Accelo
Professional services automation combining CRM, project management, time tracking, and billing for accounting firms.
Harvest
Website: www.getharvest.com
Harvest at a glance
- Best for
- Small firms wanting time and billing without a suite
- Pricing model
- Per user per month, free tier for one user
- Deployment
- Cloud, with desktop and mobile apps
- Regions
- Global
- Key integrations
- QuickBooks Online, Xero, Asana, Slack
Last reviewed . Pricing and features change frequently — confirm current details with the vendor.
Harvest is a time tracking and invoicing platform for professional teams, covering timers, timesheets, expense capture, project budgets, and invoicing generated directly from recorded time.
How accounting firms use it
Firms adopt it when time and billing is the specific problem and they do not want a practice management platform to solve it. Staff record time against clients and engagements, budgets are monitored as work progresses, and invoices are raised from actual recorded hours rather than reconstructed at month end.
Ease of use is the practical argument. Time tracking fails when staff do not do it, and adoption depends more on how little friction there is than on feature depth — a simple timer that people actually start is worth more than a sophisticated system they fill in retrospectively on Friday afternoon.
Key features
Time entry works from browser, desktop app, or mobile, with timers or manual entry, and reminders prompt staff who have not submitted timesheets. Expenses can be logged with receipt capture alongside time.
Project budgets are set in hours or fees with alerts as thresholds approach, and reporting breaks time down by client, project, task, and team member, covering both profitability and utilisation.
Invoicing generates directly from approved time and expenses, with online payment collection and automated reminders for overdue amounts.
Who it’s best for
Small and mid-sized firms needing focused time tracking and invoicing without the weight of a full platform, particularly those where getting staff to record time consistently has been the obstacle.
Firms wanting deeper project accounting, write-up and write-down, or realization reporting should look at BigTime or BQE Core. Those wanting time and billing inside practice management have it in Karbon, Canopy, and Mango. Toggl Track and Clockify compete on simpler tracking.
Harvest FAQ
- Does Harvest integrate with QuickBooks and Xero?
- Yes. Invoices generated from tracked time sync to QuickBooks Online and Xero, along with the contacts and payments attached to them. The integration covers invoicing rather than full practice management, so client records still live in whichever system the firm treats as its master.
- Can it track budgets and profitability by engagement?
- Yes. Projects carry hour or fee budgets with alerts as they are approached, and reporting shows time by client, project, and team member against those budgets. It is adequate for engagement-level profitability, though it lacks the write-up and write-down handling that dedicated practice management billing provides.
- Is it suitable as practice management software?
- No. There is no workflow, job template, statutory deadline tracking, document management, or client portal. It handles time capture and invoicing well and stops there, which is exactly why some firms choose it — they want that function solved without adopting a platform.
- What are the main alternatives?
- Toggl Track and Clockify compete on simple time capture, with Clockify offering a more generous free tier. BigTime and BQE Core go considerably further into project accounting and professional services billing. Firms wanting time and billing inside practice management should look at Karbon, Canopy, or Mango instead.
Harvest Alternatives
Other time & billing tools for accounting firms, ordered by how much of Harvest's functionality they cover.
Anchor
Autonomous billing platform automating the entire billing cycle from engagement letter to payment collection for accounting firms.
BigTime
Time tracking, project management, billing, and resource planning software built for accounting and consulting firms.
BQE Core
Professional services automation platform combining time tracking, billing, project management, and accounting in one solution for accounting firms.
Cone
Proposals, billing, and payments platform for accounting firms with engagement letter automation, recurring invoicing, and integrated time tracking.
Bill4Time
Cloud-based time billing software for professional service firms offering time tracking, invoicing, trust accounting, and payment processing.