Harvest
Time Tracking
Sign up free

Time Tracking Software for Consulting Firms

Harvest is designed for consulting firms to efficiently log billable hours and enhance project profitability with its comprehensive time tracking and billing solutions.

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

The Imperative of Time Tracking for Consulting Firms

Time tracking is crucial for consulting firms aiming to minimize revenue loss due to untracked billable hours. Professional services firms often face a 15-25% loss of billable hours, which can result in a staggering $780,000 to $1.3 million annual revenue hemorrhage for a 50-person firm billing at $200 an hour. This significant financial impact highlights the necessity of efficient time tracking systems.

Beyond financial benefits, time tracking serves as the backbone for accurate project forecasting and sustainability. It enhances client trust through transparency, ensuring that every billable hour is accounted for and justified. Harvest provides consulting firms with the tools to log hours accurately and maintain client confidence through detailed reporting and project-based tracking.

Key Features of Effective Time Tracking Software for Consultants

Consulting firms require time tracking software that offers real-time tracking, flexible entry methods, and mobile accessibility. Harvest excels in these areas with one-click timers and mobile apps for iOS and Android, capturing every billable minute even during client meetings. Moreover, Harvest supports project-based tracking, enabling firms to manage multiple client engagements simultaneously.

Advanced functionalities like customizable billing rates and project/client tagging are essential to meet the diverse needs of consulting work. Harvest allows for these customizations, ensuring that rates can be adjusted based on service type or client demands. Integration capabilities with accounting systems such as QuickBooks and CRM platforms further streamline invoicing and client management processes.

Enhancing Project Profitability and Operational Efficiency

Accurate time tracking is pivotal for improving project profitability and operational efficiency. By leveraging time data, consulting firms can improve project estimation accuracy and budgeting. Harvest's robust analytics provide insights into project profitability and time usage, helping firms identify scope creep and mitigate unprofitable activities.

Optimizing resource utilization is another critical benefit. Top-performing firms exhibit a 14% higher utilization rate, leading to millions in additional annual revenues. Harvest's reporting tools enable firms to understand utilization and realization rates, aiding in strategic decision-making and resource allocation.

Implementing Time Tracking: Best Practices for Consulting Workflows

Successful integration of time tracking into consulting workflows begins with fostering user adoption and minimizing administrative burdens. Harvest makes this transition seamless with intuitive interfaces and tools like timesheet reminders, reducing the time spent on data entry.

Establishing clear guidelines for billable versus non-billable time and setting realistic time entry deadlines are critical. Harvest's ability to categorize time ensures that consulting firms can easily differentiate and track these categories. Comprehensive training and ongoing support further ensure high adoption rates, while customizable software aligns with unique firm processes and client requirements.

Time Tracking with Harvest

See how Harvest helps consulting firms track billable hours and enhance project profitability with its intuitive interface.

Harvest time tracking software interface for consulting firms

Time Tracking Software for Consulting Firms FAQs

  • Time tracking software helps consulting firms accurately log billable hours, reducing the risk of revenue loss. Firms can lose 15-25% of billable hours without efficient systems, translating to significant financial impact. Time tracking also improves project planning and client transparency.

  • Consulting firms should seek time tracking software with real-time tracking, customizable billing rates, and mobile accessibility. Harvest offers these features, along with project-based tracking and integration with accounting systems like QuickBooks.

  • Harvest aids project profitability by providing detailed reports and insights into time usage and project budgets. This helps firms identify scope creep and optimize resource utilization, leading to more accurate project estimations and strategic decision-making.

  • Yes, Harvest can differentiate between billable and non-billable hours, allowing consulting firms to track and categorize these effectively. This feature helps in maintaining accurate billing and improving client transparency.

  • Real-time tracking ensures that all billable hours are captured accurately as they occur, preventing memory decay which can reduce time entry accuracy by 25-40% after 24 hours. Harvest's one-click timers facilitate this, ensuring precise logging of client interactions.

  • Harvest integrates seamlessly with accounting and CRM systems, such as QuickBooks and Xero, to streamline invoicing and client management. This reduces duplicate data entry and enhances operational efficiency.

  • Best practices include clear guidelines for time entry, fostering user adoption through intuitive interfaces, and providing comprehensive training. Harvest supports these practices with its user-friendly tools and customizable features.