Harvest
Time Tracking
Sign up free

Time Tracking for Creative Agencies

Creative agencies often lose profitability due to inaccurate time tracking. Harvest offers a solution with precise tracking, ensuring improved billing and project management.

Try Harvest Free

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

Why Accurate Time Tracking is Essential for Creative Agencies

Effective time tracking is crucial for creative agencies aiming to enhance profitability and project management. Accurate tracking allows agencies to make informed pricing decisions, as time is the core currency of their services. A mere 15 minutes of under-recorded time daily can result in over 60 hours of lost billable time per employee annually, which, for a 20-person firm, could equate to funding an additional hire. This highlights the significant financial impact of precise time management.

Creative agencies often struggle with manual time entry, which is reported as one of the most time-consuming activities by a third of professionals. Harvest addresses these challenges by offering one-click start/stop timers and manual time entry options, ensuring that all work hours are accurately captured. This not only improves billing accuracy but also enhances project visibility and resource allocation, essential for maintaining profitability and client trust.

Differentiating Billable and Non-Billable Hours for Creative Workflows

Understanding the distinction between billable and non-billable hours is vital for creative agencies to maintain accurate billing and resource management. Billable hours typically include direct client work, meetings, and revisions, while non-billable hours encompass internal meetings, administration, and training. Ignoring non-billable time can lead to underestimating project costs and increased burnout risks.

Harvest simplifies this process by allowing agencies to clearly differentiate between these two types of hours within their project reports. This functionality supports a holistic view of agency operations, ensuring that pricing strategies account for all work done. Agencies that effectively track both types of hours might charge 40-60% more per billable hour to cover non-billable activities, thus safeguarding profitability.

Key Features of Harvest for Creative Agencies

Creative agencies require time tracking solutions that align with their unique workflows. Harvest provides essential features such as customizable hourly rates for different team members and integration with project management tools like Asana and Trello. This integration ensures seamless workflow management, which is crucial for creative teams often engaged in collaborative and iterative tasks.

The platform's robust reporting capabilities offer insights into team productivity and project timelines, allowing agencies to adjust strategies and resources effectively. Additionally, Harvest's detailed reports and budget alerts help prevent overspending, ensuring that projects remain within scope and on budget. With these features, Harvest equips creative agencies with the tools needed to optimize performance and profitability.

Implementing Time Tracking Best Practices in Creative Agencies

For creative agencies, effective time tracking is not just about using the right tools but also about adopting best practices. Encouraging real-time, in-the-moment time logging rather than retroactive timesheets can significantly improve data accuracy. Harvest supports this by providing easy-to-use timers that reduce the reliance on memory.

Integrating time tracking into existing workflows is another critical step. Harvest’s compatibility with popular project management platforms facilitates this integration, minimizing disruptions to the creative process. By setting realistic, role-based utilization targets—such as 70-80% for delivery roles—agencies can balance workloads, prevent burnout, and maintain high performance. Regular data review further helps agencies identify inefficiencies and adjust project planning to enhance future outcomes.

Harvest for Creative Agencies

See how Harvest tracks time, manages budgets, and integrates with tools like Asana for creative agencies.

Screenshot of Harvest time tracking tailored for creative agencies

Time Tracking for Creative Agencies FAQs

  • Creative agencies track billable hours by using tools like Harvest, which provide start/stop timers and manual entry options. This ensures accurate billing and project management. Agencies can differentiate between billable and non-billable hours, crucial for comprehensive financial analysis and maintaining profitability.

  • A time tracking app for creative agencies should include features like automated tracking, integration with project management tools, and detailed reporting capabilities. Harvest offers these features along with customizable hourly rates and budget alerts, making it ideal for creative workflows.

  • Yes, Harvest allows agencies to track non-billable hours effectively, providing a complete overview of all agency activities. This helps in accurate project costing and resource management, ensuring that all aspects of work contribute to profitability analysis.

  • Time tracking is crucial for creative agencies as it directly impacts profitability and project management. Accurate tracking helps in pricing decisions, resource allocation, and client transparency. Even small inaccuracies can lead to significant revenue loss, making effective tracking tools like Harvest indispensable.

  • Harvest integrates seamlessly with project management tools such as Asana and Trello. This integration allows for smooth workflow management and ensures that time tracking is embedded within existing agency processes, reducing friction and improving accuracy.

  • Inaccurate time tracking can lead to significant revenue losses for agencies. For example, just 15 minutes of under-recorded time daily per person can result in over 60 lost billable hours annually. This can erode agency profitability and affect financial health significantly.

  • Time tracking data provides historical insights that help agencies improve project scoping and pricing. By analyzing past project timelines and resource utilization, agencies can make more accurate estimates, leading to better project planning and client satisfaction.