8 Best Time and Billing Software for Accountants in 2025
Accountants juggle multiple tasks daily—tracking billable hours, invoicing clients, and managing projects.
Outdated or inadequate time and billing software for accountants can significantly hamper productivity regardless of team dynamics, leadership quality, or process efficiency.
Reliable time tracking and billing tools can dramatically improve their workflow and accuracy.
The choice of the right time and billing software stands key for accounting operations because it leads to better performance and business gains.
How We Choose the Best Time & Billing Software
Multiple testing of numerous options helped us choose the best software based on these essential features for accountant solutions:
- Time tracking precision allows accountants to automate time tracking and billing and enter their billable hours using automatic timers or manual entry to accurately fit the billing patterns.
- The system allows accountants to store client details and engagement records with billing documentation in a single platform for best service delivery and client communication.
- The software enables accountants to manage multiple projects simultaneously by tracking their engagement timelines against budgets and deadlines.
- The system implements versatile payment approaches (users can choose between billing by the hour or through set fees, value pricing, or retainer plans to suit different client contracts).
- The system provides expense tracking features that enable users to record and sort their reimbursable costs.
- Customers can personalize their invoices through application features that allow firm branding combined with detailed explanations of tasks performed and work duration.
- The system integrates with well-known payment gateway services, which enable online payments and automatically update accounting system records.
- The system enables staff productivity measurement, which provides data about team efficiency rates to achieve optimal resource management.
- The system produces complete reports for accounts, work-in-progress, and client-service-type profitability statistics.
- The solution provides its customers access to features that empower tax preparations, facilitate audit management, and support regulatory compliance tracking.
- The system enables connection between accounting, document management tools, and practice management solutions to form an integrated technological environment.
- The platform provides staff with powerful mobile applications that enable remote time tracking, cost recording, and receipt examination during off-site work hours.
8 Best Time & Billing Software in 2025
Tool | Key Features for Accountants | Pricing |
---|---|---|
TMetric | • Detailed time tracking with billable hours designation; Automated invoice generation; QuickBooks integration | Starts at $5/user/month with free tier available |
QuickBooks Time | • Seamless integration with QuickBooks Online; Customizable time reports with extensive filters | Starts at $8/user/month plus base fee |
FreshBooks | • Intuitive time tracking with client/project assignment; Budget alerts and financial reporting | Starts at $6.30/user/month |
Xero Time | • Cloud-based interface with real-time monitoring; Industry-specific reporting templates | Starts at $29/month |
Harvest | • Comprehensive financial reporting and budget tracking; QuickBooks integration | Starts at $11/user/month with free plan available |
TaxDome | • Secure client portal with e-signature; Tax organizers and information collection forms | Starts at $58/month |
Karbon | • Real-time budget management with estimated vs. actual comparison; Performance analytics for productivity and profitability | Starts at $55/user/month (billed annually) |
BigTime | • Comprehensive timesheet system with receipt scanning; 40 ready-to-use reporting templates | Starts at $20/user/month |
TMetric - Best all-in-one billing and timekeeping software
Practical favorite among accounting firms for its intuitive interface and robust billing features.
The time tracking solution TMetric offers dedicated accounting-specific functionalities: they include billable rate management, automatic expense logging, and straightforward connections to mainstream accounting platforms.
💡It allows TMetric to reduce billing errors.
Features
- Users get detailed time tracking with billable hours designation
- Managers receive tools to handle clients and project accounting
- Easy timesheet management
- Users can adjust billing rates
- The system initiates automated invoice generation
- Teams get a tool for effortless expense tracking
- Accountants can use task categorization
- TMetric offers financial reporting
- It integrates with QuickBooks and other accounting platforms
- Managers can easily analyze team productivity
Pros
- It provides billing and tax tracking
- It guarantees invoicing automation
- The software delivers comprehensive financial reporting platforms that clients need for billing operations
- The software connects perfectly to current accounting application systems.
Cons
- Accounting teams that use manual processes can have a challenging learning experience when moving to the new system
Pricing: Plans start at $5/user/month with a free tier available.
QuickBooks Time - Best for QuickBooks integration
Integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks accounting software, making it ideal for accounting professionals already within the Intuit ecosystem.
Accountants choose QuickBooks Time as their premier time tracking solution because it integrates perfectly with the broader QuickBooks system while offering both accuracy and efficiency.
Features
- The accounting time tracking software directly syncs with QuickBooks Online and Desktop. It prevents duplicate entry work - users can enjoy complete data alignment between platforms.
- The advanced payroll system takes employee hours records and automatically turns them into payroll.
- The system enables user-defined cost tracking through Client-Specific Job Costing, which allows users to track hours at the client, project, and task levels.
- Customizable time report generation lets users produce structured reports with extensive filter capabilities to support clear client billing processes.
- Employees can use GPS tracking features to record their work time on mobile devices. It comes in handy for accountants who visit client sites.
Pros
- It reduces payroll processing time through automation
- The program adds precision to payment bills because it uses detailed records of staff time use across clients and services.
- It provides real-time visibility into team productivity and project profitability.
Cons
- The system requires users to learn advanced features of software-based time tracking methods, which surpass basic time tracking systems
Pricing: Starting at $8/user/month plus base fee.
FreshBooks - Best for payment management
Known for exceptional ease-of-use, FreshBooks simplifies time tracking and invoicing.
FreshBooks improves accounting workflows, offers intuitive time tracking, easily integrates with invoicing, and helps manage expenses – and it is all in one platform.
Features
- Users can track billable hours with precision with the timer or timesheet entries.
- Users can assign time to specific clients and projects.
- Managers can monitor team productivity with detailed time reports and approve timesheets - it is a perfect solution for those accounting firms that have many staff members.
- Users can create different project rates and budgets for each client.
- Admins can set automated alerts that will work when the teams are approaching budget limits.
- If you use reporting functions, it will generate documents for profit & loss statements, expenses, and tax summaries.
- Users can connect bank accounts for automated transaction imports and reconciliation.
- It helps maintain accurate books with proper debits and credits, trial balances, and a general ledger.
Pros
- The tool provides integration between time tracking, invoicing, and accounting.
- It does not require any hard training for accounting team members.
- Its reporting capabilities are specifically designed for financial professionals.
Cons
- It has limited advanced features for a large enterprise
Pricing: Starting at $6.30/user/month.
Xero Time - Best for Xero users with project-based billing
The Ultimate accounting solution for accountants who already leverage Xero accounting software and require integrated time tracking
The accountant's best tool for increased productivity comes from Xero Time through its cloud-based interface, which delivers instant money monitoring together with automatic clearing and extensive reporting functionality.
Features
- The automated bank feeds system and reconciliation function enable bookkeepers to save at least 50% of their time allocation for these tasks.
- The platform provides clients with an integrated document sharing feature for completing workflow approvals through their collaborative portal.
- Industry-specific reporting templates with customizable metrics
- The system offers multiple currencies that receive instantaneous updates for exchange rates.
- Tools for tax preparation exist that integrate jurisdiction compliance tests across multiple tax territories
- The system lets users track time and expenses, which are directly integrated with billing functions.
Pros
- The software utilizes smart automation and categorization to lower manual data entry requirements.
- The tool enables clear client relations through financial transparency, which displays information in real-time.
- It smoothly expands from independent practitioners to extensive accounting businesses.
Cons
- Users who migrate from traditional accounting platforms may need significant time to master the system
Pricing: Starting at $29/month for the paid plan.
Harvest - Best for expense management
The solid choice for accounting professionals
Accounting professionals should use Harvest as their time tracking system because it combines the tracking of billable hours with expense management and invoicing functions through an easy-to-use platform that drives maximum profitability.
Features
- The automated time tracking via desktop and mobile access ensures precise client billing automation.
- Customizable invoice templates with online payment integration for faster collections.
- Complete financial reporting with real-time budget tracking and expense categorization.
- A planning system that helps managers to arrange schedules and determine resource allocation for enhanced optimization.
- Users can perform smooth workflows through the integrations with QuickBooks and other accounting software.
Pros
- The system offers superior reporting tools for analyzing profitability on both client and project levels.
- The platform features an instinctive design that decreases the time spent on administrative work.
- Customized approval processes lead to accurate billings that conform to company requirements.
Cons
- A broad collection of features needs preliminary instruction before team members can adopt the system successfully.
Pricing: Plans start at $11/user/month (free plan and free trials for paid plans are also available).
TaxDome - Best for all-in-one tax practice management
Presents itself as a complete practice management system built exclusively for accountants
TaxDome offers unified security for client handling while automating workflows and document tasks.
Features
- Users access a secure client portal to exchange documents by electronic signatures while messaging securely through the system.
- The platform allows users to build automatic workflows and then design their own templates, while assigning various tasks throughout the system.
- The platform combines all features of billing with invoicing and payment handling.
- Tax organizers and information collection forms
- It offers document organization, version control, and enhanced folder capabilities.
- Users can easily track time usage and manage customer relationships with CRM capabilities
Pros
- The practice management solution removes the requirement of separate software subscriptions because it features project management.
- The platform automates processes with templates that decrease organizational strain across the team.
- The platform provides an easy-to-use portal with a mobile app, which improves the client experience.
Cons
- Lacks key practice management functionalities
Pricing: Starting at $700 on the Essentials annual plan, or $58 per month.
Karbon - Best for workflow collaboration in accounting firms
One of the best accounting and payroll systems
It is an ideal practice management tool for accountants seeking a comprehensive platform that includes invoicing, billing, and time tracking.
Karbon is the top accounting platform because its efficient time tracking and budget management options drive profitability and deliver top-notch client outcomes.
Features
- Effective time tracking allows accountants to log both billable and non-billable hours for all their projects with maximum accuracy
- Under budget management, users gain real-time project financial insights that show estimated versus actual time data
- Work templates let accounting firms establish official procedures for maintaining uniformity in all repeatable operational workflows.
- The client collaboration portal opens the opportunity for streamlined document collection and approvals.
- The scheduling system can distribute work assignments among different accounting teams.
- The system delivers performance analytics, which reveals productivity levels, capacity utilization, and business profit figures.
Pros
- The platform unites functions that manage workflows and track time usage alongside client management capabilities into a single system.
- It provides automatic budget and scope evaluation features that help detect financial problems and excessive project growth.
- It offers highly customizable templates for accounting-specific workflows.
Cons
- Companies that move from basic systems to this platform encounter a challenging learning process while implementing their transition.
Pricing: Starting at $55/user/month (billed annually)
BigTime - Best for advanced billing and mid-size firms
Trusted by thousands of legal and accounting firms, it is one of the best time and billing software for accountants because it is specifically built for professionals handling detailed client billing.
BigTime represents the top practice management application made for accountants, which combines full billing automation with time tracking and customizable reporting functions in one integrated system.
Features
- Users can monitor their billable activities by using the mobile timesheet system and create invoices using receipt scans.
- Project management provides real-time tracking for budgets, along with resource distribution and engagement profitability analysis through features designed for accounting-oriented procedures.
- Users can generate professional invoices containing adjustable rates and their preferred payment methods.
- It automatically transfers data between QuickBooks and associated applications.
- Fully integrated, a reporting suite contains 40 ready-to-use templates designed for accounting practices to track employee productivity and WIP status and monitor realization results.
- Practitioners obtain vital performance data about their firm through dashboards, which offer billing metrics combined with collection information and project financial metrics.
Pros
- Seamless integration with accounting software like QuickBooks, Sage, and Xero
- The system includes customizable workflows made specifically for accounting engagements and tax seasonal requirements.
- Clients use secure portals that allow secure document sharing combined with role-based permissions.
Cons
- The process to fully customize templates and configure workflows needs extensive initial setup time.
Pricing: Starts at $20/user/month on the Essentials Plan.
FAQs
What is time and billing software for accountants?
A single platform that combines time tracking with invoicing management and project profitability reports defines time and billing software for accountants.
The program functions as an advanced digital timesheet solution because it generates financial billings from recorded time alongside your defined payment rates.
Modern tools can create enlightening reports that demonstrate how your most important time is being used to promote highly effective choices for accounting businesses.
Why do accountants need time tracking software?
Time tracking by accountants who balance multiple clients and projects becomes prone to mistakes and missed billable hours, which, unfortunately, can decrease earnings.
Correct time tracking can help find your most lucrative clients and determine when services require additional time or potential rate adjustments.
Handling your time activities precisely creates transparency with customers, which builds confidence and minimizes billing disagreements since your invoices demonstrate precise breakdowns.
Can I track billable vs. non-billable hours?
Absolutely. Topology within excellent accounting time tracking tools enables users to distinguish between the requirement to bill clients and administrative, marketing, or professional development tasks.
Billable versus non-billable time separation brings essential knowledge of your firm's efficiency ratio to find opportunities for increased profitability.
The most advanced tracking systems give you the ability to establish billable goals and set alert notifications if you fall behind target so you maintain adequate revenue streams.
What software integrates well with QuickBooks or Xero?
QuickBooks Time allows users to connect seamlessly to QuickBooks – the platform promises automatic time entry synchronization to invoices without human interaction.
TMetric enables professional time tracking associations with QuickBooks software systems through the API frameworks.
Larger accounting practices can use Karbon as their practice management platform because it provides both time tracking capabilities and client management tools, which integrate with QuickBooks and Xero accounting applications.