Mar 16, 2023
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Best Time-Tracking and Invoicing Software for Your Service Business
Time is a valuable resource for any business, but as a professional services business, your time’s value is directly tied to your potential profitability. That’s why using time-tracking software for accurate time management is something most service-based businesses can’t afford to go without.
A time-tracking business tool can improve resource management, help divide workload evenly across your team and give your business new insight into your billable vs. non-billable time. With this information at the ready, you can accurately charge clients for the work you deliver — and that’s where having the right invoicing tool comes in.
Regardless of business size, building an invoicing process that relies on accurate time data is the best way to ensure your business remains profitable. Because of this, many businesses seek an invoicing solution with time-tracking capabilities.
No matter what stage your business may be in today, there are tools available that can help your team better manage — and charge for — your time. Below we’re diving into some of the best time-tracking and invoicing software solutions for tracking time, billing clients and managing your client work so that you can find the solutions that meet your current needs.
We’ll cover:
- Simple time-tracking software for better reporting and team utilization
- Billing and invoicing solutions with time-tracking features for improved business processes
- Comprehensive solutions for streamlining client work across your organization
Best Time-Tracking Software for Teams
Time management is important for any business looking to be productive, but for a professional services business, time management can determine your ability to sustain and grow your business. For teams just getting started or for teams who may be in need of more granular time management, finding a time-tracking software solution should be a top priority.
Scenario #1: Your company recently implemented a new project management software with the ability to generate custom invoices based on projects completed. As your team begins to create invoices to send to clients, you realize that your current time tracking is limited and may be missing critical billable hours.
You need a more advanced time-tracking tool that can capture granular time reports and provide the data you need to accurately bill for your client work. So you begin searching for a more robust time-tracking solution that can capture a complete picture of how your team spends its time.
Let's uncover some of the top time-tracking software solutions:
Clockify
Clockify is a free time-tracking app that helps teams and individuals log time spent on tasks and projects using a combination of automatic timers and manual entry. The option to create teams can help project managers oversee the total time on a project. Clockify can be used to calculate payroll and billable hours.
Features
- Timesheets categorized by activity
- Automatically tracks time for synced calendar events
- Integrates with popular project management apps
- Visible location history, multi-device clock-in kiosk and team check-ins for on-site work
Pros
- Free for unlimited users
- Simple, user-friendly interface
Cons
- Some users point out that reports lack detail
- Others report difficulty with activity and task sorting
Hubstaff
Hubstaff is a time-tracking and employee-monitoring software with productivity features meant to help businesses gain improved insights into employee workload. The app tracks time through manual and automated tools, sets employee time limits and collects data for detailed timesheets and time reports.
Features
- Automated timesheets generated by built-in time trackers
- Geofence time tracking to automate employees clocking in and out
- Invoice widget to track payment status and record full or partial payments
- Create invoices with set billing rates and auto-add line items
Pros
- Invoice reporting helps teams visualize on-time and past-due invoices
- Custom invoice templates make it easy to create branded invoices based on billable and non-billable employee time and project expenses
Cons
- Users share that there are some limitations to setting different hourly rates per project per team member or setting hourly rates per client
- Multiple users share their privacy concerns while using the product due to the app’s location tracking and screen captures
Toggl Track
Toggl Track is a time-tracking tool with timesheets, billable time reports and budgeting features. Users can simply use timers or customize them with added details like tags to categorize segments of time. Toggl Track can be used to calculate payroll for both employees and contractors.
Features
- Timesheets are broken down by project
- Billable rates and reports for workspaces, projects and users
- Idle time reminders
- 100+ integrations
Pros
- Free plan for up to five users with unlimited projects
- Custom sorting by user, tag or project
Cons
- Paid tiers may be pricey for larger businesses
- Users claim important alerts and notifications can be absent
Timely
Timely is an automated time-tracking app with built-in project and resource management, payroll and capacity planning capabilities. The platform allows businesses to easily track employee time, monitor project tasks and budgets and access full visibility of their teams’ performance.
Features
- Automated time capture without a need for timers or manual tracking
- Team dashboards to visualize efforts across your client portfolio
- Project health reports to highlight tasks, activity, performance and budget changes
- Scheduling tools to optimize task assignments based on availability and team priorities
Pros
- Easy, automatic time tracking makes it possible to capture every billable hour — leading to more accurate billing and more profitable client work
- Live reports based on employee time data generate insights about team capacity, billable percentage, budget spend and time spent on clients
Cons
- No ability to create project or task templates for recurring work
- While the time-tracking feature is available at each pricing level, the additional features like project management are only available at the premium plan level
TrackingTime
TrackingTime is a time-tracking software for businesses to plan and track their team's work through time cards, work schedules, timesheet creation and employee time reporting. The tool can be used by small, medium and enterprise-sized businesses to track team performance, budget project time and generate time reporting.
Features
- Generate and approve employee time cards
- Define employee work schedules
- Ability to export timesheets to create invoices
- Automated timesheet audits to identify inaccuracies
Pros
- A free version is available for up to three users
- Integrates with 40+ business management software solutions, including Trello, Jira, Asana and Slack
Cons
- No automated time tracking to measure granular employee time usage
- Multiple users shared that they were unhappy with the inability to pause a timer without needing to start a new timer
READ NEXT: 28 Surprising Time-Tracking Statistics
Best Project Billing and Invoicing Software To Improve Business Processes
When you’re managing multiple clients and multiple client projects for each, keeping track of your employee time is no longer enough to efficiently manage your business. You need an invoicing solution to make use of that time data so that you get paid for all of your billable work.
Choosing an invoicing software with time-tracking features is a great way to ensure your team is not missing out on charging for billable hours and reduces the need for additional integrations in your tech stack.
Scenario #2: You’re a growing service-based business looking to develop your tech stack to meet the demands of your expanding client base. You may have been managing employee time or client payment records manually in a spreadsheet, but in order to sustainably scale your business, you need a tool that can automate these processes and provide you with more reliable data and allow you to bill your clients accurately.
Let’s explore the top invoicing tools with time-tracking features:
Harvest
Harvest is a time-tracking software with desktop, browser and mobile versions. It offers flexible timesheets and the ability to invoice clients and accept payments directly through the platform. The range of reports goes beyond simple time logs to display team capacity, project costs and more.
Features
- Budget tracking
- Invoice creation from billable time records
- In-app payment collection with PayPal or Stripe
- Custom time-tracking reminders for teams
Pros
- Integrates with popular accounting software to streamline your company’s accounting workflows
- Visually engaging reports that track project budgets and visualize team capacity
Cons
- Requires third-party integrations to effectively manage workflows
- Some users feel the app is slow and outdated
Hiveage
Hiveage is an invoicing software solution that helps businesses manage their money, their team and their customers. The platform offers quote creation, time tracking, invoice creation and recurring billing management.
Features
- Integrates with multiple payment gateways, including PayPal and Stripe
- Mileage tracker for accurate travel estimates and invoicing
- Recurring payments and subscription billing options
- Detailed financial reports and expense tracking
Pros
- There is a free version of the platform available for up to five users
- Users share that the platform has a simple, easy-to-use interface
Cons
- One user shares that both accounting and reporting features are limited
- Credit card payment acceptance is limited to US-based subscribers
Time Analytics
Time Analytics is a simple time-tracking and invoicing app that allows users to track time, send invoices and create estimates for client work.
Features
- Manual and automated time tracking
- Time tracking can be linked to individual tasks, projects and clients
- Invoicing assistant to prepare data for the invoice creation
- Performance management to track client and project profitability
Pros
- There is a free version of the platform available for up to five users per month
- The platform’s cost-tracking solution automatically allocates generated costs to clients, projects and service lines
Cons
- Invoices cannot be created and shared within the platform — all invoice data must first be exported into an Excel spreadsheet
- No available integrations for API options make it more difficult to fit this platform into existing business workflows
Zoho Invoice
Zoho Invoice is online invoicing software that helps users manage invoices, track expenses and accept online payments. The platform can be customized to meet the needs of multiple industries and offers project billing, time tracking, reporting and a client portal.
Features
- Compliant digital signatures to ensure payment security
- Customizable templates for branded invoices
- Log and track time spent on tasks
- Recurring invoice scheduler
Pros
- The platform is free
- Multi-currency invoicing support
Cons
- Users said that support can be lacking, one explaining that there are limited local and remote support options available in certain time zones
- Some users share that the user interface is not intuitive and can be hard to navigate
Best End-to-End Software To Support Client Work Delivery and Reporting
For those seeking new software to manage their invoicing and time-tracking needs, a complete business management software may be a more appropriate solution to consider. The ability to connect all the features highlighted above with the other aspects of your client work in one centralized system is a game changer for professional services businesses that want to improve visibility and reporting.
One platform to manage all client work reduces the need for a complex — and more expensive — tech stack and creates one source of truth for your entire business.
Scenario #3: Your team has been functioning with its existing tech stack for a while, but you’ve recently realized that you’re spending too much time switching between tools and searching for data across multiple platforms. You’ve made it work until now, but you know that continuing with this inefficiency is preventing your business from growing. You determine you need a more complete tool to support your complex workflows and connect all aspects of your client journey.
Below, we’re sharing the top client work management solutions for your business:
Accelo
Accelo is an end-to-end client work management platform built to help professional services businesses automate tasks, improve visibility and increase profits.
While it offers robust project management and advanced time-tracking features, Accelo also offers solutions for all stages of client work, including sales and quoting, customer relationship management and contact management, a complete ticketing system, invoicing and retainer management.
Features
- An end-to-end solution for managing client work, including sales, billing, projects and retainers
- Log time across product areas and activities to track billable and non-billable hours
- Custom workflows and custom fields to fit your unique business processes
- Collaborative tools like the Activity Stream with a complete history of client and project interactions
Pros
- A built-in CRM connects your projects to a contact or company record, seamlessly merging your client information and time-tracking data across the entire platform — simplifying billing and improving team collaboration
- Accelo’s automated time tracking collects important data with no additional work and feeds into the platform’s robust reporting capabilities that offer advanced forecasting tools, including revenue analysis, a team member performance dashboard and client profitability reports
Cons
- Because Accelo is most effective for teams of five or more, it may not be the best fit for smaller teams or solopreneurs
- Teams only seeking invoicing or time-tracking solutions may not need Accelo’s end-to-end solution for managing all aspects of client work
Start a free trial today to see Accelo in action. If you have questions or want to explore custom solutions for your business needs, schedule a demo to speak with a product expert.
Paymo
Paymo is a business management solution built for small and medium businesses across multiple industries. The platform includes collaboration tools, time tracking and timesheet management, project management and invoicing capabilities.
Features
- Multiple time-tracking options, including a web timer, desktop timer, mobile timer and manual entry
- Live time reports that offer visualization of your team’s time
- Task management with multi-user assignments, dependencies and more
- Ability to collect online payments through PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net
Pros
- The platform offers a free version for one user per month with access to some limited features
- The Paymo Plus add-on automatically tracks time spent in every browser and desktop app to give users a detailed view of time spent
Cons
- One user shared that they wish there were more options to customize client estimates and invoices
- Some users have had issues with payments in currencies other than the US dollar, wishing that they could convert currencies in the platform or have access to international payment integrations for users outside of the US
Workamajig
Workamajig is a business management software for agencies and creative teams. Its key features include a variety of financial reports that tie time logs and team capacity to projects and tasks, making it a good option for agencies looking to focus on maximizing the profit potential of billable time.
Features
- Invoice management with capabilities to create, send and track invoices and payments
- Time tracking attached to projects
- Budgeting tools to track income and expenses
- Detailed reporting on cash flow, project budgets and more
Pros
- An all-in-one solution for marketing project management with capabilities to track tasks, conversations, calendars, budgets and timelines
- Ability to generate reports on company performance and financial health, including reporting on client profitability
Cons
- The tool is built specifically for creative teams and agencies, so other professional services industries may prefer a solution better tailored to their industry
- Some users note the limited collaboration capabilities
Why Users Prefer Accelo to Plan and Manage Client Work
For professional services businesses managing sales, client projects, ticket requests and more, you need a tool that can streamline your complex client work into one centralized system. To do that efficiently, you’ll want a platform that includes a complete suite of tools to support your client journey.
From sales management to projects to billing, Accelo’s client work management tool can bring simplicity and efficiency to your client work. With the ability to connect all stages of your client work and track employee time against projects, tickets and retainers, you get a complete picture of your employee utilization and your potential profitability. And with a built-in invoicing solution, creating, sending and tracking client invoices is as simple as one click.
In addition to the robust time-tracking and invoicing solutions, Accelo is also a user favorite due to its ease of use and exceptional customer support. Accelo’s overall customer satisfaction is why the platform has received G2’s Best Relationship badge in Professional Services Automation for three consecutive quarters.
See how Accelo can simplify your client work with a free trial, and then request a demo to speak with an Accelo product expert.
Want to learn more?
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About the Author
Kit Lewis is a Content Manager at Accelo, where she manages content projects, social media and content reporting. With a decade of writing for industries ranging from education to tech, past experience supporting client work and a commitment to building efficient systems, she is passionate about creating valuable content to help professional services teams.