needs. A robust integration capability is paramount, enabling seamless connectivity with payroll systems for accurate wage calculation and compliance, project management tools for effective resource allocation, and accounting software for automated billing.

Harvest excels in these areas, offering integrations with platforms like QuickBooks and Xero, ensuring streamlined payroll processing. Additionally, Harvest's advanced features, such as expense tracking, approval workflows, and detailed reporting options, provide comprehensive insights into financial health and aid in identifying cost sinks and optimizing resource allocation.

Enhancing Financial Health: Benefits for Billing, Budgeting, and Beyond

Accurate time tracking transforms billing precision, leading to transparent invoices and reduced client disputes. It empowers businesses to gain data-driven insights that enhance financial forecasting and budgeting. For instance, by identifying unbilled hours, companies can prevent a 12-15% revenue leak, thereby improving financial outcomes. Time tracking also aids in monitoring project profitability, allowing businesses to identify cost sinks, prevent scope creep, and optimize resource allocation.

With Harvest, businesses can leverage detailed reports to assess project profitability and prioritize high-value projects. Harvest's customizable reporting features offer financial insights specific to project costs, enhancing the ability to forecast budgets accurately and optimize resources. Moreover, compliance with labor laws and audit readiness is ensured through precise tracking and documentation, safeguarding businesses against regulatory pitfalls.

Implementing Best Practices and Navigating Industry Nuances

Successful implementation of time tracking requires adherence to best practices such as defining clear objectives, standardizing time entry, and conducting regular data reviews. It's essential to track all hours, including non-billable time, to obtain a complete picture of workload and operational efficiency. Clear communication and employee training ensure that team members understand the importance of time tracking and how to use the tools effectively.

Addressing industry-specific nuances is also crucial. For example, legal firms may require billing in six-minute increments, while federal awards necessitate precise time allocation for compliance. Harvest supports these requirements with flexible project tracking and reporting capabilities, making it suitable for diverse industry needs. By fostering a culture of accountability and transparency, businesses can overcome challenges like employee resistance and maximize the benefits of time tracking.

Finance Time Tracking with Harvest

See how Harvest's finance time tracking integrates with payroll and project management for accurate billing and budgeting.

Finance time tracking features in Harvest

Finance Time Tracking FAQs

  • Time tracking improves billing accuracy by ensuring all billable hours are captured, reducing revenue leakage. On average, 12-15% of time goes unbilled, but with accurate tracking, businesses can minimize this loss. Tools like Harvest offer real-time tracking and automated invoicing, enhancing precision in client billing.

  • Look for features like real-time timers, project/task allocation, mobile access, and customizable billing rates. Integration capabilities with payroll, project management, and accounting systems are also crucial for seamless operations. Harvest offers these features, ensuring comprehensive financial management.

  • Harvest integrates with payroll systems like QuickBooks and Xero, allowing for seamless data transfer and accurate wage calculations. This integration ensures compliance with labor laws and streamlines payroll processing, reducing manual errors.

  • Yes, Harvest offers a free 30-day trial without requiring a credit card, allowing you to explore its features. This trial provides full access to its robust time tracking, billing, and reporting capabilities, helping you evaluate its suitability for your financial management needs.

  • Compliance considerations include adhering to labor laws like the FLSA, which requires accurate records of hours worked and wages paid. Harvest helps ensure compliance by capturing detailed time entries and maintaining accessible records for required durations.

  • Time tracking enhances project profitability by identifying unbilled hours and optimizing resource allocation. With tools like Harvest, businesses can assess project costs and prioritize high-value projects, preventing scope creep and maximizing returns.

  • Challenges include employee resistance and ensuring accurate data entry. Harvest addresses these by offering user-friendly interfaces and one-click timers, simplifying the tracking process and promoting adoption across teams.

  • Yes, Harvest tracks both billable and non-billable hours, providing a complete view of time utilization. This feature helps businesses understand workloads, optimize productivity, and improve operational efficiency.