Harvest
Time Tracking
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Time Tracking App for Legal Professionals

Harvest offers legal professionals a comprehensive time tracking solution to efficiently manage billable hours and client billing, addressing the common issue of under-billing by 10-15% when time is logged late.

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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
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Today's total 6:54:09

The Essential Role of Time Tracking in Legal Practices

Time tracking is a critical function within legal practices, directly impacting financial outcomes and ethical compliance. On average, attorneys record only 2.9 billable hours per day, which is just 37% of an 8-hour workday. The remaining time often disappears into non-billable activities like administrative tasks, which consume about 48% of their day. This inefficiency can lead to substantial revenue loss, especially when time recording is delayed. Studies show that legal professionals under-bill by 10-15% when they wait until the end of the day to log hours, and this figure can rise to 50% for weekly entries.

Beyond financial implications, accurate time tracking fulfills ethical obligations as outlined by the American Bar Association (ABA). Inaccurate billing could result in disciplinary action and harm a firm's reputation. Harvest, a time tracking app tailored for legal professionals, addresses these challenges by offering automated timers that capture work as it happens, ensuring compliance with ethical standards and maximizing revenue potential.

Core Features of Harvest for Legal Time Tracking

Legal professionals require specialized features in a time tracking app to meet the demands of their practice. Harvest provides automated time capture with one-click timers, minimizing manual input and reducing the likelihood of missed billable hours. This is crucial as it addresses the common issue where delayed time entry can lead to a loss of up to 25% of billable income.

Harvest also supports matter-based organization and categorization, allowing users to link time entries directly to specific legal tasks or case milestones. This aligns with industry standards like UTBMS codes, essential for accurate billing and compliance. Additionally, Harvest integrates seamlessly with accounting and billing systems, streamlining the invoicing process and reducing administrative overhead.

Best Practices for Implementing Legal Time Tracking

Implementing effective time tracking in a legal practice involves several best practices. Contemporaneous time entry, or logging time as tasks are performed, significantly boosts accuracy and minimizes lost revenue. Legal professionals who delay recording until later risk under-billing by 10-15%.

Standardizing firm-wide time tracking policies is equally important. This includes defining clear guidelines on time entry frequency and the use of billing codes. Regular reviews and audits of time records ensure that entries are accurate before billing, preventing disputes and enhancing client trust. Harvest facilitates these practices with its detailed reporting features, offering insights into both billable and non-billable activities.

Choosing the Right Time Tracking Solution for Legal Professionals

Selecting a time tracking app for a legal practice involves evaluating several key factors. Firms should assess their specific needs, considering the size of the practice and the complexity of legal matters handled. Harvest is designed to integrate with existing legal practice management and accounting systems, providing a seamless user experience that supports high adoption rates.

Data security and compliance are paramount in legal work. Harvest meets industry standards for data protection, ensuring client confidentiality is maintained. Additionally, its user-friendly interface and comprehensive support make it a reliable choice for legal professionals seeking to increase billable hours and improve operational efficiency.

Time Tracking with Harvest for Legal Professionals

View Harvest's time tracking features for legal professionals, capturing billable hours efficiently and accurately.

Screenshot of Harvest time tracking app for legal professionals.

Time Tracking App for Legal Professionals FAQs

  • Legal professionals track billable hours using time tracking apps like Harvest, which offer automated timers and detailed reporting. This helps ensure accuracy and compliance with industry standards, reducing the risk of under-billing by 10-15% when entries are delayed.

  • A legal time tracking app should include automated time capture, matter-based organization, billing integration, and compliance support. Harvest offers these features, allowing legal professionals to efficiently manage both billable and non-billable hours.

  • Yes, Harvest integrates with a variety of legal practice management and accounting software, facilitating seamless data transfer and reducing administrative tasks. This integration helps streamline billing processes and improves accuracy.

  • Accurate time tracking is vital for law firms to meet financial targets, avoid revenue loss, and comply with ethical standards. Inefficient tracking can lead to a 10-50% reduction in billable income. Harvest addresses these issues with its precise tracking capabilities.

  • Not tracking non-billable time can obscure operational inefficiencies and resource allocation issues. By using Harvest, legal professionals can gain insights into both billable and non-billable activities, improving firm productivity and decision-making.

  • Harvest supports compliance with legal billing standards by offering features like matter-based tracking and integration with billing systems. This helps legal professionals adhere to ethical guidelines and avoid disputes.

  • Reporting in legal time tracking provides insights into utilization rates, productivity, and financial performance. Harvest's detailed reports help legal professionals assess client profitability and make informed decisions about resource management.