Professional services firms face constant pressure to accurately track time, bill efficiently, and manage multiple client projects without missing a beat. Manual time tracking leads to errors, billing cycles get delayed, and non-billable hours often go unaccounted for. Worse, many tools lack integration with essential project management software or accounting systems, such as QuickBooks, resulting in scattered data and making management time-consuming. Best time billing software can change that.
This guide examines the top time billing software for 2025, highlighting the leading tools to manage projects and explaining why BigTime is the preferred choice for professional services firms.
What Is Time Billing Software?
Time billing software enables businesses to track the time spent on projects, convert those hours into accurate invoices, and gain valuable insights into employee productivity and project health. It’s essential for firms that bill by the hour or require deep visibility into team capacity, billable time, and project progress.
Benefits include:
- Fewer manual entry errors
- Faster invoicing with automated workflows
- Real-time visibility into billable hours and non-billable hours
- Better team performance and project management
Key Features in Leading Time Billing Software Tools
When evaluating the best project management tool for time billing, these core features can make all the difference in streamlining workflows, improving accuracy, and maximizing billable hours.
Real-time Time and Expense Tracking
Accurate, on-the-go capture of time tracking data ensures that no billable hour is lost. Real-time expense capture enables teams to log costs promptly, reducing errors and enhancing financial transparency. This feature is essential for keeping projects on budget and clients informed.
Automated Invoicing
Turn tracked time into client-ready invoices without manual calculations. Automated invoicing tools streamline billing cycles, reducing delays and ensuring consistent cash flow. Custom templates and approval workflows also help maintain professionalism and compliance.
Budget and Project Tracking
Track project budgets against actuals in real time to ensure project profitability. These tools provide visual dashboards and alerts when projects exceed budget or fall behind schedule. They also help firms proactively allocate resources based on financial data.
Integrations with Accounting Tools
Seamless integrations eliminate duplicate data entry and synchronize financials across platforms like QuickBooks, Xero, and more. This connectivity ensures that billing, payroll, and expense data are aligned and up to date. It also enhances overall operational efficiency by linking time tracking with accounting.
Reporting and Analytics
Advanced reporting tools provide insights into time allocation, billable utilization, and team performance. Analytics dashboards can highlight trends, uncover inefficiencies, and support better decision-making. These reports are crucial for resource forecasting and strategic planning.
Mobile Access
Mobile functionality allows users to log time, submit expenses, and view project data from anywhere. This is especially valuable for remote teams or professionals who work on the go. Mobile access ensures teams stay productive and accountable, regardless of their location.
The Best Time Billing Software for 2025 Reviewed
To help you choose the right solution for your business, we’ve reviewed the top time billing software tools available in 2025, starting with BigTime, the industry leader.
BigTime
BigTime is an advanced time and billing software tailored for professional services firms. It offers comprehensive project management features, accurate time tracking, robust invoicing, and powerful analytics, all wrapped in a user-friendly interface designed for larger teams and growing firms.
Why BigTime Time Billing Software Stands Out
Purpose-built for Professional Services Firms
BigTime’s advanced features are specifically designed for industries such as consulting, engineering, architecture, and accounting. This focus means every feature aligns with the unique needs of project-based billing, resource planning, and client accountability. It eliminates the need for customization or workarounds found in more generic tools.
Deep Integration with QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, and Other Accounting Platforms
BigTime’s native, two-way integration capabilities ensure seamless data flow between time tracking and financial reporting. These connections reduce errors, eliminate duplicate entries, and save time on reconciliations. Users can trust that invoices, expenses, and budgets remain fully aligned.
Mobile App for Time and Expense Capture
With BigTime’s mobile app, employees can log hours, submit expenses, and track project updates anytime, anywhere. This flexibility enhances time capture accuracy, particularly for remote teams or professionals working in the field. It helps keep projects moving forward without administrative delays.
Real-time Budget Tracking
Monitor project budgets as they evolve, comparing actuals to forecasts in real time. This allows teams to make proactive adjustments and avoid overruns. The visibility helps maintain profitability and client trust.
Project budget example in BigTime
Cost Rate vs. Bill Rate Management
BigTime enables firms to manage both internal cost rates and client-facing bill rates, allowing them to understand their true margins. This clarity supports more effective pricing strategies and ensures projects remain financially viable. It’s especially helpful for firms juggling multiple clients and contract types.
Expense Tracking
Easily capture, categorize, and assign expenses to specific projects or clients. This feature simplifies reimbursement, improves client transparency, and feeds directly into billing workflows. Teams can even attach receipts and add notes for better documentation.
Multiple Time Entry Options
BigTime’s time-tracking software supports manual entry, timers, and pre-filled timesheets to accommodate different workflows. Whether users prefer tracking by task, project, or day, the platform adapts to their habits. This increases adoption and ensures more complete data.
Project-based Time Tracking
Assign time entries to specific projects, tasks, or phases for detailed reporting and accountability. This makes it easy to analyze team capacity, client profitability, and project progress. It also supports better forecasting and workload planning.
Flexible Billing Models
Choose from hourly, fixed fee, retainer, or hybrid billing structures to suit different client needs. This flexibility enables firms to tailor their invoicing strategy according to the contract. It’s ideal for firms with diverse service offerings.
Configurable Invoicing and Approval Workflows
Set up custom invoice approval chains to match internal processes. Managers can review, edit, and approve invoices before they go to clients. This adds a layer of control and ensures consistency across the organization.
Custom Invoice Templates
Create branded, professional invoices tailored to different clients or services. Templates support itemized charges, custom fields, and dynamic formatting. This ensures each invoice reflects your brand while meeting client expectations.
Automated Invoice Generation
Turn approved time and expenses into invoices with a single click. Automation shortens the billing cycle and reduces manual work. Firms can spend less time on admin and more on high-value client work.
Custom Dashboards
Visualize KPIs, financial metrics, and project status with configurable dashboards. Users can build views tailored to roles, whether for project managers, executives, or finance teams. This supports data-driven decisions and promotes transparency.
An example of capacity report in BigTime’s time and billing software
Real-time Reporting
Access live, detailed reports on time, costs, budgets, and more. Real-time reporting helps identify trends, assess performance, and spot risks before they become problems. It’s a vital tool for firms looking to grow sustainably.
Project Audit Trail
Maintain a full history of project updates, time entries, and billing changes. This is critical for compliance, dispute resolution, and internal accountability. Audit trails provide confidence for both the firm and its clients.
Exceptional Customer Support and Onboarding
BigTime’s support team helps firms get up and running fast, with guided setup, training, and ongoing assistance. Their proactive approach ensures users feel confident and supported from day one. Many firms cite this as a key reason they chose BigTime.
Role-based Access and Customization
Control who sees what by assigning roles and permissions tailored to each user. This enhances security, streamlines workflows, and keeps data clean. Customization ensures that each team member gets the right tools without distraction.
BigTime Is the Best Time Billing Software for Professional Services in 2025
BigTime stands out for its depth, flexibility, and scalability. With all the features you need, such as automatic time capture, real-time reporting, and team collaboration tools, it’s the complete solution for firms that want more from their project management tool.
Harvest
Harvest is a simple and accessible time tracking and invoicing tool designed for freelancers and small teams. Its clean interface makes it easy to log time and create invoices, but it lacks the depth needed for growing professional services firms.
Key Features of Harvest
Simple Time Tracking
Users can start and stop timers or enter time manually, making it easy to track work in real time or retroactively. The interface is clean and requires minimal training, helping teams get up and running quickly.
Expense Management
Teams can capture and categorize expenses, attaching receipts and notes for each entry. This helps improve billing accuracy and client transparency for reimbursable costs.
Basic Invoicing
Convert tracked time into invoices using built-in templates. Invoices can be customized slightly and sent directly to clients from within the platform.
Integrations with Trello, Asana, and QuickBooks
These integrations help sync tasks, projects, and financials, reducing double entry. The QuickBooks integration supports smooth billing workflows.
Summary
Harvest is ideal for independent consultants or small teams that require easy-to-use time tracking and invoicing. However, its limited customization, minimal reporting, and lack of advanced billing workflows make it a weaker fit for growing firms.
Toggl Track
Toggl Track is best known for its sleek design and user-friendly experience. It excels in visual reporting and quick time capture, but it’s not built for billing-heavy or project-intensive workflows.
Key Features of Toggl Track
One-click Time Tracking
Users can start and stop timers with a single click, regardless of whether they use browser extensions or mobile apps. This makes it ideal for individuals who need simple, flexible time capture.
Visual Reports
Generate easy-to-read graphs and charts that break down how time is spent across clients and projects. This supports better personal productivity, but lacks detailed financial insights.
Project-level Tracking
Assign time entries to specific projects to monitor overall workload distribution and ensure a balanced workload. While helpful, it doesn’t connect directly to billing or budgeting tools.
Cross-platform Access
Use Toggl Track on web, desktop, mobile, or via Chrome extension for flexible usage. This ensures you can capture time regardless of where you’re working.
Summary
Toggl Track is a great time tracking tool for individuals or teams that prioritize design and simplicity. However, it doesn’t offer invoicing, expense tracking, or project budgeting, making it unsuitable for firms that bill clients regularly or manage multiple contracts.
My Hours
My Hours offers straightforward time tracking, simple project organization, and billing capabilities. It’s well-suited for solo professionals or small teams who need affordable functionality.
Key Features of My Hours
Manual and Real-time Tracking
Users can log time as they work or input hours manually for past work. This flexibility supports a variety of work styles and time tracking needs.
Custom Billing Rates
Assign billing rates by client, project, or task. This enables small teams to more effectively align pricing with contract terms or work types.
Client and Project Segmentation
Projects and clients can be segmented for better organization and time analysis. This helps users stay on top of where their hours are going.
Basic Reporting
Generate simple summaries of time and costs for use in invoicing. However, these reports lack the detail and depth larger teams typically require.
Summary
My Hours works well for small, budget-conscious teams or freelancers who need basic tracking and rate management. However, it doesn’t scale well, has fewer integration options than others on the list, and lacks advanced reporting and project financial features.
Paymo
Paymo is an all-in-one platform that combines time tracking with task management and invoicing. It’s built for small businesses that need more than a tracker but aren’t ready for a full PSA tool.
Key Features of Paymo
Task Management with Kanban Boards
Organize tasks visually with drag-and-drop Kanban boards. This helps teams manage workflows and stay aligned on project priorities.
Time Tracking Tools
Track time by project, task, or user using manual entry or timers. This supports accurate client billing and internal performance monitoring.
Invoice Automation
Turn time logs and expenses into invoices with minimal manual work. Invoices are customizable and can be sent directly to clients.
Team Scheduling
Allocate resources and manage workloads with built-in scheduling tools. This helps balance team capacity and avoid burnout.
Summary
Paymo is a solid choice for small teams that want basic project management features combined with time and billing capabilities. However, its cluttered user interface and steep learning curve can be a barrier, and it lacks the financial controls and other tools necessary for larger or more complex firms.
Clockify
Clockify is a freemium time tracking tool that provides unlimited users and projects at no cost. It’s a popular starting point for small teams looking to track time without budget constraints.
Key Features of Clockify
Unlimited Users and Time Tracking
There’s no cap on who can use Clockify or how much time you can track. This makes it ideal for growing teams or businesses just getting started.
Billable and Non-billable Tracking
Separate billable hours from internal or administrative time to better understand profitability. This segmentation also supports more accurate invoicing.
Basic Reports and Dashboards
Generate overviews of time spent by project or team member. These insights help teams improve time use, though financial analysis is limited.
Integrations with Popular Tools
Connect Clockify with apps like Trello, Jira, and Asana to embed time tracking into existing workflows. These integrations support efficiency but are fairly basic.
Summary
Clockify is great for startups or small firms that need to track time on a budget. But for firms with billing complexity or detailed project financials, Clockify’s capabilities fall short.
TimeCamp
TimeCamp emphasizes automation and productivity tracking to reduce manual time entry and boost efficiency. While it offers invoicing features, they’re less robust than competitors focused on billing.
Key Features of TimeCamp
Automatic Time Tracking
Track time in the background based on app and website usage. This minimizes manual entry and helps capture accurate work time.
Productivity Analysis
Reports highlight how time is spent across tools and activities. This is helpful for team leads to monitor efficiency and workload distribution.
Budget and Attendance Tracking
Track team hours against budgets and monitor attendance or time off. This adds value for firms needing basic HR time data.
Optional Invoicing Features
Paid plans allow teams to turn time entries into invoices. However, customization and approval workflows are limited.
Summary
TimeCamp is a smart choice for companies looking to enhance team productivity through automation. However, it lacks the comprehensive billing workflows and customization options required by professional services firms.
Hubstaff
Hubstaff combines time tracking with employee monitoring, making it well-suited for remote and field-based teams. Its monitoring-heavy approach may not align with all workplace cultures.
Key Features of Hubstaff
Screenshots and Activity Monitoring
Capture screenshots and measure keyboard and mouse activity to track employee focus. This supports accountability but can feel intrusive to teams.
GPS and Geofencing
Track worker location and movement, useful for field teams or mobile operations. Location-based time logging helps ensure accuracy for distributed teams.
Payroll Integration
Automatically calculate and process payroll based on hours worked. This reduces admin time and simplifies contractor payments.
Invoicing Tools
Generate invoices from tracked time, though customization is limited compared to more advanced tools.
Summary
Hubstaff is valuable for firms with mobile or remote teams that need visibility into productivity and time usage. However, its emphasis on surveillance and limited billing depth make it a mismatch for client-facing professional services firms.
Discover How BigTime Can Transform Your Billing
Want to reduce administrative burden, gain insights into team performance, and accelerate your billing cycle? BigTime helps you track productivity, manage projects, and improve billing accuracy, all from a single platform.
FAQs about Time Billing Software for Professional Services
What is time billing software, and how does it help professional services firms?
Time billing software is a digital solution that enables professional services firms to track time accurately and generate client invoices automatically. It enhances billing efficiency, reduces administrative overhead, and provides visibility into billable hours, project health, and team performance.
Why is time tracking and billing software essential for consulting and accounting firms?
Consulting and accounting firms rely on accurate time-tracking and billing software to ensure that all client work is properly recorded and invoiced. These tools streamline operations, improve cash flow, and provide valuable insights into project costs and team utilization.
Is BigTime the best time billing software for mid-sized professional services firms?
BigTime is highly rated for its robust features, which are specifically designed for consulting, engineering, and accounting firms. It offers flexible billing, comprehensive project tracking, and integrations with tools like QuickBooks, making it a top choice for growing firms.
How does BigTime handle billable and non-billable hours?
BigTime lets users tag time entries as billable or non-billable, helping firms analyze time use and maximize revenue. This feature is essential for tracking project profitability and identifying areas where teams may be losing valuable billable hours.
Can time tracking software integrate with accounting tools like QuickBooks or Xero?
Yes, BigTime offers seamless integration with accounting tools like QuickBooks and Xero. These integrations eliminate double data entry and keep billing, payroll, and financial reporting in sync.
What makes BigTime a top-rated time and billing software for project-based businesses?
BigTime stands out for its industry-specific design, which includes powerful time tracking, detailed budgeting tools, automated invoicing, and real-time analytics. It’s consistently chosen by project-based businesses that need software tailored to professional services workflows.
Is there a mobile time tracking app included with BigTime?
BigTime includes a full-featured mobile app that allows users to log hours, capture expenses, and view project data from anywhere. This enables remote teams and on-the-go professionals to stay productive and connected to their projects.
How can time billing software improve team productivity and project visibility?
Time billing software tracks how employees spend their time and links that data to project budgets and timelines. It enables firms to optimize team performance, identify inefficiencies, and make data-driven decisions to improve project outcomes.
Can I use BigTime time billing software for both fixed fee and hourly billing models?
BigTime supports a variety of billing models, including hourly, fixed fee, and retainers. This flexibility allows professional services firms to manage contracts according to client needs and billing preferences.
What kind of support does BigTime offer for onboarding and implementation?
BigTime offers guided onboarding, training resources, and responsive customer support to help firms get started quickly. BigTime’s implementation team works closely with clients to ensure the system is configured correctly and optimized for their specific workflow.
How does time tracking software support project management and improve project progress visibility?
Time tracking software enhances project management by providing real-time insights into how team members allocate their hours across tasks and clients. A robust time tracker includes essential features like task-level tracking, budget comparisons, and timeline forecasting, which help project managers monitor project progress accurately. By minimizing manual input through timers and pre-filled timesheets, the software ensures more reliable data, leading to better planning, resource allocation, and client satisfaction.
