Top Project Cost Management Software: 2024 Comparison

A big majority of projects go over budget. But this doesn’t have to spell disaster for your business.

With good project cost management software, you’ll be able to get full financial control. Even if your projects go over budget, you’ll know exactly why, when, and how this impacts your profitability.

Without further ado, here’s our selection of the most effective cost management software with time tracking, budgeting, forecasting, and expense management features.

Productive is an all-in-one platform designed to support professional services agencies. The all-in-one means that Productive provides a range of features that support the entire agency lifecycle.

This includes:

Let’s go through the key features in more detail.

Manage billable and non-billable hours with Productive’s time tracking. As a core feature for agencies, it’s important that the time-tracking process is as streamlined as possible. With Productive, you can create time entries manually or using the integrated timer.

There’s also a desktop app that you can download to use the timer widget on Windows or Mac.

You can also leave the time tracking to the project managers to offload your teams. It works by using data from your resource scheduling to create matching entries automatically.

Productive also has a native integration with Google Calendar. Your calendar entries can be converted into time entries and linked to specific projects.

With Productive’s Budgeting, you can build and manage budgets of all types; including time & materials or hourly, fixed-price, and retainer.

For proactive management of potential risk, you can forecast your key agency metrics. You can predict revenue, budget burn, and profit margins during the entire project timeline. If you change your scheduling, these metrics are updated in real time.

There’s also an automated warning system, so you can set up custom alerts to manage budget overrun risk.

Productive also has a revenue recognition system — for fixed budgets, you can also select whether to recognize revenue on a single date or over time.

For cost management, Productive takes into account your overhead and spreads it across standard employee cost rates. This provides insights into actual profit across all projects.

You can also submit and review expenses, identify which need reimbursement, and manage their status.

Productive’s invoicing pulls your budgeting information, whether it’s billable hours or remaining amounts to be billed, to help you quickly create your invoice. You can customize your invoices with various custom fields to add agency-specific information and send it from the platform (you can also change your outbox email address).

You can also create invoices for partial budget amounts or a single invoice for a client you’re providing multiple services to. Productive also offers a Xero and QuickBooks integration, so you can copy invoicing data and take it from there.

Learn more about the importance of business accounting.

To help project managers make data-driven decisions and handle financial risks, you can use Productive’s library of templates or create your report from scratch. Some examples of Productive’s reports include a project progress report, profitability by client, budgets for invoicing, budget usage by client, estimates vs actual hours, and more.

You can use custom fields to add agency-specific parameters. To share your reports, you can create and share custom dashboards or set up automatic sending (to Slack or email) with Productive’s Pulse.

To ensure your tech stack is well-integrated, Productive offers a range of options. Some include Xero and QuickBooks for accounting; Slack, Google Calendar, and Memtime for collaboration and timetracking; Breathe and BambooHR for HR management; HubSpot, Jira, Zapier, and many more.

Productive offers a 14-day free trial, so check it out to see what the platform can do for your business.

Toggl Track is a timesheet software for creative agencies, design teams, lawyers, and consultancies.

Key features:

Users of Toggl Track find it to be a streamlined and easy-to-use tool. There’s a free plan for up to five users with essential time-tracking features, but for advanced project cost management, you’ll need to invest in the premium plan. While Toggl Track is a great free option, there are comparable platforms that can offer more bang for your buck. The reporting and collaboration features, for example, are limited.

Harvest is a management software designed to help teams manage multiple projects in client services businesses.

Key features:

While Harvest has a solid range of solutions, its biggest downside is that it doesn’t offer task management in the traditional sense, so you’ll need to combine it with a task-oriented tool (for example, check out some of these Harvest alternatives). Additionally, Harvest’s resource scheduling and utilization are offered as part of a separate tool, Harvest Forecast. This can bloat your tech stack and lead to less unified and comprehensive data.

Hubstaff is a productivity management software solution for various industries, including professional services, e-commerce, real estate, and more.

Key features:

While Hubstaff can give real-time insights into team productivity and hours, it comes at the expense of dissatisfied employees. Many user reviews state that the tool can be disruptive to their workflows and feel invasive.

Source: G2

So, if you’re looking for a simple billable hour tracker, there are better options on this list.

Time Doctor is a workforce analytics platform for fully remote, in-office, or hybrid teams for agencies and technology providers.

Key features:

Similarly to Hubstaff, Time Doctor can provide real-time visibility into employee productivity and activity. It provides a fair bit of integrations, including Asana, ClickUp, monday.com, and more. However, users feel idle alerts and screenshots are generally too frequent. Other than this, some users reported performance issues and issues with synchronization across apps, which can lead to data loss.

Avaza is a work management software for team collaboration, productivity, and financial performance management.

Key features:

Avaza offers a solid range of tools for managing the entire project lifecycle. As for downsides, users usually mention issues with user-friendliness and design. Overall, it’s a solid choice, though you should check out some Avaza competitors to see which additional features they can offer, for example, no-code automations, Docs, sales CRM, etc.

Netsuite is one of the most popular examples of ERP accounting systems. It’s designed to support a variety of industries, from retail and manufacturing to professional services.

Key features:

Since Netsuite takes a modular approach, where users can mix and match which features they want, implementation can take longer than with an out-of-the-box tool. Additionally, the license can be pricey and tends to get even more expensive as your organization grows. If you can overlook these factors, Netsuite can be a good pick for business management and informed decisions.

Otherwise, check out some alternatives — we have a guide on QuickBooks vs Netsuite.

Everhour is a timesheet and billable hours app for teams of five or more people.

Key features:

Everhour can be a good addition to your tech stack. It provides a range of integrations with other productivity and project management software, such as Trello, ClickUp, Jira, Asana, and more. However, implementing a tool that comes with comprehensive features can be more time and cost-effective. Users particularly note a need for more robust project management and permissions controls.

Wrike is a PSA software solution that helps project managers and their teams get successful project delivery.

Key features:

Wrike does many things well, and it can be a fine choice for handling various aspects of project management. It also has a free version for unlimited users, which can be a great choice for startups and smaller teams. However, for project budget and financial management, you’ll have to get the most expensive plan. If we compare Wrike vs Productive, Productive offers budgeting within its starter plan.

Timely is an AI-powered time-tracking and appointment management software.

Key features:

Timely’s main selling point is that it tracks your time for you. However, this can also be a downside, as there are situations where this doesn’t work, for example, for calls or while sharing the screen during a meeting. As Timely offers a wide range of integrations, it can be a solid addition to your existing tech stack.

BigTime is a management software that supports project outcomes in professional services organizations.

Key features:

BigTime can be a solid option for agencies. It provides a fair range of features to ensure sustainable project finances and project success. For some downsides, users mention some issues with the billing and reporting capabilities. Additionally, the software is slightly pricier than comparable BigTime alternatives on the market.

Otherwise, check out some competitors — we have a guide on QuickBooks vs Netsuite.

Teamwork is another professional services management software for successful project delivery and team productivity.

Key features:

While Teamwork can be considered comprehensive software for real-time updates on projects and business financials, there are some features that only Teamwork alternatives can improve. For example, Teamwork doesn’t offer a sales CRM for sales revenue forecasting; it only includes a QuickBooks integration for invoicing, and many advanced features are only in the highest-paid plans.

Project cost management software is designed to help organizations plan, manage, and control project costs and monitor potential risks. It’s designed to ensure successful project outcomes and sustainable business operations with a mix of features, including: budgeting, financial forecasting, overhead management, revenue recognition, and real-time reporting. Integrations with popular project accounting tools are also important for a seamless cost management process.

Key features of cost management tools usually include:

Another thing to consider is a system that integrates well with other essential parts of your workflows, such as the sales process and project management. Find out more about the RevOps model and how to implement it in your business.

To find your best project cost tracking software, you’ll need to consider several factors. The first is the feature set, which should include some form of budgeting, billing, and reporting. Another is who the tool is designed for. Some software is tailored for general use across a wide variety of features, while others are tailor-made for professional services. Additionally, consider ease of use and customer support, as this has a big impact on implementation success and adoption.

You can also check out our article of the best forecasting software.

There’s no shortage of options for software with cost-management features and expense-tracking capabilities. You can go with a time tracking or employee monitoring tool, such as Toggl or Time Doctor.

Or, you can invest in a comprehensive solution that marries multiple capabilities in one platform. For professional services agencies, one of the best options is Productive.

Productive provides comprehensive project management combined with budgeting, resource planning, and reporting features. Book a demo today to find out what it can do for your business.

1. How does project cost management software support budget planning and forecasting?

Project cost management software supports budget planning by allowing project managers to gather financial data, create detailed plans, and make informed business decisions. By analyzing historical data and predicting future costs, this software enhances forecasting and allows for proactive risk management. This also helps control budget overrun.

2. What are the benefits of using project cost management software?

The benefits of using project cost management software include better financial planning and management, more reliable and timely data, better strategic planning, and improved risk control and change management. Project cost management tools can also streamline processes to improve efficiency.

3. What types of businesses use project cost management software?

Businesses across various industries use project cost management software. This includes construction, IT, consulting, manufacturing, retail, and professional services. It’s especially useful for agencies that are working on multiple client projects.

4. What are some popular project cost management software tools?

Popular project cost management software include all-in-one professional services tools such as Productive, a billable hours tracker such as Toggl Track, or employee productivity management tools such as Hubstaff and Time Doctor.