Best Billable Time Tracking Software for Consultants

Website: https://www.getharvest.com/

Best for: Simple billable hours and client invoicing

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: No, Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Clean timer with billable rates per project; invoices built from tracked time

Cons: No free plan; project budgeting detail is limited on the Teams plan

Harvest is a natural fit for consultants who bill by the hour and want the path from timer to invoice to stay short. You set a billable rate for each project, start the timer, and Harvest turns those hours into an invoice with the client, project and rate already attached. The Teams plan costs $9 per user per month when billed annually, and the Enterprise plan costs $14 per user per month on the same billing cycle.

Expense capture sits beside time tracking, so travel, software and other client costs can sit on the same invoice as the hours. Reports show billable against non-billable time, which helps consultants see how much of the week actually earns revenue. The main limits are the lack of a free plan and the thinner budgeting detail on Teams, so larger firms that need deep project accounting may need the Enterprise plan or a separate finance tool.

Website: https://toggl.com/track/

Best for: Fast timer with billable rates

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Very fast timer with a free plan; billable rates per project and client

Cons: No built-in invoicing; reporting depth is limited on the Starter plan

Toggl Track keeps the act of tracking time as light as possible, which matters for consultants who switch between clients all day. The timer runs in the browser, on desktop and on mobile, and each entry can carry a project, a client and a billable rate. The Starter plan costs $9 per user per month when billed annually, and a free plan covers basic tracking for up to five users.

The reporting shows billable hours, billable amounts and non-billable time by client, so a consultant can spot a client that takes many hours for little revenue. The main gap is invoicing, since Toggl Track does not build invoices from tracked time on its own, so consultants usually pair it with an accounting tool. Starter also limits some report formats, which may push growing firms to a higher plan.

Website: https://clockify.me/

Best for: Low cost tracking for solo consultants

Starting price: $3.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free plan with unlimited tracking and billable rates; lowest starting price here

Cons: Invoicing and expenses need a higher plan; no client portal on Basic

Clockify is the lowest cost option in this list, with a Basic plan at $3.99 per user per month when billed annually and a free plan that includes unlimited time tracking. Solo consultants can set hourly rates, mark entries billable or non-billable, and see the billable value of each project without spending anything at first. That makes it a sensible starting point for a new practice.

The trade is that invoicing and expenses sit on higher plans, so a consultant on Basic will export time reports and build invoices elsewhere. There is also no client portal, so clients cannot log in to review hours directly. For a solo consultant or a small team that mainly needs accurate billable records, those limits are easy to live with at this price.

Website: https://www.paymoapp.com/

Best for: Time, expenses and invoicing in one tool

Starting price: $10.90 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Time, expenses and invoicing in one place; client rates per project

Cons: Plus price rises to $15.90 after three months; interface takes time to learn

Paymo covers the full billing cycle for consultants: track time, add expenses, then turn both into an invoice without leaving the tool. The Plus plan costs $10.90 per user per month when billed annually, but the vendor states that the price rises to $15.90 per user per month after the first three months. The Solo plan starts at $5.90 and rises to $9.90 after three months, so consultants should read the pricing page closely before they commit.

Each project can carry its own hourly rate, and task lists sit beside the timer, which helps consultants who manage delivery as well as billing. The free plan covers basic time tracking for one user. The interface packs in a lot, so new users should expect a short learning period before the workflow feels natural.

Website: https://timelyapp.com/

Best for: Automatic time capture

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: No, Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Automatic capture of work across apps; billable rates with capacity views

Cons: No free plan; Starter plan limits capacity planning features

Timely takes a different approach by recording work automatically from the apps a consultant uses, then asking the consultant to confirm which blocks were billable. That helps consultants who forget to start a timer, since the record of the day is already there. The Starter plan costs $9 per user per month when billed annually, and there is no free plan, only a 14 day trial.

Billable rates apply per project, and managers can see planned against actual hours, which helps a small consultancy balance client work across the team. The Starter plan limits some capacity planning features, so firms that want detailed resource views may need a higher plan. Timely suits consultants who want the record built for them rather than relying on manual timers all day.

Website: https://everhour.com/

Best for: Reporting inside Asana, Trello and ClickUp

Starting price: $8.50 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: No, Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Time tracking inside project tools; clear billable reports per client

Cons: No free plan; no native invoicing built in

Everhour adds time tracking directly inside tools such as Asana, Trello, ClickUp, Basecamp and GitHub, so consultants can track hours without leaving the board where the work already lives. The plan costs $8.50 per user per month when billed annually, and there is no free plan, only a 14 day trial. Billable rates, budgets and cost tracking all sit inside those project views.

Reports break hours down by client, project and team member, and show billable value against budget, which helps a consultant catch a project that is drifting over its agreed hours. The main gap is invoicing, since Everhour does not create invoices on its own and relies on exports or integrations for billing. It fits best where the project tool is already the centre of daily work.

Website: https://www.bqe.com/

Best for: Project accounting for larger firms

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No, Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Deep project accounting with billing rules; time and expenses in one system

Cons: No public list price; setup can be heavy for a solo consultant

BQE CORE is built for professional services firms that need time tracking tied to project accounting, billing rules and performance reports. Consultants can track billable and non-billable hours, capture expenses, and apply billing rules per client or project, with the accounting view showing which projects earn money and which do not. The vendor does not publish a list price, so the pricing page asks for a quote, and a 14 day trial is available.

That depth is the main strength and the main drawback. A larger consultancy with several teams will use the accounting and billing features fully, while a solo consultant may find the setup heavier than a simple timer. Firms should ask for a quote early and check what the quoted price includes before they plan a switch.

Website: https://monograph.com/

Best for: Architecture and design consultancies

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No, Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Built for design firms with project budgets; clean time and billing views

Cons: No public list price; less suited to consulting outside design fields

Monograph is made for architecture and design firms, and its time tracking, project budgets and billing views reflect that focus. Consultants in those fields can track hours against project phases, see budget burn by phase, and keep billing tied to the same project record. The vendor pricing page is a calculator with no per-user list price, so Monograph is quote only, and a 14 day trial is available.

The focus on design work is also its limit. A general management consultant or an IT consultant may find the project structure less natural than a general tool such as Harvest or Toggl Track. For an architecture or interior design consultancy, though, the phase based budgets and the clean billing views match how those firms already work.

Website: https://www.workflowmax.com/

Best for: Job costing with Xero

Starting price: $7.50 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: No, Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Job costing and quoting tied to time; strong Xero integration

Cons: No free plan; reporting is thinner than dedicated accounting tools

WorkflowMax, from BlueRock, combines job management, quoting, time tracking and invoicing for service firms. Consultants can quote a job, track billable time against it, and invoice from the same record, with costs flowing through to Xero for accounting. The plan costs $7.50 per user per month when billed annually, and there is no free plan, only a 14 day trial.

The Xero link is the key reason to choose it, since time, quotes and invoices stay in step with the accounts. The reporting is thinner than a dedicated accounting system, so firms that need deep financial reports will still lean on Xero for that view. For a consultancy already running on Xero, WorkflowMax adds job costing without a second accounting system.

Website: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/time-tracking/

Best for: Time tracking with QuickBooks payroll

Starting price: $20 per month base plus $10 per user/month

Free plan: No, Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Time flows into QuickBooks payroll and invoicing; GPS and scheduling included

Cons: No free plan; cost rises fast as the team grows

QuickBooks Time, formerly TSheets, records employee and contractor hours and sends them into QuickBooks for payroll and invoicing. The Premium plan costs $20 per month as a base fee plus $10 per user per month, and there is no free plan, only a 30 day trial. Consultants who run a team of billable staff can track hours by client and job, then invoice those hours from QuickBooks.

GPS tracking, scheduling and time off requests come with the plan, which suits firms with staff on client sites. The cost model is the main thing to watch, since the base fee plus the per user fee adds up for a larger team, and the value depends on already using QuickBooks. For a QuickBooks firm, the link between hours, payroll and invoices is the main draw.