Managing client projects profitably can be challenging — many consultants rely on cumbersome manual processes and spreadsheets.
Not only do spreadsheets waste time, but they also waste money: billing errors and limited visibility into resource utilization often result in lost revenue.
In this guide, we’ll look at some of the best time tracking software for consultants to help you ditch the spreadsheets and increase your profit margins.
What makes a good consultant time tracking tool?
A consultant time tracking tool should have the following key features and functionality:
- Multiple ways to track time: The ability to track time via desktop timer apps, mobile apps, offline tracking, time batching, or manual entry.
- Flexible rate setting: You may need to set different hourly rates for different types of work, clients, or team members.
- Utilization & capacity planning: Reports not just on hours worked but on how effectively time is allocated through timesheets.
- Work management integration: Integration with project and work management tools allows time entries to be connected to tracking specific projects, tasks, milestones, etc., giving better visibility into where time is spent.
- Integration with billing/invoicing: The time tracking tool should integrate smoothly with billing and invoicing software. This will help you bill clients easily based on tracked time and agreed-upon rates for either standard clients or retainers.
- Reporting for actionable insights: The ability to create reports on time usage, billable vs. non-billable time, utilization rates, etc. Better data leads to better resource planning.
- Integrations with accounting tools: Seamless connectivity with platforms like QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, and Xero will help streamline your financial workflows.
5 Best time tracking software to consider
Here’s our list of some of the best time tracking tools for consultants.
1. Scoro
Scoro is a powerful business consulting software and effective time tracking tool that allows you and your team to have complete control over how time is spent and tracked.
For example, Scoro lets you track time in three ways: in real-time, retroactively, and by scheduling events for automatic time tracking.
Scoro’s real-time tracker is perfect for accomplishing multiple tasks throughout the day. To access the time tracker, click on the “Tasks” module when you begin working on an assignment. There, you click “Start time tracker” on any task to begin tracking time for it.
Alternatively, you can start a stopwatch from the top menu at any point by clicking on the stopwatch icon and selecting your task.
You can also log time retroactively after a task is complete. To do so, open the relevant task in the Scoro Tasks tab and add a time entry using the Add button.
Or, you can head to your “Timesheet” under the Task module and log time.
This comes in handy if you forget to track your work in real time or would prefer to upload it once you have completed it manually.
Lastly, you can schedule events for automatic time tracking under the Calendar tab. Once a meeting is booked in your Scoro calendar, its duration will be booked and logged once it’s complete—no manual entry is needed.
What you’ll love
Scoro makes time-billing seamless with automated invoicing based on tracked employee time. Teams can capture every billable hour worked, ensuring you get paid for all time invested in client projects.
You can choose to approach time-biling in one of two ways: Invoice the customer based on the actual duration of the activities, or use billable time as a separate indicator.
To invoice the customer directly based on time tracked, head to the “Time-billing” tab and toggle the “Bill time tracker entries “button. Scoro then automatically considers the time tracked as billable to the client.
Using billable as an indicator might be a better fit for projects that involve non-billable tasks.
This allows you to manually determine which time can be billed to the client, and which should not. To do this, toggle “Use billable time” within the same “Time-billing” tab.
You can also use simple time-billing, found under the “Work and projects” tab, then “Activity types.” There, you can select activities to transfer them to an invoice automatically.
You can click “Add new project,” which will create a new product with the same name as the activity type, or you can click “Choose from existing ones.”
Scoro also lets you create invoices within the “Work” report. You can filter out the relevant activities and tick the ones you would like to compile an invoice for. Once you select the right projects, you can click “Create invoice.”
All of these tools make time tracking and invoicing one seamless process.
Core features of Scoro you’ll like
- Multiple time tracking methods allow you to track time as you work retroactively or schedule it in advance through planned meetings and work sessions.
- Flexible rate setting allows you to set role-based prices, multiple hourly rates for team members, custom billing rates for clients, and more.
- Utilization & capacity planning allows you to view reports on billable hours, utilization rates, and workload capacity to optimize resource allocation.
- Project management integration connects projects and tasks, providing visibility into where time is being spent.
- Integrations with billing/invoicing tools draw data from time logs to generate invoices.
- Reporting for actionable insights allows you to create custom reports based on time usage, utilization, billable vs non-billable hours, and more.
- Integrations with accounting tools like QuickBooks Online and Xero seamlessly prevent billing errors.
Pricing
Scoro has four plans:
- Essential: $26 per user per month
- Standard: $37 per user per month
- Pro: $63 per user per month
- Ultimate: Customized enterprise pricing
You can also try Scoro free for 14 days.
2. Toggl Track
Toggl Track lets you track “time entries” in multiple different ways: using a running timer, manually, in calendar view, or by adding on to a previous time entry.
The running timer can be turned on at any point and customized to be labeled with a description, specific project, or tag. To turn it on, click the “Play arrow button” in the top right-hand corner within the Timer tab.
Alternatively, you can retroactively enter time entries into the mobile and desktop app by clicking the + button.
You can add and edit existing time entries in the “List” view in just a few clicks. Tick the time entries you’d like to edit and hit “Bulk edit.”
This allows you to choose how to record your working hours and adjust previously logged time when needed.
What you’ll love
Toggl Track is the perfect consultant time tracking software for consultants who need an intuitive way to capture every billable minute across projects.
With Toggl Track, you get a centralized dashboard showing your team’s tracked time data across specific projects.
You can quickly identify budget overages in the “Projects” tab and make resource allocation decisions.
You can see a high-level overview of total hours logged and compare forecasted hours per project.
In the “Project time tracking chart,” you can view “Total time tracked” (solid green), “Time estimate” line (purple, dashed), “Period end date” (solid purple), and “Trendline” (gray).
The “Project billing amount forecast” shows “Billable amount (solid green), “Cost amount” (light green filled area), “Project Fixed Fee” (purple, dashed), “Period end date” (solid purple), and “Trendline (gray).”
Core features of Toggl Track you’ll like
- Multiple ways to track time allow you to log time in real time, or retroactively add or edit previously logged time. You can also use Qr codes, automatic time tracking triggers, personal desktop activity tracking, and more.
- Flexible rate setting lets you create custom billable rates and labor costs for accurate invoicing.
- Exportable reports allow you to view time tracked by individual, project, task, or description. You can then create an invoice from the time reports.
- Integrations allow you to track time in 100+ online tools
Pricing
Toggl Track has three main plans:
- Free
- Starter: $9 per user per month
- Premium: $18 per user per month
- Enterprise: customized pricing
The Premium plan comes with a 30-day free trial.
3. Timely
Timely can passively track activity in calendar apps and documents to log time without manual entry using their tool automatically. Each time entry is called a “Memory.” These are uploaded to a daily timeline inside Timely.
Each Memory shows you the specific web or desktop app you worked in, with the title of the document or page you visited.
This is ideal if your time tracking must include specific details about the tasks and projects.
You can also drag-and-drop Memories and create and edit time Memories.
Memories can appear as logged and ignored. You can mark “memories” or time spent working on a task or a specific project, or you can ignore or hide them.
This allows you greater control over billable hours that will be invoiced.
What you’ll love
Timely is an automatic time tracking solution that seamlessly records time spent in apps and provides detailed insights into how your team spends its time.
For example, Timely’s “People Dashboard” lets you see your team’s logged time. You can see these hours logged compared to each staff member’s capacity to track potential overages and burnout.
From here, you can assess whether team members have missing hours or have clocked overtime hours by using the filters “Missing hours😴” or “Overtime” 🔥”.
Then, you can notify groups based on missing hours or overtime by clicking on the bell icon in the top right corner.
Core features of Timely you’ll like
- Automatic time tracking eliminates manual logging and guarantees accuracy.
- Dashboard visibility into capacity utilization and margins improves overall project success.
- Project- and client-level reporting helps inform billing and resourcing.
- Track billable rates to assess ongoing costs and utilization.
- Assign work hours to team members and log time for others to stay on track.
Pricing
Timely offers several pricing tiers:
- Starter: $9 per user per month
- Premium: $16 per user per month
- Unlimited: $22 per user per month
Timely also offers 14-day free trial.
4. Clockify
Clockify is a 100% free time tracking software built for consultants. It simplifies tracking billable and non-billable time across projects to calculate profitability.
From the main “Dashboard” view, you get a high-level overview of all tracked time data. Here, you can view overall billability per project and individual employee time tracking, cost, and profit.
For an even more detailed view of each individual time tracking, you can assess the “Timesheet,” which shows a live breakdown of time tracked per project.
In this view, you can also retroactively add time for yourself or other team members, depending on permissions. Click “Teammates” in the top right-hand corner to search for a team member. Then, you can manually add time to work on a specific date.
Under the “Reports” tab, you can view time tracked per project, including per-user rates.
This allows you to analyze metrics like billable ratios, utilization rates, and earned revenue. You can also export reports as PDFs or Excel sheets.
What you’ll love
Clockify lets you set both billable and cost rates for each employee. For example, set an employee’s hourly rate to $100/hr. When you track 2 hours on a task and mark it as billable, Clockify will show $200 earned for that entry.
You can set these custom billable rates and cost rates depending on the type of project you’re working on. By heading to “Settings,” you can include this information as well as the name of the project, client, and even sign it a specific color for easy viewing.
You can then view total billable amounts per project over custom date ranges in Clockify’s reports.
Core features of Clockify you’ll like
- Multiple time tracking modes allow you to track time via manual time entry, timers, online/offline tracking, and integrations with calendar apps like Google and Office 365.
- Rate setting allows you to define hourly rates for projects
- PM integrations with tools like Asana and Trello allow you to connect time spent to specific tasks
- Invoicing allows for smooth billing workflows.
- Custom kiosks allow you to clock in remotely, track employee breaks, and view daily activities.
- Approve and track time off requests, define holidays, and track available days and hours.
Pricing
- Free
- Basic: $3.99 per user/month
- Standard: $5.49 per user/month
- Pro: $7.99 per user/month
- Enterprise: $11.99 per user/month
5. Harvest / Harvest Forecast
Harvest makes it incredibly easy for distributed teams to track time no matter where you’re working.
For example, you can start timers on your mobile devices when meeting clients out of the office. Everything syncs automatically with the web dashboard.
The desktop app runs quietly in the background so you can stay focused and not toggle between apps constantly.
To access this, go to the “Time” tab and click “Timesheet.” Then, click the “Start” button on the specific task you want to track time for.
What you’ll love
Harvest is a simple and intuitive time tracking software that helps you log and assess hours worked across projects.
The “Team” dashboard provides an at-a-glance view of time logged across team members for custom date ranges. You can easily compare total logged hours with overall team capacity.
Here, you can also see billable hours worked compared to non-billable time. The dark blue bar shows hours that are billable for a project, while the light blue shows time that is not billable. Plus, the red bar indicates overages so you can respond in real time to time.
You can also drill down into specific projects to assess whether they’re progressing on time by clicking on the “Reports” tab at the top of the dashboard. Here, you can view the total hours tracked, billable vs. nonbillable time, and un-invoiced amount.
Click the “Detailed Time” tab for an even more granular look. You can mark time logged against clients and individual tasks as invoiced or un-invoiced.
These tools help you stay within budgeted hours and staff capacity and ensure profitability.
Core features of Harvest you’ll like
- Project management integrations with popular tools like Asana, Trello, Jira, and more prevent you from having to Toggl Tracke separate apps.
- Multiple ways to track time allow you to track working hours however you prefer.
- Flexible rate setting allows you to set up multiple custom hourly rates that can be applied to different clients, projects, tasks, team members, etc.
- Project management integrations with tools like Asana, Trello, and Basecamp allow you to remain on task.
- Reporting for actionable insights allows you to assess time usage, utilization rates, profitability, and more.
- Integrations with accounting tools allow for smooth communication between accounting platforms like QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Sage Intacct.
Pricing
Harvest has two plans:
- Free
- Harvest Pro: $10.80 per user per month
The Harvest Pro plan offers a 30-day free trial.
What’s your time tracking tool?
The best consulting time tracking software helps you stay on track of billable and nonbillable time, accurately invoice clients, manage projects, and ensure success.
Unlike other platforms, Scoro is an all-in-one time tracking tool that allows teams to track time in multiple ways, set custom rates and capacity plans, and ensure profitability across all projects.
Sign up for Scoro’s free trial to check it out—no credit card required.
