Page two of a typical engineering agreement lists three ways the client will pay: a lump sum for design, hourly rates for construction support, and a not-to-exceed amount for the study nobody has scoped yet. Page nine says the firm will keep accurate time records. Most firms honor page two with a billing system and page nine with a spreadsheet, and the margin disappears somewhere between the two.
Time tracking software for engineers exists to make page nine serve page two. Each hour is held against the project, phase, and fee type it belongs to, from the first site visit to the final invoice, and a project manager can see how much of each fee is left while there’s still time to act. Nine platforms are compared below, with the latest ratings and prices.
What Is Time Tracking Software for Engineers?
Time tracking software for engineers records the hours your staff spend on each client project, phase, and task, separates billable hours from internal time, and turns that time data into invoices, budget reports, and profitability analysis.
Under the hood it is four connected records:
- The first is the project structure: every project broken into the project phases and tasks the contract names, so an hour on the drainage study can’t land on “general.”
- The second is the rate and fee logic: a cost rate and a bill rate for each person or role, plus the fee type each phase is billed under, whether lump sum, hourly, percent complete, or not-to-exceed.
- The third is the approval chain, where a project manager confirms the hours before they count toward client billing or a budget.
- The fourth is the output layer: invoices built from approved time, project budgets compared with the hours actually worked, and utilization and margin reports by person, phase, and client.
An engineer sees very little of that machinery. They open a weekly timesheet or a mobile timer, pick the project and phase, enter the hours and a short note, and submit. Everything else happens downstream, and that is where the tool earns its keep: in what the firm can do with the hours once they’re in the system.
Who Needs Engineering Time Tracking Software?
The engineering label covers three kinds of engineering teams, and each one puts different pressure on the tool.
- Consulting engineering firms. Civil, structural, MEP, environmental, and geotechnical consultancies bill clients for professional time under contracts with several fee types. Their time tracking has to know the difference between a lump sum design phase and an hourly construction support task, and their project managers need budget-versus-actual by phase, not just a total.
- Field-heavy engineering teams. Inspection, surveying, commissioning, and construction administration put engineers in the field for most of the week. Time tracking software for engineering teams in the field has to work on a phone, with or without signal, and reminders have to catch the entries that didn’t happen on the day. A desktop app alone loses the hours that matter most on engineering projects.
- Architecture and engineering practices. Multidisciplinary A&E firms run the same phase structure as architects, with structural and MEP work running alongside design. Several platforms in this ranking were built for that market first. BigTime fits the engineering and consulting side of it: firms that have outgrown design-first tools and need financial control across phases, rates, and invoices.
Software engineering teams tracking sprint hours are a different buyer. If that’s you, look at trackers that live inside your issue tracker or your project management tools, and skip the billing engines below.
Benefits of Engineering Time Tracking Software
Implementing time tracking that connects time tracking to project budgets and invoicing pays off in five places.
- Fees stay protected on lump sum work. On hourly contracts a missed entry is lost revenue. On lump sum contracts it’s worse: the overrun is invisible until the phase closes. When every hour lands on its phase, a project manager sees that final design has used 80% of its fee with half the drawings issued, while there’s still time to talk to the client about scope.
- Field hours actually get billed. The 40-minute site walk, the Saturday call with the contractor, the drive between two job sites: same-day mobile entry recovers billable hours that a Friday reconstruction never finds. When engineers track hours on the day, the invoice reflects the work.
- Caps stop surprising you. Not-to-exceed tasks need an alert at 75% and 90% of the cap rather than a discovery at invoicing. Automated reminders and budget alerts turn a contract risk into a routine conversation, and project overruns become exceptions rather than the norm.
- Estimates get sharper. Comparing budgeted hours with actual hours by phase on finished projects tells you what a stormwater permit set or a bridge load rating really takes. That history is how you price the next proposal with confidence instead of a cushion.
- Billing clients gets faster and easier to defend. Approved entries attached to the right phase let you bill from the record, with line-level detail behind your client invoices, and it cuts the administrative tasks between timesheet and invoice. The detail also shortens the conversation when a client questions an additional services charge.
What Engineering Firms Need From Time Tracking Software
Seven capabilities separate time tracking software built for engineering work from a stopwatch with a client list.
Project Phase and Task Structure
Every entry should carry a project, a phase, and where needed a task and a billable flag. Tracking by project phases is the minimum for engineering: preliminary design, final design, permitting, bidding, and construction administration each carry their own fee and budget. Task codes for site visits, RFIs, submittal reviews, and redlines explain why construction-phase hours run hot. The best platforms let you build a phase template once and apply it to every new project, so an engineer logs time against a structure that already matches the contract.
Fee-Type Aware Billing Rules
Engineering contracts mix models, often within one project. The platform should apply rates by role, person, or project automatically, hold a fixed fee against a phase, bill percent complete from a budget, and stop at a not-to-exceed cap. That is the line between a timer and time billing software. If the billing engine only knows hourly rates, the accounting team ends up rebuilding invoices by hand, and the time tracking system becomes an expensive timer.
Field and Mobile Time Capture
Engineers who spend their week on job sites won’t open a laptop to log time. Look for a mobile time tracking app on iOS and Android, timers that run during an inspection, and entry that works offline and syncs later. Automated time capture from calendars helps the office side. Automated reminders for missing time should go to team members and the project manager on the same day, not in a Friday email.
Approvals Before Invoicing
Time should pass through an approval step before it reaches an invoice: the project manager checks that hours sit on the right phase and task, and finance only sees approved time. Multi-level approvals matter on large projects with team members across several disciplines. Approval history is also the audit trail a government client or a DCAA auditor will ask for.
Project Budgets, Budget Monitoring, and Actual Hours
Set budgeted hours and fee for each phase, then watch actual hours arrive against them in real time dashboards. Project budgeting across active projects gives project managers project visibility they can act on: the report that matters is budget versus actual by phase, with a forecast of hours to complete and a project health flag. Early warnings when a phase passes a threshold give a project manager time to raise scope creep with the client before the money is gone.
Utilization, Multipliers, and Margin Reporting
A time tracking system for engineers should report billable hours and utilization rates by team members, labor cost against fees by project, and project profitability by phase. Detailed reports on realization, the share of tracked value you actually invoice, show where write-offs hide. If the reporting tools stop at hours by project, the questions about project performance still get answered in spreadsheets.
Integration With Accounting and Project Systems
Time and expense data has to reach the general ledger without re-entry. Two-way sync with QuickBooks or Sage Intacct keeps clients, projects, invoices, and payments aligned in both systems. Integrations with calendars, CRM, and popular project management tools reduce manual entry on the office side, and a documented API covers whatever the firm has built itself.
Engineering Fee Types Your Time Tracking Software Should Handle
Few consulting engineers bill every project the same way. A single client can have a lump sum design phase, hourly construction support, and a capped feasibility study at once. Your time tracking has to record hours the same way across all project phases, then bill and report each one according to its contract.
Lump Sum (Fixed Fee)
You agree on one price for the project scope, and the invoice doesn’t change with the hours. Time tracking still matters here, because it’s the only way to know whether the fee covered the work. Look for budget-versus-actual reporting by phase, so you can spot a cost overrun while there’s time to talk about scope.
Time and Materials
You bill hours at agreed rates, plus expenses. The software needs rates by role, person, or project, an approval step before time hits the invoice, and expense entry that carries receipts through to the client invoice without re-entry.
Percent Complete
You bill the share of the fee that matches project progress. Say a final design phase has an $80,000 fee and is 40% complete. You bill $32,000, minus anything already invoiced. Good software tracks billed-to-date for each phase, so the next invoice calculates itself and nobody bills the same progress twice.
Milestone (Phase-Based) Billing
You bill a set amount when a deliverable or phase is accepted, such as a 60% design submittal or a permit set. Milestones need to add up to the contract value, and invoices should be ready the moment a project milestone is approved. Phase based billing also needs the time behind each milestone, so you know what the fixed amount cost you.
Cost-Plus
You bill actual costs, including labor at cost rates and overhead, plus an agreed fee. This structure is common on government work. It depends on clean timesheets, separate cost and bill rates, and an audit trail that shows who changed what and when.
Not-to-Exceed
You bill time and materials up to a cap. The risk is reaching the cap without warning, so you’ll want alerts while there’s still budget left, not after you’ve passed it. The best tools show the cap, the hours consumed, and the hours left on the project manager’s dashboard.
Subconsultants and Reimbursables
Geotechnical borings, surveys, and specialty subconsultants bill through the prime engineer. Their invoices need to sit against the project and phase, carry the markup the contract allows, and pass through to the client invoice next to the firm’s own time. Mileage, printing, and permit fees follow the same route. If the tool can’t hold a subconsultant cost against a phase, the project’s margin is overstated until the finance team corrects it by hand.
Government Work and DCAA-Ready Timekeeping
Firms that take federal work, whether as a prime or a subcontractor on a Department of Transportation or Corps of Engineers project, inherit timekeeping rules that generic trackers don’t enforce. The Defense Contract Audit Agency expects daily time entry, total time accounting across billable and indirect hours, a reason recorded for every change to a timesheet, supervisor approval, and an audit trail that shows who did what and when.
No software is “DCAA approved”. The agency audits the firm’s practices rather than the vendor. The software can, however, make the practices routine: block entries dated in the future, require a note on every edit, and keep the approval history for every timesheet. If government work is on your horizon, read our guides to DCAA-compliant time tracking software and DCAA-compliant accounting systems before you shortlist.
How to Choose Time Tracking Software for an Engineering Firm
Six questions sort the shortlist faster than any feature matrix.
- Does it bill the way your contracts read? Lump sum, percent complete, and not-to-exceed aren’t optional for an engineering firm. A tool that only applies hourly rates will leave the hardest billing in a spreadsheet.
- Will your field engineers use it? Ask for the mobile app in the demo, with the signal off. If an engineer can log time in a few clicks from a truck, you’ll get accurate time tracking. If it takes a laptop, you won’t.
- Does the time flow to the invoice without re-entry? Follow one hour from the timesheet through approval to the client invoice and into the ledger. Count the manual steps.
- Can it show margin, not just hours? Cost rates, bill rates, write-offs, and utilization should be on one report. Time tracking tools that stop at hours push the finance questions back to spreadsheets.
- What does it replace? Some platforms bring their own accounting and expect to become the books. Others sit on top of QuickBooks or Sage Intacct. Decide which you want before the demo, not after.
- Will it still fit at twice the headcount? A free plan that stops at up to five users won’t carry a 30-person firm, and an enterprise ERP will bury a 30-person firm in configuration. Pick for the business growth you expect over three years rather than today’s headcount.
Price per seat should be the last question you ask. The cost of time tracking software for engineering firms is small next to a 10% realization gap on a $3 million fee base. Implementing time tracking is a change project as much as a purchase, so budget time for phase templates, rate setup, and training alongside the license.
2026 Ranking of Time Tracking Software for Engineers
How We Evaluated
We compared the nine platforms on six criteria weighted toward how consulting engineers actually bill and deliver: fee-type flexibility (lump sum, T&M, percent complete, milestone, NTE, and cost-plus support), phase-level project budgets and alerts, field and mobile capture, the connection from approved time to the client invoice and the ledger, margin and utilization reporting, and adoption, judged by review-site sentiment on ease of use and setup. Ratings come from G2 and Capterra, and prices from each vendor’s pricing page, all checked in October 2026; quote-only vendors are marked as such. We didn’t run hands-on trials. The order reflects fit for a consulting engineering firm of 20 to 250 people that bills clients by phase and keeps its ledger in QuickBooks or Sage Intacct. Platforms built as full A&E accounting systems rank high on depth and lower on adoption and fit for firms that want to keep their existing books.
Time Tracking Software for Engineers: Comparison
| Tool | Strengths | Best For | Starting Price (October 2026) | G2 / Capterra (October 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BigTime | Fee-type billing from approved time, phase budgets, utilization and margin reporting, two-way QuickBooks and Sage Intacct sync | Consulting engineering firms of 20-250 people that bill by phase and keep their books in QuickBooks or Sage Intacct | $20/user/month (Essentials) | 4.4/5 (1,807) / 4.6/5 (664) |
| BQE Core | A&E time, billing, and project management with optional accounting, CRM, and HR modules | A&E firms that want one vendor for time, billing, and books | Custom quote | 4.3/5 (448)* / 4.5/5 (783) |
| Deltek Ajera | A&E project accounting with timesheets and invoicing built in | Small and mid-sized A&E firms ready to replace their accounting system | Custom quote | 4.0/5 (180) / 3.6/5 (62) |
| Unanet AE | A&E ERP with project tracking, timesheets, and reporting | Mid-sized A&E firms with a finance team to run an ERP | Custom quote | 4.1/5 (250) / 4.4/5 (69) |
| Monograph | Phase-based planning, MoneyGantt budgets, offline mobile timesheets | Small architecture-led A&E studios | $45-$490/month per firm | Limited G2 volume / 4.5/5 (236) |
| ClickTime | Timesheets, approvals, cost rates, 70+ reports | Firms that need disciplined timesheets and cost reporting and invoice elsewhere | $12/user/month (Starter) | 4.6/5 (1,139) / 4.6/5 (207) |
| Deltek Replicon | Enterprise timesheets with global labor compliance and project billing | Large engineering groups with multi-country payroll rules | Custom quote | 4.3/5 (787) / not verified |
| eBillity Time Tracker | Low-cost timesheets, GPS and kiosk capture, QuickBooks sync, invoicing on Premium | Small field crews that bill hourly | $8/user/month (Billing, annual) | 4.3/5 (341) / 4.4/5 (3,021) |
| Toggl Track | Timers, browser extension, clean reports, billable rates | Small teams that want fast time capture and invoice elsewhere | Free up to 3 users; $9/user/month (Starter, annual) | 4.6/5 (1,589) / 4.7/5 (2,585) |
BigTime
G2 4.4/5, 1,807 reviews, Capterra 4.6/5, 664 reviews
Pros
- Invoices are built from approved time and expenses under T&M, fixed fee, milestone, percent complete, and not-to-exceed rules, so the billing matches the contract.
- Phase and task budgets with utilization and margin reporting in the same platform as the timesheets.
- Mobile app for field time and expenses, with auto-filled timesheets on the office side.
- Two-way sync with QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, and Sage Intacct keeps project data and the ledger aligned.
- DCAA timekeeping mode for firms with government work, enabled on request by the support team.
Cons
- Fee-type rules, phase templates, and approval chains take configuration up front; plan for onboarding rather than a weekend setup.
- Priced above timers and basic timesheet apps, which small teams logging hours only may not need.
- BigTime connects to your accounting system rather than replacing it, so firms that want a single A&E accounting package will look elsewhere.
BigTime is a PSA platform built for professional services firms, with engineering and consulting among its core industries. Time tracking is the front end of a connected sequence: an engineer records time against a project, phase, and task, a project manager approves it, and the approved hours flow into client-ready invoices shaped by the contract, whether that’s a lump sum phase, hourly construction support, or a not-to-exceed study. Percent complete invoices draw on the phase budget, and prior billings are tracked so progress isn’t billed twice. For firms with federal work, a DCAA timekeeping mode enforces daily entry, notes on edits, and timesheet certification.
What sets it apart in this lineup is what happens after the hour is logged. Cost rates and bill rates sit on each person, so utilization, labor cost against fees, and project profitability by phase come from the same timesheets that feed the invoices. Resource planning uses the same data to show who is available for the next project. The accounting side stays in QuickBooks or Sage Intacct through a two-way sync, which is the right design for a 30- to 250-person engineering firm that trusts its books and wants project financials on top of them. BigTime’s own engineering page describes the firms it’s built for.
Key Features
- Time and expense entry by project, phase, and task, on web and mobile, with auto-generated timesheets.
- Billing rules for T&M, fixed fee, percent complete, milestone, and not-to-exceed contracts, with multi-level approvals before invoicing.
- Phase budgets with budget-versus-actual reporting and alerts.
- Utilization, realization, and margin reporting by person, project, and client.
- Resource planning and AI-assisted staffing recommendations.
- Two-way QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, and Sage Intacct integration, plus Salesforce, HubSpot, and Jira connectors.
- DCAA timekeeping mode with audit trail, edit notes, and certification.
Pricing
BigTime starts at $20 per user per month on the Essentials plan as of October 2026, with higher tiers adding resource management, advanced reporting, and billing depth. See the pricing page for current plans, or book a personalized demo to see how it fits your engineering workflows and fee types.Pricing typically starts around $20–$40 per user/month, with advanced plans including additional reporting and resource management capabilities.
BQE Core
G2 4.3/5, 448 reviews, undated comparison page. Capterra 4.5/5, 783 reviews, March 2026.
Pros
- Built for architects and engineers, with phase-based project structure and billing out of the box.
- Foundations base covers time and expense, billing and invoicing, project management, reporting, and mobile apps for tracking time across multiple projects.
- Optional accounting, CRM, HR, and payroll modules for firms that want one system.
Cons
- Pricing is quote-only, so the total cost is hard to compare before a sales conversation.
- Adopting the accounting module means moving the books, which is a larger project than a time tracking rollout.
- Recent engineering reviewers on Capterra are more mixed on cost and flexibility than the older architecture reviews.
BQE Core is the closest thing in this ranking to a purpose-built A&E platform that can also become the firm’s accounting system. The Foundations base holds time and expense tracking, billing and invoicing, project management, and reporting, with native mobile apps for field entry. Firms add project accounting, CRM, HR, or payroll as modules, which is attractive if you want one vendor and one database for the whole practice.
The trade-off is scope. An engineering firm that only wants better time tracking and billing on top of QuickBooks gets more system than it needs, and the per-module quote makes the cost opaque until the sales call. For A&E firms ready to replace their accounting package, it belongs on the shortlist.
Key Features
- Time and expense tracking by project and phase, web and mobile.
- Billing and invoicing with A&E fee structures.
- Project management with budgets and schedules.
- Reporting and executive dashboards.
- Optional accounting, CRM, HR, and payroll modules.
- Per-user pricing with quote-based plans.
Pricing
BQE Core publishes no prices. The pricing page describes per-user pricing with a custom quote for the Foundations base and each additional module, as of October 2026.
Deltek Ajera
G2 4.0/5, 180 reviews, October 2026. Capterra 3.6/5, 62 reviews, October 2026.
Pros
- Project accounting, timesheets, and invoicing in one A&E-specific system.
- Converts time entries into invoices by phase, which reviewers in architecture and planning firms single out.
- Backed by Deltek, with a path to larger Deltek products as a firm grows.
Cons
- Reviewers rate ease of setup lowest among its G2 sub-scores, and the Capterra score is the weakest in this lineup.
- Replacing the general ledger is a bigger decision than choosing a time tracking tool, and it rules out firms happy with QuickBooks.
- Reviewers describe limits on how far back timesheets can be viewed and an interface that feels dated.
Deltek Ajera approaches engineering time tracking from the accounting side. Timesheets, expense reports, and invoicing sit inside a project accounting system designed for A&E firms, so the phase structure, fee types, and project reports are native. Firms that adopt it usually do so to run the whole back office on one system.
That design is also its constraint. A consulting engineering firm that wants time tracking and billing on top of its existing ledger would be taking on an accounting migration to get there, and the review sentiment on setup suggests that migration is real work. Ajera makes sense when the accounting change is already on the agenda.
Key Features
- Timesheets and expense reports by project and phase.
- Project accounting with budgets, WIP, and billing.
- Invoicing by phase and fee type.
- Project and firm-level financial reports.
- Resource scheduling.
- Integration with other Deltek products.
Pricing
Deltek publishes no Ajera pricing; quotes depend on firm size and modules, as of October 2026.
Unanet AE
G2 4.1/5, 250 reviews, October 2026. Capterra 4.4/5, 69 reviews, October 2026.
Pros
- Project tracking and reporting are the strengths reviewers name most often.
- Timesheets, project accounting, and resource planning in a system built for architecture and engineering.
- Mid-market focus, with the configuration depth larger multi-office firms need.
Cons
- G2 reviewers report implementations of around six months, which is a heavy lift for a 30-person firm.
- Customization and usability draw the most criticism in reviews.
- Quote-only pricing and the small Capterra sample make comparison harder.
Unanet AE, built on the former Clearview InFocus product, is an ERP for architecture and engineering firms. Time tracking is one module among project accounting, billing, resource planning, and reporting, and the project tracking and reporting are what users praise. For a multi-office firm with a controller and a finance team, that depth is the point.
For the firms this guide targets, the question is weight. A six-month implementation and an ERP-level configuration are a different scale of project than connecting time tracking and billing to the books you already have. Unanet AE fits firms that have already decided they need an ERP rather than firms deciding how to track time.
Core Features
- Timesheets and expense entry by project and task.
- Project accounting and billing.
- Resource planning and utilization reporting.
- Project tracking dashboards and financial reports.
- Configurable workflows and approvals.
- Multi-office and multi-company support.
Pricing
Unanet publishes no pricing for Unanet AE, and G2 lists no entry-level price, as of October 2026.
Monograph
Limited third-party review volume on G2. Capterra 4.5/5, 236 reviews, October 2026.
Pros
- Phase-based planning with MoneyGantt, which shows fee and hours burn by phase on one timeline.
- Mobile timesheets that work offline and sync later.
- QuickBooks and Stripe integrations, with a per-firm price that small studios can budget for.
Cons
- Built for architecture first; engineering disciplines inherit the architecture workflow.
- Several Capterra reviewers report problems with invoicing, and some ask for a stronger mobile experience.
- Pipeline forecasting is a separate add-on, and G2 review volume is too small to confirm the Capterra picture.
Monograph is the A&E studio platform that appears most often in the search results for this topic, including its own video and a listicle that ranks it first. Its strength is visual: MoneyGantt lays out each phase with its fee and the hours burning against it, so a principal sees project health at a glance. Offline mobile timesheets suit site work, and the per-firm pricing is easy to understand.
For engineering practices, the fit depends on how much the practice resembles an architecture studio. Project planning and timesheets translate well; the invoicing complaints in reviews and the architecture-first design matter more as the fee structures and client count grow. It’s a strong choice for small A&E studios and a cautious one for a 60-person consulting engineering firm.
Key Features
- Phase-based project planning with MoneyGantt.
- Timesheets on web and mobile, with offline entry.
- Budgets and fee tracking by phase.
- Invoicing from tracked time and fixed fees.
- Task management and a resource allocation view by person and week.
- QuickBooks and Stripe integrations.
Pricing
Monograph’s pricing page shows a range of $45 to $490 per month per firm based on headcount, with the Pipeline forecasting module sold separately, as of October 2026.
ClickTime
G2 4.6/5, 1,139 reviews, October 2026. Capterra 4.6/5, 207 reviews, October 2026.
Pros
- Timesheet discipline: approvals, cost rates, work types, and reminders on the Team plan and above.
- More than 70 reports, with custom dashboards on Premier.
- Project budgeting and resource planning available on the Premier tier.
Cons
- Invoicing isn’t its strength; G2’s review summary notes challenges in invoice creation, so billing happens elsewhere.
- Budgeting and resource planning need the Premier tier, and the prices above Starter aren’t published.
- No fee-type billing engine for lump sum, percent complete, or NTE work.
ClickTime is a timesheet and cost tracking platform with a long track record and consistent ratings on both review sites. Engineering teams use it to get clean, approved timesheets with cost rates attached, then push the data to an accounting or billing system. The reporting is deep for a tool at this price, and the automated time capture and AI mapping to projects on the Team plan cut manual entry.
What it lacks is the billing side of the engineering workflow. There’s no engine for percent complete or not-to-exceed invoicing, so finance still assembles invoices from exports. For firms that are happy with their billing system and only want better timesheets and cost data, that division of labor works well.
Key Features
- Web and mobile timesheets with email reminders.
- Automated time capture and AI mapping of time to projects (Team plan).
- Approvals, cost rates, work types, and time off (Team plan).
- Project budgeting and resource management (Premier plan).
- 70+ standard reports and custom dashboards.
- Expense module add-on at $4 per user per month.
Pricing
ClickTime’s Starter plan is listed from $12 per user per month as of October 2026. Team, Premier, and Enterprise pricing is available on request.
Deltek Replicon
G2 4.3/5, 787 reviews, October 2026. Capterra rating not verified in October 2026.
Pros
- Enterprise timesheets with approvals, project time tracking, and billing rules for complex contracts.
- Global labor compliance rules covering 145+ jurisdictions, useful for firms with staff in several countries.
- Web, mobile, and CloudClock capture for office and site staff.
Cons
- Pricing is no longer published, so everything runs through a demo and quote.
- Enterprise configuration is more than a 30-person firm needs or wants to administer.
- Now part of Deltek, which puts it next to Ajera and Vantagepoint in the same portfolio and raises roadmap questions for buyers.
Replicon, now sold as Deltek Replicon, brings enterprise-grade timesheets to engineering groups that span countries and payroll regimes. Its TimeBill product connects project time to billing rules, and its labor compliance engine handles the overtime and leave rules that multinational firms struggle with. Review scores on ease of use and support are strong for a product of this size.
The fit for a consulting engineering firm of 20 to 250 people is narrower. The compliance depth is designed for global payroll, the configuration is enterprise-scale, and the move to quote-only pricing removes the entry point smaller firms once used. It belongs on the list for large, distributed engineering organizations.
Core Features
- Configurable timesheets with multi-level approvals.
- Project time tracking with billing rates and rules (TimeBill).
- Global labor compliance for 145+ jurisdictions.
- Mobile app and CloudClock time capture.
- Expense reports and leave management.
- Polaris PSA for firms that need resource and revenue management on top.
Pricing
Deltek publishes no Replicon pricing as of October 2026. The former per-user list prices have been replaced by quotes.
eBillity Time Tracker
G2 4.3/5, 341 reviews, October 2026. Capterra 4.4/5, 3,021 reviews, October 2026.
Pros
- Low entry price with GPS, kiosk, and mobile capture for field staff.
- QuickBooks sync that reviewers single out, plus payroll and accounting connectors.
- Invoicing, expense capture, and job costing on the Premium plan, and a Workforce plan for scheduling and team management.
Cons
- No phase budgets or fee-type billing, so lump sum and NTE work stays manual.
- Reporting is built for payroll and billable hours rather than project margin.
- Billing features need the Premium tier, which closes most of the price gap to deeper platforms.
eBillity’s Time Tracker ranks in the search results for this topic on the strength of a landing page aimed at engineering companies, and the product fits part of that audience well: small crews that need to record hours on site, get them approved, and bill hourly, with basic time tracking at a low price. GPS and kiosk capture, a mobile time tracking app, and a QuickBooks sync cover that use case at a low price.
Firms with mixed fee types will hit the ceiling quickly. There are no phase budgets, no percent complete or not-to-exceed billing, and the reporting answers payroll and hours questions rather than margin questions. For an hourly inspection or surveying crew, it’s a sensible, inexpensive choice.
Core Features
- Timesheets, timers, GPS, and kiosk time capture.
- Mobile apps for iOS and Android.
- Approvals and real-time notifications.
- Expense capture and job costing (Premium).
- Client invoices from tracked time (Premium).
- QuickBooks, payroll, and accounting integrations.
Pricing
eBillity lists Time Tracker Billing at $8 per user per month and Time Tracker Premium at $16.80 per user per month on annual billing, as of October 2026. Volume pricing is available on request.
Toggl Track
G2 4.6/5, 1,589 reviews, October 2026. Capterra 4.7/5, 2,585 reviews, October 2026.
Pros
- The fastest way to track time in this lineup: one-click timers, a browser extension, desktop app, and mobile apps.
- Clean reports and a free plan for very small teams.
- Billable rates from Starter, fixed fee projects on Premium.
Cons
- No built-in invoicing, so time has to leave Toggl Track to become a client invoice.
- No phase budgets, percent complete, or NTE logic; project financials are limited to budget alerts.
- The free plan is capped at three users, and the features engineering firms need sit on Premium.
Toggl Track is the lightweight end of the market, and it’s good at what it does. Engineers start a timer in the browser extension or log time on a phone, tag the project and client, and the hours appear in clean reports the same day. For a three-person structural practice or a consultant who bills hourly, Toggl Track with an invoicing tool alongside it is a reasonable setup.
The engineering-specific requirements are where it stops. There’s no invoicing, no fee-type logic, and no phase budget beyond an alert threshold. Many time tracking tools in this class share the same profile: strong at capturing hours, thin on what happens to the hours afterward. Toggl Track is an honest timer that leaves billing to another system.
Key Features
- One-click timers across web, browser extension, desktop app, and mobile.
- Project and client tagging with billable rates (Starter and above).
- Fixed fee projects and project dashboards (Premium).
- Budget alert thresholds and time rounding in reports.
- Calendar and tool integrations for automatic time capture.
- Summary and detailed reports exportable to CSV.
Pricing
Toggl Track is free for up to three users as of October 2026. Starter is $9 per user per month billed annually or $12 monthly, and Premium is $16 annually or $24 monthly.
Which Time Tracking Software for Engineers Is the Best?
For a consulting engineering firm of 20 to 250 people that bills by phase and keeps its books in QuickBooks or Sage Intacct, BigTime is the best time tracking software for engineers on this list, for three reasons:
- Approved time becomes an invoice under the fee type the contract specifies, including percent complete and not-to-exceed, without a spreadsheet in between.
- Utilization, multipliers, and project profitability come from the same timesheets, so project managers see margin while the project is live.
- The two-way QuickBooks and Sage Intacct sync means the firm keeps the ledger it trusts and adds project financials on top.
If your firm has decided to replace its accounting system, start with the A&E packages. If you need a timer for a handful of hourly engineers, start with Toggl Track or eBillity. If you want the hours your engineers log to turn into accurate invoices and visible margins without changing your books, book a personalized demo and bring your own fee schedule.
Time Tracking Software for Engineers: FAQ
What Does Time Tracking Software for Engineers Actually Do?
It captures the hours engineers spend on each project, phase, and task, applies the contract’s fee type and rates, routes the time through approval, and sends it to invoices and budget reports. Platforms built for engineering firms also report utilization, labor multipliers, and project margin from the same timesheets, so overruns surface before the project closes.
Which Time Tracking Software Is Best for an Engineering Firm?
For consulting engineering firms that bill by phase under mixed fee types and run QuickBooks or Sage Intacct, BigTime is the strongest fit. It turns approved time into invoices shaped by the contract and reports utilization and margin from the same data. A&E accounting packages suit firms replacing their books; timers suit small hourly teams.
Which Option Fits an Engineering Firm of 50 to 250 People?
BigTime is built for that range. Phase templates, multi-level approvals, fee-type billing rules, and resource planning handle several offices and discipline leads without an ERP implementation, and the ledger stays in QuickBooks or Sage Intacct. Firms at the top of that range with a full finance team can also evaluate Unanet AE, accepting a longer implementation.
Does the Best Choice Differ for Civil, Structural, or Environmental Engineering Firms?
Less than you’d expect. All three bill under lump sum, hourly, and not-to-exceed contracts and track time by phase, so BigTime fits each discipline. Field-heavy work such as inspection and environmental sampling puts more weight on the mobile app and reminders; design-heavy structural work puts more weight on phase budgets and percent complete billing.
Which Engineering Time Tracking Software Syncs Both Ways With QuickBooks?
BigTime offers two-way sync with both QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop, as well as Sage Intacct, so clients, projects, invoices, and payments stay aligned in both systems. Several tools in this ranking sync one way or support QuickBooks Online only. Ask each vendor which records sync, in which direction, and how often.
How Do Engineering Firms Track Time on Lump Sum Projects?
The same way as on hourly projects: every hour goes against the project and phase. The difference is what the data is for. On lump sum work, tracked hours don’t drive the invoice; they show whether the fixed fee covered the effort, phase by phase, and they feed the estimate for the next proposal of the same type.
Do Engineering Firms Need Different Time Tracking Than Software Engineering Teams?
Usually, yes. Software teams track developer hours for sprint planning or internal cost reporting, often inside an issue tracker. Consulting firms are billing clients, so their time has to carry phases, fee types, rates, and approvals and flow into invoices. A developer-focused tracker rarely covers that billing side.
