Best Time Tracking Software for Consultants (With/Without Activity Tracking)
In this guide, we’ll examine all types of time tracking software for consultants.
From browser extensions to all-in-one software, we’ll list their key features and gather key user testimonials to explore benefits and downsides.
Also, we’ll pay special attention to whether it includes activity tracking, and how, to help you decide on the best option for efficient consulting time tracking.
List of Time Tracking Software for Consultants
- Productive – best all-in-one time tracking for consultants
- Paymo – project management tool for small businesses
- Toggl Track – user-friendly time tracking software
- ClickUp – flexible work management tool
- TimeCamp – time tracking and attendance management
- Hubstaff – time management with activity tracking
- Harvest – free time tracker for consultants
- RescueTime – consultant time sheet software
- actiTime – consultant time tracking and time off
- EverHour – consultant time tracker with integrations
- FreshBooks – time tracking and billing software for consultants
- Timeneye – extension-based consulting time tracker
- Time Doctor – tool with robust productivity monitoring
- Timing – Mac native consultant time tracking app
- DeskTime – activity consultant time tracking software
1. Productive – Best All-in-One Time Tracking for Consultants
Productive is a comprehensive tool for time tracking and billable hours management for consulting firms.
Productive doesn’t include employee productivity tracking and monitoring, but instead uses notifications to ensure that employees update their entries regularly.
The good thing about the tool is that having everything integrated in the same platform gives us a 360 view of how the company is performing regarding resources, efficiency, profitability. It helps the managers to self-manage, and allows us to have an immediate view of our resources, the project timing
Learn how Productive helps a business consulting firm optimize operations.
With Productive, you can build and manage fixed, hourly, or retainer budgets, track time in different ways, create and send invoices, and get detailed reports.
Productive’s all-in-one capabilities include include advanced features for managing business operations, including CRM and sales pipeline management, long-term resource planning and forecasting.
This makes Productive a great option for consulting firms that want to reduce their tech stack and manage workflows from a single platform.
Try Productive’s project time tracking features
Time Tracking
While time tracking is a core activity for a businesses like a consultancy, this doesn’t mean that it’s always easy to implement best practices.
With Productive, you can handle your time management in the way you most prefer. This includes:
- A built-in timer that can be started directly from tasks (and a desktop widget)
- Manual entry for teams that prefer to retroactively record entries
- Automatic time tracking feature that creates matching entires based on resource scheduling
Productive also includes a Google Calendar integration, so that scheduled events can be turned into time entries and associated with a client project.
Tracking time from tasks automatically links relevant information with the entry
For project managers, the benefits of Productive include the ability to approve entries individually or in bulk. This also means that it’s easier to request changes on a specific entry, rather than having to flag the entire timesheet for editing.
To maintain data accuracy for tracked time, timesheets can be set to be locked at a specified point in time.
Monitor entries across employees with a weekly timesheet
Billing
Productive includes integrated Invoicing, so that invoices can be created and sent directly from the platform.
Invoices pull information from your budgets or time tracking, depending on your specific billing model.
With Productive’s invoicing, you can:
- Create branded invoices
- Consolidate invoicing for different services (but one client) into a single invoice
- Manage tax rates for multiple subsidiaries and get multi-currency support
- Automate invoicing reminders to clients
- Automatically generate invoice drafts if budgeting conditions are met
You can also view you invoicing reports for a quick overview of amounts already invoiced, left for invoicing, and overdue amounts.
I can see that invoices are going out, and I know that every project has been completed. Everything links together, and you can be sure you correctly service everything and haven’t lost any revenue.
Budgeting
With Productive’s Budgeting, you can set up your billable rates and create rate cards. This information can also be used to create proposals and send them to your potential consulting clients. Learn more about Productive’s CRM features.
Then, once a deal is won and a project needs to be kicked off, you can create and manage your project budget from the platform.
Productive includes real-time budget monitoring, so you can see how time tracking and hourly rates impact your budget burn and profitability.
For even more accurate profitability management, you can turn on Productive’s overhead calculations, or log external expenses against your budgets.
Get extensive reporting on your budgets
Reporting
Productive’s Reporting features include data from all your platform activities, including time tracking, budgeting, resource planning, and more.
Productive offers templates for different types of essential business reports, such as profitability by client, budget usage by client, estimated vs actual hours worked, a comprehensive project progress report, open and closed tasks by project, and more.
Productive’s reporting is designed to be flexible to account for different types of project needs.
Reports can be created from scratch and customized with different grouping and filtering options, visualizations, and custom formulas.
To share reports, they can be exported, added to custom dashboards within Productive, or scheduled to be sent to email or Slack.
Get detailed reports on time analytics and optimize future projects
Time Off Management
With Productive’s Time Off Management, you can manage time off categories and employee requests through the platform.
Managers can also define different categories of leave, and assign these categories and allot a specific numbers of days to employees.
Approved time off is immediately visible in Productive’s resource planner, making resource planning more efficient with better availability oversight.
Productive also offers a wide range of HRM integrations, including CharlieHR, BambooHR, HiBob, Justworks, Breathe, and many more.
Files can also be attached to the requests to simplify administrative work
Projects & Tasks
Productive’s Project Management includes multiple projects views for managing progress, including Kanban, Gantt, List, and Calendar.
SOurce: Manage client projects and tasks
Task management includes task dependencies, subtasks, and to-dos to break up your work into manageable chunks. Project managers can assign employees to tasks, update statuses, and leave comments in the comment field to keep everyone on track.
Some additional features for consulting firms include Docs for real-time documentation, which can be handy for managing research and plans.
The Client Portal can be used for working with clients within your workspace, so that they can view your progress, comment on tasks, and more, depending on user permissions.
Resource Planning
Productive’s Resource Planning allows businesses to manage their consulting staff with a high-level overview of capacity and availability.
For a consulting firm that works on multiple projects at the same time, and need to manage a larger workforce, maintaining a resource plan is crucial to preventing bottlenecks and overutilization.
With Productive, you can view your billable and non-billable hours worked per employee to assess productivity and efficiency.
Additionally, project profitability, budget burn, and utilization can be forecasted based on your current scheduling.
Balance workload and ensure optimal utilization
Integrations
Productive offers seamless integrations with HR, accounting, and collaboration tools.
Integrations include Slack, Google Calendar, and Outlook for scheduling and updates; Xero and QuickBooks for accounting; BambooHR, Breathe, Humaans.io for HRM; Memtime for time tracking; and more.
Pricing
- Plans start with the Essential plan at $9 per user per month, which includes essential features such as budgeting, project & task management, docs, time tracking, expense management, reporting, and time off management.
- The Professional plan includes custom fields, recurring budgets, advanced reports, billable time approvals, and many more for $24 per user per month.
- The Ultimate plan has everything that the Essential plan and Professional plan offer, along with the HubSpot integration, advanced forecasting, advanced custom fields, overhead calculations, and more for $32 per user per month.
You can also try Productive with a free trial.
Track Time for Consulting Projects With Productive
Switch from multiple tools and spreadsheets to an all-in-one software for time management, billing, resourcing, and reporting.
2. Paymo – Project Management for Small Businesses
Paymo is a project management tool for professional services businesses, including marketing agencies, engineering, and consulting firms. It’s best suited to smaller businesses, and offers a free version with a limited project and client number.
Key features:
- Web timer and automatic time tracking
- Detailed timesheets
- Leave planner and resource scheduling
- Generate and export invoices
- No activity tracking features
SOurce: paymo
Paymo can be a good option for a professional services time tracking solution, as it has a solid range of features for customizing how exactly you want to manage the process, including manual entry (with bulk editing), a built-in clock, and automatic tracking.
Users report some issues connected to Paymo’s mobile app and project management features. Additionally, Paymo is best suited to smaller businesses, so larger and growing companies might not find it robust enough for all their daily needs.
The mobile app, while functional, feels slightly less polished compared to the desktop version, and certain features, like time tracking, can be a bit cumbersome to use on smaller screens. The lack of subtask feature is a big issue for managing complex projects.
Source: Capterra
3. Toggl Track – User-Friendly Time Tracking Software
Toggl Track is a specialized time tracking app. Toggl also provides a separate app for resource scheduling and task management, Toggl Plan.
Key features:
- Mobile and desktop apps
- Outlook and Google Calendar integration
- Time-based reporting
- Schedule reporting to email
- No activity tracking features
SOurce: toggl track
Users report that Toggl Track is fairly simple to use, with a user friendly and clean interface. Multiple users also mention enjoying the free version of the software.
Toggl Track does time tracking well, but doesn’t include some other features that a growing business needs, such as resource planning or advanced budget management. Some users find this as a notable downside compared to all-in-one tools.
With a little research, you’ll find plenty of other time-tracking solutions out there, including ones that are directly integrated into your invoicing or project management software. Toggl is expensive for what you get.
Source: G2
4. ClickUp – Flexible Work Management Tool
ClickUp is a flexible work management software with use cases for businesses of all shapes and sizes. ClickUp supports productivity with goal tracking, but doesn’t monitor real-time activity.
Key features:
- Time tracker with Chrome extension
- Integration with third party time trackers
- Agile project management features
- Docs and whiteboards
- No activity tracking features
SOurce: clickup
While ClickUp’s not a specialized software for time tracking, it has the basic necessary features to help businesses with time entry management. It’s also suitable as a productivity management app or project management software, which can make it a good choice for consultancies looking for a mix of the two.
ClickUp is lacking in its invoicing features. There’s an invoicing template you can use, but the process overall is like managing a glorified spreadsheet. So, you’ll need a separate budgeting and billing software.
The abundance of customisation in general drives me nuts. Today I spent quite some time trying to find a way to customize the task properties on the task screen and… I gave up. There is so many customisable things that when I really need to customize something I find myself lost.
Source: G2
5. TimeCamp – Time Tracking and Attendance Management
TimeCamp is a time tracking and attendance management software for teams and businesses of all sizes. This includes construction companies, consultants, software development companies, professional services agencies, and more.
Key features:
- Online time tracker
- Invoicing with Xero and QB integrations
- Productivity monitoring
- Attendance management
- Activity tracking features
SOurce: timecamp
TimeCamp is another specialized software for managing employee time. It can also support your invoicing by generating them from billable hours. For productivity management, TimeCamp can track app usage and time spent. Business managers can also set and monitor employee goals.
TimeCamp is a lesser known solution than some of the other time tracking software on this list. As some of the downsides, user note that the platform can be a little clunky and buggy, and that the customer support is not always responsive.
6. Hubstaff – Time Management With Activity Tracking
Hubstaff is a time tracking, billing, and productivity tracking software for industries of various types. Their customer profile includes professions from architects and consultants to cleaners and construction professionals.
Key features:
- Time tracking app and reporting
- Project cost management
- Payroll and billing
- Integrations with other project management tools
- Activity tracking features
SOurce: hubstaff
Users find Hubstaff’s time tracking solutions to be overall reliable. In general, they also comment that the software is easy to use and understand. Tracking is also reported to be accurate.
As a productivity tracking software, Hubstaff has pretty robust activity trackers. Some users can find this very invasive to their workflows, which can make the software unpopular among employees. Users that don’t mind the productivity tracking features can, on the other hand, find its implementation to be inefficient:
Oftentimes when running Hubstaff, it takes a long time to ask me to share my screen. I’d prefer if it asks me immediately so I can be transparent with my employer. I start work immediately when starting the timer, and so once I’m focused on work, I can miss the notification to share my screen. If that notification came immediately, that wouldn’t be an issue, and my employer would see every screenshot of my work.
Source: G2
7. Harvest – Free Time Tracker for Consultants
Harvest is a time tracking and invoicing software for advertising, architecture, consulting, and construction firms. Harvest also offers a separate tool for forecasting with Harvest Forecast.
Key features:
- Simple timesheets with online timer
- Calendar integration
- Custom reminders and notifications
- Invoice creation and accounting integrations
- No activity tracking
SOurce: harvest
Harvest is a fairly streamlined software solution for accurate time tracking and invoicing. It doesn’t offer additional features such as productivity tracking or time off management, but its simplicity can make it suitable for smaller businesses and teams.
I wanted something new—smart and efficient—that would suit a small team while covering the fundamental needs we cared about.
Source: G2
Harvest’s time tracking and timesheet views have some quirks: For example, the lack of an integrated view on full-time employee and contractor time tracking data can make time management and analytics more complicated; find out more in our Harvest review.
It needs to improve its ability to generate customized reports. Sometimes, we run into limitations when we want to customize reports to fit our needs exactly
Source: Capterra
8. RescueTime – Consultant Time Sheet Software
RescueTime is a web-based cons timesheets software solution. It offers a trial with a scaled-down, free version of the software.
Key features:
- Timesheet automation
- Drag-and-drop functionalities
- Integration with Google Calendar
- Activity tracking and app monitoring
SOurce: rescuetime
Users, such as project managers, report that they enjoy using RescueTime to track and record their own efficiency. The software works in the background, so it’s not intrusive or frustrating to manage.
Otherwise, RescueTime’s website doesn’t offer many information on the tool’s features. This includes pricing, so you won’t be able to find out a lot without getting in touch with their team or creating an account.
RescueTime has an overall low rating on G2, though Capterra reviews are more positive.
9. actiTime – Consultant Time Tracking and Time Off
actiTime is another time tracker that offers a comprehensive set of features for managing employee time off, workloads, billable hours, and invoicing.
Key features:
- Web timesheets and calendar time cards
- Chrome extension for activity logging
- Billing rates and invoicing
- Basic leave and workload management
SOurce: actitime
There are not many features that set actiTime apart from other software with digital timesheets and functionalities for accurate time tracking, so it’s difficult to pass any specific judgement on it.
One thing to mention is that actiTime has a strong stance against activity tracking:
We would like to clear up a common misconception—actiTIME isn’t about spying on employees. It’s built for companies that trust their teams and want to manage projects, track progress, and control budgets more effectively.
Source: Reddit
As for some negative reviews, multiple users on Capterra and G2 mention that actiTime doesn’t have the most user friendly interface. Other users find issue with the lack of activity and location tracking features, though for many consultancies this level of monitoring will be unecessary.
10. EverHour – Consultant Time Tracker With Integrations
EverHour is a time tracking app that can be used as a standalone product, or integrated with a variety of other tools, such as Asana, Basecamp, ClickUp, Monday, Jira, ClickUp or FreshBooks.
Key features:
- Employee records management
- Task and project management
- Time and progress-based reporting
- Budgeting and billing
- Activity tracking features
SOurce: everhour
As part of its activity tracking features, you can enable and install a specific Screenshots app that will allow the software to capture screenshots. EverHour also includes clock-in tracking features so that project managers can monitor remote employees.
As one of EverHour’s limitation, multiple users mention that the built-in reports aren’t good enough for their needs. Some users also have issues with the design of the reports once they’re exported.
11. FreshBooks – Time Tracking and Billing Software for Consultants
FreshBooks is an accounting software with time tracking and client communication features. FreshBooks is designed for small businesses, accountants, and freelancers.
Key features:
- Accounting and expense tracking
- Accurate billing and payments
- Projects and team collaboration
- Online timer for desktop and mobile
- No activity tracking
SOurce: freshbooks
FreshBooks is more of an accounting software than purely a time tracker – while it can help you manage employee hours, using a time tracking or project management solution and integrating it with accounting software is usually a better option.
With FreshBooks, you’ll be getting a specialized app for bookkeeping, expenses, payments, and payroll management. Just keep in mind that your US clients will likely use QuickBooks Online for their accounting (with QuickBooks Time), so you might also want to consider this as a factor.
12. Timeneye – Extension-Based Consulting Time Tracker
Timeneye is a timesheet software designed specifically as an integration for Microsoft 365, including apps such as Microsoft Teams, Google Calendar, Microsoft Project, and Microsoft Planner.
Key features:
- Time tracking
- Project and team management
- Billing
- Reports and insights
- No activity tracking
SOurce: timeneye
Although Timeneye is specifically designed for the Microsoft ecosystem, it can also be integrated into popular tools such as Asana, ClickUp or Basecamp.
Similarly to EverHour, it’s a good lightweight option, especially for consulting teams that already use some of the mentioned software.
Some users have issues with how the time suggestions system works, as it seems to automatically log your suggestions for the upcoming day, meaning that they need to be deleted manually if they’re incorrect:
The fact that it gives suggestions for the next day – it is a pain, because you have to go 1 by 1 and delete them. There doesn’t seem to be a way to prevent that from happening.
Source: Capterra
13. Time Doctor – Tool With Robust Productivity Monitoring
Time Doctor is designed as a robust system for managing remote or hybrid teams, controlling productivity, and getting insights into workloads, app usage, and more.
Key features:
- Attendance tracking
- Work hours scheduling
- Real-time progress dashboards
- Activity tracking
SOurce: time doctor
Project managers report that Time Doctor has helped them manage employee time and efficiency. On the flipside, reviews from users who are staff member report that the software’s idle detection and random screenshots can feel disruptive due to how frequent they can be.
Time Doctor’s activity tracking features also include: keyboard and mouse clicks, offline and background tracking, screen recording, and inactivity alerts.
Overall, the software has positive reviews on Capterra and G2, and is a serious contender among the productivity tools on this list (Hubstaff, TimeCamp).
14. Timing – Mac Native Consultant Time Tracking App
Timing app is a Mac OS native time tracking app for consultants and other professionals that records time automatically across different apps, windows, and websites. This also includes note taking, development, and video production software.
Key features:
- Automatic recording
- Integrates with various apps and services
- Manual time entries for offline activities
- No activity tracking
SOurce: TIMING
The Timing app can be the right time tracking software for Mac users that want to track all of their activities to better understand where their time is going.
It’s more of a personal productivity app, than a software that can help support billable time management for client projects for larger teams. According to users, it does what it’s designed for well:
Accurately records time either pro-actively or reactively with full details on application context. Timing is a must-have application for anyone who needs to reflect or record time accurately and makes it a breeze to not miss a beat.
Source: Capterra
Naturally, Timing doesn’t come with integrated project management or other advanced business management tools.
15. DeskTime – Activity Consultant Time Tracking Software
DeskTime is a time tracking and performance evaluation software with integrations for other project management software.
Key features:
- Automatic and manual tracking
- Shift scheduling and absence calendar
- Team performance dashboard
- Activity tracking
SOurce: desktime
DeskTime can be a good alternative to other software for managing activity rates on this list. DeskTime’s activity tracking features include URL and app tracking, document tracking, and productivity calculations.
Some users have noted issues with the accuracy of the software and discrepancies in time entries, while others find the software overall reliable. Another frequent comment is that reports can take a while to export.
What to Look for in Time Tracking Software for Consultants?
There are a couple of main differences that set the best time trackers for consultants in this list apart:
1. How robust is the time tracking software?
Some consulting time tracking tools will offer features focused mainly on providing timers and other ways to manage time entries.
Basic features also cover the invoicing process by pulling your billable hours data and generating a brand-friendly invoice, or integrations with software with advanced accounting functionality.
Another type of software is the all-in-one type of tool, which integrates time tracking with features such as budgeting, forecasting, CRM, and resource planning.
This type of tool can be useful for mid-sized to larger companies and enterprises that want to have a lighter tech stack. Productive is a great example of this type of solution.
For us, the biggest selling point of Productive was that we were able to use it for the sales funnel along with project management and invoicing—and time tracking, too. Previously, we were using four different tools for all those activities. We were able to cancel a lot of our other subscriptions and invest in one tool.
2. Does the software function as a standalone software, or an extension?
Consulting time tracking software can be designed to function as standalone tools, which means that they don’t need to be integrated with other tools to provide full functionalities.
Other software is designed to be integrated into your web browser, or other project management software.
These extensions can be a good consulting time tracking app for teams that rely heavily on existing workflows and want to upgrade the systems they’re already using.
However, the cost of using two software is usually higher than getting a standalone solution with advanced functionality, so keep this in mind.
3. Does the software include activity tracking and productivity monitoring?
Time tracking tools are often distinguished by how they approach monitoring activity levels and productivity analysis.
Activity trackers give project managers control over how users spend time by tracking app usage, screen recording or screenshotting, monitoring idle time, and even location with GPS tracking.
While these apps can be helpful to businesses, especially those working with remote or hybrid teams, staff usually find them intrusive.
Tools that don’t monitor activity encourage productivity and reliable time tracking with online timers, notifications and reminders, and metrics to monitor target and achieved utilization.
Takeaway: Best Time Tracking Software for Consultants
We’ve evaluated 15 types of time and billing software for consultants, based on how robust they are, whether they can be used as standalone software or extensions, and their approach to activity and productivity monitoring.
Here’s a brief summary of the best time tracking app for consultants:
- For a productivity monitoring app, there’s Hubstaff or Time Doctor
- For simple time trackers with no monitoring, consider actiTime or Toggl Track
- For software with free versions, there’s RescueTime and Harvest
- For browser extensions or software with integrations, there’s Timing and Timeneye
- Productive is the best choice for an integrated time tracking and project management software for consultants
With Productive, you’ll get the best of all worlds with a software that includes time tracking, resource planning, budgeting, billing, forecasting, and custom reports in one platform.
Book a demo today to find out how Productive can support your consulting firm.
FAQ
1. How do I track my time as a consultant?
To track your time as a consultant, use a time tracking tool that allows you to log hours by project or client. Look for features like timers, manual entry options, and reports to monitor billable versus non-billable hours.
2. Is there a free app to track consulting hours?
Yes, there are time tracking apps that provide a free version of their software, with an option to upgrade to a premium tier for additional functionality. Examples of free apps include Toggl Track, RescueTime, Paymo, and ClickUp.
3. What is the best time tracker for freelancers?
The best time tracker for freelancers depends on your needs. Tools like Toggl and Harvest are popular for their ease of use, invoicing features, and project tracking, and also offer a limited free version, but many options are available to suit different preferences and budgets.
4. How to bill time as a consultant?
To bill time as a consultant, track your hours using a time tracker that allows you to categorize tasks by client or project. Use the recorded data to create detailed invoices, ensuring they include descriptions of services provided and your total billable working hour amount.
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