WorkflowMax at $7.50, Harvest at $9, and Teamwork at $9.99 per user per month billed annually give a 5 to 30 person consultancy a low-cost start, while BigTime at $20 and Scoro at €15 sit higher.
Paymo is the only tool here with a free plan, and its Plus tier at $10.90 per user per month rises to $15.90 after 3 months, so check the price after the first quarter before you commit.
Four of the ten tools publish no list price. BQE CORE, Monograph, Accelo, and Kantata are quote only, which means a sales call comes before you can budget with confidence.
Small firms should weigh setup effort as much as price. Harvest and Paymo can run in a day, while Scoro, BigTime, and Kantata need rate tables, approval rules, and onboarding time.
Comparison
How these compare
Tool
Best for
Price range
Free plan
BigTime
Time, billing, and QuickBooks sync
$20 per user/month (billed annually)
Free trial (14 days)
Scoro
End-to-end quote to cash
€15 per user/month
Free trial (14 days)
BQE CORE
Architecture and engineering firms
quote only
No
Monograph
Small architecture and design studios
quote only
No
Accelo
Sales to invoice in one flow
quote only
No
Teamwork
Client work with budgets and time tracking
$9.99 per user/month (billed annually)
Free trial (30 days)
WorkflowMax
Job costing and Xero invoicing
$7.50 per user/month (billed annually)
Free trial (14 days)
Paymo
Time tracking plus invoicing for small teams
$10.90 per user/month (billed annually)
Yes
Harvest
Simple time tracking and invoicing
$9 per user/month (billed annually)
Free trial (30 days)
Kantata
Firms moving toward full PSA
quote only
No
How we choose
We compared these ten tools on what a small consultancy of 5 to 30 people actually needs: time tracking, invoicing from logged time, project budgets, and a price a small firm can carry. We opened each vendor pricing page on 12 November 2026 and used the lowest entry tier per user per month billed annually where the vendor publishes one. Where the vendor hides the price, we wrote quote only instead of guessing. We also read vendor docs and plan pages for trial lengths, seat minimums, and feature limits, such as Teamwork Basics leaving out timesheets and invoicing. We reviewed each tool from published vendor material only and made no hands-on claims.
BigTime is built for firms that bill by the hour and need the numbers behind each invoice to hold up. Essentials starts at $20 per user per month billed annually and covers time and expense tracking, invoicing, and online payments. The platform links time entries to rate tables, so a senior consultant and a junior analyst on the same project bill at different rates without manual fixes. Approval workflows route timesheets to project managers before anything reaches a client.
The QuickBooks and Sage sync is the main draw for small firms that already run their accounts there, since invoices and payments move both ways and finance stops re-keying data. The trade-off is cost and setup. At $20 per user, BigTime carries the highest published entry price in this list, and resource planning sits on higher tiers. A 14-day trial lets a small team test the core flow before talking to sales.
3
SScoro
Best for end-to-end quote to cash for growing firms
Website: https://www.scoro.com/
Best for: end-to-end quote to cash for growing firms
Starting price: €15 per user/month
Free plan: Free trial (14 days)
Pros: quote to cash in one system; combines CRM, projects, time, and billing
Cons: five-user minimum means a team of 3 pays for 5 seats; resource planning costs more
Scoro sells combinations of its modules rather than a single ladder of tiers, and the entry combination starts at €15 per user per month. That Time-billing combination covers time tracking and invoicing, which is enough for a small consultancy that wants hours to turn into bills without extra tools. Higher combinations add projects and resources, then quote to cash, then the full end-to-end suite.
Every combination carries a five-user minimum, so the smallest possible bill at the entry rate is €75 per month. That rule suits a firm of 5 to 30 people and shuts out solo operators and two-person shops. The 14-day trial gives a team time to test the workflow, and the built-in CRM means client records, quotes, projects, and invoices live in one place instead of four.
4
BBQE CORE
Best for architecture and engineering consultancies
Website: https://www.bqe.com/
Best for: architecture and engineering consultancies
Starting price: quote only
Free plan: No
Pros: built for A&E billing and project accounting; strong dashboards for project profit
Cons: no public price, so budgeting needs a sales call; no free trial is listed
BQE CORE is an all-in-one firm management platform aimed at architecture, engineering, and professional services firms. It ties project planning, time and expense tracking, billing, and accounting into one record, so a project manager can see budget burn and profit on the same screen. Dashboards track utilization and work in progress, which matters when partners need to know which engagements make money.
The main drawback for a small consultancy is the buying process. BQE does not list prices on its site, and no free plan or trial is listed, so evaluation runs through a demo and a quote. That is normal for software aimed at larger firms, but it means a 10-person consultancy cannot compare BQE CORE against a $9 or $10 entry tier without a sales conversation first.
5
MMonograph
Best for small architecture and design studios
Website: https://www.monograph.com/
Best for: small architecture and design studios
Starting price: quote only
Free plan: No
Pros: simple interface built for design firms; time and fees tied to project phases
Cons: pricing page is a calculator with no per-user list price; limited depth outside design
Monograph is built for architecture and design practices rather than general consulting, and that focus shows in the way it handles projects. Time and fees follow project phases, so a studio can see how a design stage is tracking against its fee before the work is done. The interface stays simple, which helps small studios that want staff logging time on day one without a long training course.
The pricing page is a calculator with no per-user list price, so a small consultancy cannot budget from the site alone. Monograph also has less depth than full PSA suites when a firm needs sales pipelines, retainers, or ticketing. For a design-led studio of 5 to 30 people it fits well, but a generalist consultancy should ask for a quote and compare it against the published prices in this list.
6
AAccelo
Best for consultancies that want sales to invoice in one flow
Website: https://www.accelo.com/
Best for: consultancies that want sales to invoice in one flow
Starting price: quote only
Free plan: No
Pros: covers CRM, projects, retainers, and ticketing; strong automation of client work
Cons: no public price and no self-serve trial; evaluation needs a demo and a sales call
Accelo is a full PSA platform that follows client work from the first sales conversation through delivery, retainers, ticketing, and invoicing. That breadth is its main strength: a consultancy can run its pipeline, projects, and billing in one system instead of stitching three tools together. Automated workflows move work between teams, and retainer tracking suits firms that sell ongoing blocks of hours.
The buying process is sales-led. Accelo no longer publishes per-user rates on its own site, and its pricing page routes visitors to a custom quote request. There is no self-serve trial, so a small consultancy should expect a demo first. That puts Accelo at the heavy end of this list, and it fits best when a firm already feels the limits of a simple timer.
7
TTeamwork
Best for client work with budgets and time tracking
Website: https://www.teamwork.com/
Best for: client work with budgets and time tracking
Starting price: $9.99 per user/month (billed annually)
Free plan: Free trial (30 days)
Pros: low entry price with billable time tracking; client users included on plans
Cons: Basics lacks timesheets and invoicing; workload planning needs Accelerate at $24.99
Teamwork Basics costs $9.99 per user per month billed annually, with a three-user minimum, which makes it one of the cheapest entry points in this list. It covers project delivery, client organization, and billable time tracking, and it caps at 300 projects. For a small consultancy that mainly needs organized client work with time attached, Basics covers the daily work at a modest monthly cost.
The limits matter. Basics has no timesheets, no retainer tracking, and no invoicing, so a firm that bills from logged time will need a higher tier or a separate invoicing step. Accelerate at $24.99 per user per month billed annually adds workload planning and more. Check which tier carries the feature you bill from before you pick the headline price.
8
WWorkflowMax
Best for job costing and Xero invoicing
Website: https://www.workflowmax.com/
Best for: job costing and Xero invoicing
Starting price: $7.50 per user/month (billed annually)
Free plan: Free trial (14 days)
Pros: lowest entry price in this list; tight Xero link for invoices and costs
Cons: interface feels dated next to newer tools; reporting depth is thinner than full PSA suites
WorkflowMax starts at $7.50 per user per month billed annually, the lowest published entry price among these ten tools. It covers quoting, time tracking, job costing, and invoicing, and it links closely with Xero, so invoices and costs flow into accounting without re-keying. For a small consultancy already on Xero, that link alone can justify the choice.
The trade-offs are look and depth. The interface feels dated next to newer tools, and reporting is thinner than what Scoro, BigTime, or Kantata provide. A 14-day trial is enough to test the Xero flow and the job costing screens. Firms that want polished dashboards or deep resource planning should look at the higher-priced tools instead.
9
PPaymo
Best for small teams that want time tracking plus invoicing
Website: https://www.paymoapp.com/
Best for: small teams that want time tracking plus invoicing
Starting price: $10.90 per user/month (billed annually)
Free plan: Yes
Pros: free plan for small teams; Plus tier adds invoicing and scheduling at a low price
Cons: Plus rises to $15.90 after 3 months; advanced resource planning sits on higher tiers
Paymo is the only tool in this list with a free plan, which makes it the easiest to start with. The Plus tier costs $10.90 per user per month billed annually and adds invoicing, scheduling, and more reporting, so a small team can track time and bill clients from one place. Time tracking covers timers, timesheets, and a mobile app, and project templates speed up repeat client work.
Read the price note before you budget. Solo costs $5.90 per user per month and rises to $9.90 after 3 months, while Plus at $10.90 rises to $15.90 after 3 months. That means the second quarter costs more than the first, and a 10-person team on Plus moves from $109 to $159 per month. Advanced resource planning sits on higher tiers, so growing firms should check what the next tier adds.
10
HHarvest
Best for simple time tracking and invoicing
Website: https://www.getharvest.com/
Best for: simple time tracking and invoicing
Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)
Free plan: Free trial (30 days)
Pros: fastest setup of the ten; clean invoicing from tracked time
Cons: no built-in CRM or sales pipeline; reporting is lighter than full PSA tools
Harvest Teams costs $9 per user per month billed annually, and it is the simplest tool in this list to start using. A small consultancy can set up clients, projects, and tasks in an afternoon, and staff can log time from a timer, a timesheet, or a mobile app the same day. Invoices build directly from approved time, and expense tracking sits beside the hours so a client bill carries the full cost.
The simplicity is also the limit. Harvest has no built-in CRM or sales pipeline, so client management stays in another tool. Reporting covers the basics, such as time by project and budget against actual, but it is lighter than the dashboards in Scoro or BigTime. For a firm of 5 to 30 people that wants clean time-to-invoice flow without a learning curve, that trade is often the right one.
11
KKantata
Best for larger small firms moving toward full PSA
Website: https://www.kantata.com/
Best for: larger small firms moving toward full PSA
Starting price: quote only
Free plan: No
Pros: deep resource planning and forecasting; strong fit for firms outgrowing simple timers
Cons: quote-only pricing and a sales-led setup; entry cost and onboarding effort exceed what a 5-person firm needs
Kantata is a full PSA platform with deep resource planning, forecasting, and financial reporting. It suits a consultancy that has outgrown a simple timer and now needs to plan who works on what, weeks ahead, and see how that plan affects margin. Project accounting ties time and cost to revenue, so partners can judge which clients and which kinds of work are worth more of the team.
The cost of that depth is a heavier start. Kantata publishes no list price, and buying runs through sales with guided onboarding. A five-person firm will find the setup effort hard to justify, but a firm of 20 to 30 people that already feels capacity pain may find it the right step up from Harvest or Paymo.
What to check before you buy
Start with the billing model, since it decides which tier you land on. If you bill hourly, you need rate tables and approvals. If you bill fixed fees, you need budget tracking against actual hours. If you sell retainers, check that the tier you pick covers retainer tracking, since several entry tiers leave it out. Then check the seat minimum: Scoro needs 5 seats, Teamwork Basics needs 3, and Accelo Core needs 3, so a two-person firm pays for seats it does not use.
Use the table below to match team size to a realistic monthly cost on annual billing. The figures use the entry tier price for each tool and leave out onboarding fees, add-ons, and taxes, so treat them as a starting point and confirm the quote for the four quote-only tools.
Team size
Lowest cost options
Monthly cost on annual billing
5 people
WorkflowMax, Harvest, Paymo Plus
$37.50, $45, $54.50
10 people
WorkflowMax, Harvest, Teamwork Basics
$75, $90, $99.90
20 people
Teamwork Basics, Scoro, BigTime
$199.80, €300, $400
Before you sign, run a trial with real client data. Log a full week of time, approve it, invoice it, and sync it to accounting. If any step needs a workaround, that friction will repeat every week. Confirm the price after any introductory period, since Paymo Plus rises from $10.90 to $15.90 after 3 months. Check the contract term too, since annual billing locks the rate for a year while monthly billing costs more.
FAQ
Which PSA tool is cheapest for a five-person consultancy?
WorkflowMax is cheapest at $7.50 per user per month billed annually, which comes to $37.50 a month for 5 people. Harvest follows at $9, or $45 a month, and Teamwork Basics at $9.99, or $49.95 a month. Paymo Plus costs $54.50 a month for 5 people, and its free plan may cover a very small team. Scoro needs 5 seats at €15, so it starts at €75 a month.
Do small consultancies need a full PSA platform or just a time tracker?
A time tracker is enough when the firm bills simple hourly work and runs accounts elsewhere. Harvest or Paymo covers that case well. A full PSA platform earns its cost when the firm needs quotes, resource planning, retainers, and project profit in one place. Scoro, BigTime, Accelo, and Kantata serve that need, but they cost more and take longer to set up.
How long does setup take for a small consultancy?
Harvest and Paymo can run within a day, since the setup is clients, projects, tasks, and rates. Teamwork and WorkflowMax take a few days when templates, budgets, and client users need care. Scoro, BigTime, and Kantata take longer, because rate tables, approval rules, integrations, and onboarding sessions need planning. Budget a week or more for the full PSA tools.
Can these tools invoice clients from tracked time?
Yes, most of them can, with limits by tier. Harvest, Paymo Plus, BigTime, Scoro, and WorkflowMax build invoices from approved time. Teamwork Basics does not include invoicing, so a firm on that tier bills elsewhere or moves to a higher tier. BQE CORE, Monograph, Accelo, and Kantata include invoicing, but the price and the tier that carries it need a quote.
What should a 10-person consultancy budget per month?
On annual billing, WorkflowMax costs $75 a month, Harvest $90, Teamwork Basics $99.90, and Paymo Plus $109 for 10 people. Scoro costs €150 a month for 10 seats at the entry combination, and BigTime costs $200. Quote-only tools need a sales call before you can budget. Add onboarding fees and add-ons on top, and confirm the price after any introductory period ends.