Best Time Tracking Software for CPA Firms

Website: https://toggl.com

Best for: Simple timers and billable rates

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: One-click timer staff actually use; billable rates and project estimates on Starter

Cons: Timesheet approvals and profitability reports need Premium at $16 per user/month; free plan covers only a small group

Toggl Track is the simplest tool in this list, and that is its main strength for a CPA firm. Staff start a timer with one click in the browser, on the desktop, or on a phone, and the entry syncs across devices. Idle detection flags time when the timer kept running with no computer activity, and calendar integrations can turn meetings into time entries. Reports break hours down by client, project, member, and tag, which is the view a partner needs before billing.

The Starter plan at $9 per user per month on annual billing adds billable rates, project estimates, and team reports, which covers the core billing workflow for most small firms. Premium at $16 per user per month on annual billing adds timesheet approvals, labor costs, profitability reports, fixed-fee projects, and single sign-on. The gap to watch is invoicing: Toggl Track does not send invoices itself, so the firm exports time data or connects another billing tool.

Website: https://www.getharvest.com

Best for: Time tracking plus invoicing for client work

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Invoicing and expense tracking built in; QuickBooks and Xero integrations

Cons: Usage fees apply on top of the seat price once included allowances are passed; profitability reporting needs Enterprise at $14 per seat/month

Harvest pairs time tracking with invoicing in one place, which suits a CPA firm that bills clients from tracked hours. Staff log time with one-click timers or weekly timesheets, add expenses with receipts, and the firm turns approved hours into polished invoices. Integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, and Stripe move invoices and payments into the accounting system, and project estimates let a manager forecast hours and cost before an engagement starts.

The pricing needs a close read. Teams starts at $9 per seat per month on annual billing and Enterprise at $14, but the seat price is a base rate, and Harvest adds usage fees once an account passes its included invoices, projects, clients, and tasks. Harvest does not publish the per-unit usage amounts, so the seat price alone does not show what a firm will pay. Enterprise adds profitability reporting, timesheet approvals, an activity log, custom exports, and single sign-on. The free plan covers one seat and two projects, which fits a solo CPA testing the workflow.

Website: https://clockify.me

Best for: Lowest cost tracking for small firms

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

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free plan covers up to 5 users; Standard adds invoicing, approvals, and QuickBooks sync at $5.49

Cons: Billable rates need Basic; free plan reports cover at most 31 days at a time

Clockify is the budget pick in this list, and it does not feel stripped down at the entry level. The free plan covers up to 5 users with unlimited time entries, projects, timers, and reporting, which is enough for a small CPA firm to run real client work. Basic at $3.99 per user per month on annual billing adds billable rates, CSV and Excel export, shared reports, and time estimates. Standard at $5.49 adds invoicing, recurring invoices, timesheet approval, locked timesheets, time off, rounding, task rates, and a QuickBooks integration.

That Standard tier is the one most CPA firms should price, since invoicing and approvals are core to billing discipline. Pro at $7.99 adds expenses, budgets, labor cost and profit, scheduling, and forecasting. The limits to note are that every active or invited user on the team page occupies a seat once the workspace upgrades, and the free plan reports cover at most 31 days at a time, so year-end reporting needs a higher tier or regular exports.

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

Best for: Firms already on QuickBooks Online

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

Free plan: No, Free trial (30 days)

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

Cons: Requires a QuickBooks Online subscription on top; no free plan and Elite features cost more

QuickBooks Time makes sense when the firm already runs QuickBooks Online, because time, payroll, and invoicing share one system. Staff track time in the Workforce app or at a time kiosk, managers approve timesheets, and the hours flow into payroll and client invoices without retyping. Premium includes scheduling, GPS location tracking, time off management, alerts, photo attachments, and customizable reports. Elite adds mileage tracking, geofencing, project tracking, project estimates against actual hours, a project activity feed, and timesheet signatures.

Pricing uses a base fee plus a per-user fee. Premium is $20 per month plus $10 per user per month, and Elite is $40 per month plus $12 per user per month, with the base fee including one admin. A QuickBooks Online subscription is required on top, so a firm should add that cost before comparing QuickBooks Time with a standalone tracker.

Website: https://karbonhq.com

Best for: Full practice management for accounting firms

Starting price: $59 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: No

Pros: Built for accounting firms with workflow, email, documents, billing, and client portal in one place; time and budgets tied to engagements

Cons: Highest starting price in this list; no self-serve free trial, only guided sessions

Karbon is the only tool in this list built from the ground up for accounting firms, and it shows in how time tracking connects to the rest of the practice. Time and budget reporting sit beside workflow, email triage, team collaboration, client management, document storage, billing, payments, and engagement letters, so hours flow from a task to a budget to an invoice without leaving the system. The client portal lets clients share documents and complete tasks in one place, and task automation on the Business plan chases client reminders without staff effort.

Team costs $59 per user per month on annual billing, or $79 on monthly billing, and Business costs $89 on annual billing, or $99 monthly, with Enterprise on custom pricing. Monthly billing is available only for teams of four or more. There is no self-serve free trial; instead the firm books a guided session using sample firm data. Everyone who needs access has their own login at the standard rate, with no reduced tier for part-time or seasonal staff, though archiving a seasonal user credits the unused part of the license.

Website: https://www.timesolv.com

Best for: Time and billing with trust accounting roots

Starting price: $49 per user/month

Free plan: No, Free trial (10 days)

Pros: Built for professional services billing with matter budgets and custom fields; QuickBooks and Xero integrations

Cons: Starting price is high for a tracker without practice workflow; plan prices beyond the entry rate are not published on the pricing page

TimeSolv is a time and billing system built for professional services firms, and its roots are in legal billing, which shares much of the discipline a CPA firm needs. Time entries tie to matters and clients, matter budgets track progress against plan, custom fields capture the detail a firm bills on, and document management keeps work papers close to the time record. Integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, Outlook, and Microsoft 365 move time and billing data into the tools a firm already runs. The Legal plan adds a conflict check, calendaring, and task management for firms with legal work alongside accounting.

TimeSolv pricing starts at $49 per user per month, according to the pricing page FAQ, with volume pricing available for larger firms. A free trial runs for 10 days with no credit card required. The pricing page does not publish the full plan ladder in its rendered text, so a firm should ask sales for the Legal plan rate and any volume discount before budgeting.

Website: https://www.bill4time.com

Best for: Time and billing with a client portal

Starting price: $39 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: No, Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Time and Billing plan includes invoicing, expenses, documents, and QuickBooks integration; 14-day trial needs no card

Cons: Legal features need the Legal Pro plan at $59 per user per month; no free plan for small firms

Bill4Time is a time and billing tool for professional firms that want the billing workflow included rather than bolted on. The Time and Billing plan covers time tracking, task and client management, a client portal, expense management, accounting, invoicing, invoice templates, payment processing, reporting, document management, a mobile app, QuickBooks integration, calendar sync, and encrypted backup. Staff log time against clients and matters, managers review the entries, and the firm invoices from the same record.

The entry plan costs $39 per user per month on annual billing, with up to 25 percent saved against monthly billing. Time and Billing Enterprise costs $69 per user per month on annual billing and adds custom fields, a dedicated account manager, and advanced imports and reports. Legal Pro at $59 adds trust accounting, a conflict checker, contingency billing, task workflows, and LEDES export for firms with legal billing needs. A 14-day free trial needs no credit card.

Website: https://www.bigtime.net

Best for: Project accounting and utilization for growing firms

Starting price: $20 per user/month

Free plan: No

Pros: Essentials includes time, expenses, invoicing, and QuickBooks integration; Premier adds multi-currency invoicing and Sage Intacct and Lacerte links

Cons: No free plan and no free trial shown on the pricing page; Advanced and Premier prices are not published

BigTime is a professional services platform that starts with time and expense tracking and grows into project accounting. Essentials includes time and expense management, project portfolio management, billing and invoicing, automatic reconciliation, rate management, approvals, a mobile app, a standard report library, and QuickBooks and HubSpot integrations. That core covers the billing workflow for a growing CPA firm, with utilization and availability reports showing where staff hours go during busy season.

Essentials starts at $20 per user per month. Advanced adds multi-currency expense management, a custom reports center, project templates, custom invoice templates, and Salesforce and Jira integrations. Premier adds multi-currency invoicing, custom cost and rate management, project budgeting, multi-level approvals, and Sage Intacct and Lacerte integrations, which matter to firms running those accounting systems. The pricing page does not publish Advanced or Premier rates, and it shows no free plan or free trial, so a firm should get a quote for those tiers before planning a rollout.