Time Tracking for Accountants: 13 Best Tools Compared

Accountants who bill by the hour live or die by how accurately they capture time – a few unlogged calls or a missed hour here and there adds up to real, unbilled revenue by year end. This guide covers what time tracking for accountants and bookkeepers actually needs to do, the 13 tools worth considering, and how to roll one out without turning your team against it.

What is time tracking software for accountants?

Time tracking software for accountants records how hours are spent across clients, engagements, and tasks, then turns that record into billable data. Sometimes marketed as accounting time tracking software, timesheet software for accountants, timekeeping software for accountants, or time recording software for accountants, it goes further than a generic time tracker: it separates billable from non-billable time, supports different rates by role or client, and often keeps an audit trail of edits used later to build accounting reports for clients – details that matter when a client questions an invoice or a regulator asks for documentation.

Not every accounting professional needs the same depth. CPAs handling audit, tax, or other regulated engagements are usually looking for more than basic time tracking for CPAs – audit-ready time logs, role-based billing rates, and period locking that prevents entries from being altered after a billing cycle closes. Bookkeepers and general accountants who bill clients directly but don’t handle regulated work typically need less of that scaffolding; accurate billable-hour tracking and straightforward invoicing usually covers it. Keep that distinction in mind as you go through the features and tools below – the right fit depends on which category you fall into, not on which tool has the longest feature list.

Why time tracking matters for accounting firms

Good time management software for accountants does more than log hours – it turns them into billing data and profitability insight. Unbilled hours are the most common way accounting firms leave money on the table. Quick client calls, email threads, and the few minutes spent switching between tasks are easy to do and easy to forget to log – and none of that shows up on an invoice unless someone wrote it down. Harvest, one of the vendors covered below, estimates that accountants can lose up to 20% of their productive hours this way when tracking is left to memory and manual timesheets.

A more concrete way to see the gap is utilization rate – the share of total hours that actually get billed. Industry benchmarks put typical utilization at 55–60%, while a realistic target for a well-run practice is closer to 70–80%. That difference is time your team is already working but not capturing or billing for. Beyond the revenue side, accurate time records also give clients a clear, defensible breakdown of what they’re paying for, which cuts down on billing disputes and the back-and-forth that comes with them. The same data that protects billing accuracy also feeds broader workplace productivity efforts and helps catch cost overruns on fixed-fee engagements before they eat into margin.

What to look for in a time tracking tool

The list below covers what accounting-specific tools tend to offer – but not every firm needs every item on it. Match the features to how your practice actually works, not to whichever tool has the most checkboxes. If you want a deeper look at what actually counts as billable hours and how to track them before comparing tools, that’s covered separately.

• Manual entry vs. automated capture. Some tools rely on a timer or manual log; others run in the background and record activity automatically. Automated capture helps when staff juggle many clients and context-switch constantly, since it’s easy to forget to start a timer mid-task. A solo practitioner who logs time deliberately, client by client, often doesn’t need it – and some firms actively prefer manual entry since it avoids the surveillance-adjacent feel of always-on background tracking.
• Billable vs. non-billable tracking, with flexible rates. Useful for any firm that bills by the hour, since it separates client-chargeable work from internal admin time. Role-based or client-specific rates matter more once a firm has more than one billing tier – a solo practitioner with one flat rate has less use for this than a firm mixing partner, senior, and staff rates.
• Approval workflows and audit trail. Draft/submit/approve chains and period locking matter most for CPA firms handling audit or tax work, where a defensible, unaltered time record is part of compliance. A small bookkeeping practice invoicing a handful of clients directly usually doesn’t need this layer.
• Reporting and profitability data. Detailed reports on utilization, project margins, and team capacity are built for firm-level management – useful once you’re overseeing several people’s time, less critical for a one-person practice mostly interested in “did I bill enough hours this month.”
• Integration with accounting and payroll software. Relevant to essentially everyone, since re-entering the same hours in two systems is exactly the kind of manual work a time tracker is supposed to eliminate. QuickBooks and Xero are the two most common integration points to check for.

Time tracking is only one piece of a firm’s software stack. If broader practice productivity is also a gap, see our roundup of the best apps for accounting firms; if payroll specifically is the bigger pain point, our payroll software for accountants roundup covers that separately, and firms hunting specifically for billable hours trackers rather than full time-tracking suites have their own dedicated comparison too.

13 best time tracking tools for accountants

1. actiTIME

Key features:

• Manual and automatic time tracking, with a mobile app and Chrome extension
• Billable and non-billable hour tracking with custom user rates
• Cost of work and billing reports
• Project and task management with a Kanban board
• Automatic budget and deadline overrun notifications
• QuickBooks integration
• Free version for up to 3 users

actiTIME ties time tracking directly to project cost and profitability rather than treating hours as a standalone number. Accountants who bill per hour can log billable and non-billable time by client, project, and task – either manually, with a timer, or automatically through the mobile app and Chrome extension – then run cost and billing reports that turn those logs into invoices and pricing transparency for clients.

For project-based work, scope management and a Kanban board keep task estimates, deadlines, and progress visible at a glance, while automatic notifications flag budget or schedule risk before it becomes a client conversation. Historical cost and revenue data also feed into more accurate project budgeting and time estimates for future engagements, and it exports cleanly into QuickBooks for firms that keep their books there.

Time tracking became a breeze

With actiTIME’s mobile app, tracking time on the client’s side became a breeze. Now accountants simply switch on the timer on their phone as they start another task and get accurate time logs without taking notes.

Try actiTIME

Best for: Accounting practices and CPA firms that want time tracking tied directly to project cost and profitability, without paying for a full practice-management platform.

Pricing: Free for 1–3 users; Online from $6 per user per month for 1–40 users, $5 per user per month for 41–200 users, billed annually; Self-Hosted $120 per user, one-time payment.

Free trial: 30 days, full-featured, no credit card required; after that, switch to the free version or a paid plan.

Rating: G2 4.6/5 (50 reviews); Capterra 4.6/5 (111 reviews).

Pros:

• Free version has no time limit, unlike most competitors’ trial-only free tiers
• Connects time directly to project cost and profitability, going beyond a bare hours log
• Self-hosted option for firms that need to keep client data on their own infrastructure

Cons:

• Time is logged manually or via timer rather than captured automatically in the background – some teams prefer this for accuracy and privacy, but it’s more friction for staff juggling constant context-switches
• Focused on time tracking and cost tracking rather than full practice management – pair it with another tool if you also need CRM, trust accounting, or document management in the same system

2. Harvest

Key features:

• One-click timer from browser, desktop, and mobile
• Billable and non-billable hour tracking with custom rates
• Invoicing with online payments via Stripe and PayPal
• Project budget and profitability reporting
• QuickBooks and Xero integration

Harvest keeps time tracking, invoicing, and basic project profitability in one simple tool. A one-click timer works across browser, desktop, and mobile, and every tracked hour flows straight into an invoice that clients can pay online, which removes a manual step most other tools on this list still require.

The free plan is a real working tier rather than a time-limited trial – a single user gets full functionality across 2 projects at no cost. Paid plans scale per seat rather than by feature tier, so growing past a solo practice doesn’t mean re-learning the tool or losing functionality.

Best for: Solo practitioners and small firms who want simple time tracking, invoicing, and online payment collection without a steep learning curve.

Pricing: Free for 1 seat and 2 projects; Teams $9 per seat per month ($108/year); Enterprise $14 per seat per month; Enterprise Plus custom pricing.

Free trial: 30 days on paid plans, no credit card required.

Pros:

• Free plan is a real, permanent tier for a single user, not a time-limited trial
• Invoices generate directly from tracked hours, with online payment collection built in
• Low learning curve compared to heavier practice-management platforms

Cons:

• Lacks trust accounting, engagement-letter tracking, and period locking that larger or regulated firms may need
• No native approval workflow for reviewing time before it’s billed

3. QuickBooks Time

Key features:

• Native QuickBooks Online sync
• GPS tracking and geofenced clock-in
• Payroll integration
• Mobile clock-in with photo attachments
• Automated timesheet reminders

QuickBooks Time is Intuit’s own time tracking product, built to sync directly with QuickBooks Online rather than through a third-party connector. For firms and solo practitioners already running their books on QuickBooks, that native link removes the sync-reliability questions that come with connecting a separate time tracker.

GPS tracking and geofencing are aimed at teams with field or on-site work – useful for firms doing on-location bookkeeping or audit fieldwork, less relevant for a purely desk-based practice. Either way, QuickBooks Time only runs as an add-on to an existing QuickBooks Online or Payroll subscription, not as a standalone product.

Best for: Firms and solo practitioners already on QuickBooks Online who want time tracking with no third-party sync involved.

Pricing: Premium $20 per month base plus $10 per user per month; Elite $40 per month base plus $12 per user per month – on top of an active QuickBooks Online or Payroll subscription.

Free trial: 30 days on the monthly base fee, no credit card required.

Pros:

• Deepest native QuickBooks integration of any tool on this list
• GPS and geofencing built in for field-based or on-site work
• Automated reminders reduce end-of-week timesheet reconstruction

Cons:

• Requires an active QuickBooks Online or Payroll subscription – it isn’t sold as a standalone product
• Lacks CPA-specific features like realization tracking or write-down management

4. Toggl Track

Key features:

• Timer across browser, desktop, and mobile, with offline tracking
• Billable and non-billable rates
• 100+ integrations, including QuickBooks and Xero
• Client and project organization
• Detailed, exportable reports

Toggl Track is a straightforward timer-first tool rather than a full accounting platform – it tracks billable hours across clients and projects and leaves invoicing and billing to whatever accounting software you already use. Offline tracking means a timer keeps running without a connection and syncs once you’re back online, which suits accountants who move between client sites.

The free plan covers up to 5 users with core tracking features, making it a reasonable starting point for a small bookkeeping team that doesn’t yet need built-in invoicing.

Best for: Freelance accountants and small teams who want a flexible, no-fuss timer and already have a separate billing or accounting system.

Pricing: Free for up to 5 users; Starter $9 per user per month; Premium $16 per user per month; Enterprise custom pricing.

Free trial: 30 days on paid plans, no credit card required.

Pros:

• Offline tracking syncs automatically once back online
• Free tier covers up to 5 users, more generous than most competitors
• Wide integration list, including QuickBooks and Xero

Cons:

• No built-in invoicing or billing – pair it with a separate accounting tool
• No accounting-specific features like audit trail or trust accounting

5. Clockify

Key features:

• Unlimited time tracking on the free plan
• Billable and non-billable hour tracking with custom rates
• Kiosk mode for shared-device clock-in
• Invoicing and QuickBooks integration (Standard tier and up)
• Customizable reports exportable as PDF, CSV, or Excel

Clockify’s free plan supports up to 5 users with unlimited time tracking, which makes it one of the more generous entry points on this list for a very small practice. Paid tiers add the features accounting work typically needs – invoicing and QuickBooks sync start at the Standard tier, with activity monitoring and labor cost analysis further up.

Kiosk mode is a specific fit for firms with a shared front-desk device, letting staff clock in with a PIN rather than each needing their own login – a small detail, but one that matters for practices with part-time or seasonal staff during tax season.

Best for: Small accounting practices that want a genuinely free starting tier, with room to add billing features as the team grows.

Pricing: Free for up to 5 users; Basic $3.99 per seat per month; Standard $5.49 per seat per month (adds invoicing and QuickBooks sync); Pro $7.99 per seat per month; Enterprise $11.99 per seat per month – all billed annually.

Free trial: 7 days on Pro features, no credit card required.

Pros:

• Free plan supports up to 5 users with unlimited tracking, a real tier rather than a trial
• QuickBooks integration and invoicing available from a relatively low-priced tier
• Kiosk mode suits shared-device, multi-staff front desks

Cons:

• Invoicing and QuickBooks sync are locked behind the Standard tier and up, not included free
• Free trial on paid features is short at 7 days

6. TimeSolv

Key features:

• Time and expense tracking with flexible billing templates
• Batch invoicing and LEDES billing support
• Trust accounting
• Matter budgets and conflict checking
• Document management

TimeSolv is a time-and-billing platform built for professional services firms that want CPA time and billing handled with the same rigor as legal billing – trust accounting and detailed billing controls alongside time tracking, useful for accounting practices handling client funds or complex billing arrangements. Batch invoicing and flexible billing templates cut down on manual work when invoicing several clients at once.

Pricing is flat per tier rather than per seat, which changes the math depending on team size: a small firm gets more value out of it than a solo practitioner would.

Best for: Small accounting firms that need trust accounting and detailed billing controls on top of basic time logging.

Pricing: Pro plan $147 per month for up to 3 users, billed annually ($177/month month-to-month); Legal and Project Management plans priced separately on request.

Free trial: 10 days, full access to core features, no credit card required.

Pros:

• Trust accounting and LEDES billing support that most general time trackers don’t offer
• Flat pricing for up to 3 users can be cheaper than per-seat pricing for a small team

Cons:

• Pricing is steep for a true solo practitioner, since the base tier is built around multiple users
• Heavier, more billing-focused feature set than a firm that just needs basic time tracking

7. Bill4Time

Key features:

• Multiple simultaneous timers across devices
• Branded, batchable invoicing with online payments
• Custom hourly, flat, or mixed billing rates
• Document upload and unlimited storage
• QuickBooks Connector integration

Bill4Time was originally built for legal billing and is increasingly used by accounting practices that need the same level of billing detail – multiple timers per user, branded invoice templates, and flexible rate structures across hourly, flat, and mixed billing. The QuickBooks Connector syncs time, expenses, and invoices to avoid duplicate entry.

The accounting-relevant plan is the standard Time & Billing tier; Bill4Time also sells separate, pricier Legal tiers aimed specifically at law firms, which aren’t the relevant comparison here.

Best for: Mid-size accounting firms that want detailed, branded billing on top of time tracking.

Pricing: Time & Billing $39 per user per month, billed annually ($49/month month-to-month); Time & Billing Enterprise $69 per user per month, billed annually ($79/month month-to-month).

Free trial: 14 days, no credit card required.

Pros:

• Flexible billing rate structures (hourly, flat, mixed) in one system
• QuickBooks Connector syncs time, expenses, and invoices automatically
• Unlimited document storage included on every plan

Cons:

• Mobile app functionality reportedly lags behind the desktop experience
• Priced above several other tools on this list for a comparable feature set

8. TPS Cloud Axis

Key features:

• Time, billing, and WIP (work-in-progress) tracking
• Engagement letter tracking through to client signature
• Due date monitoring with automated alerts
• Client communication logs
• QuickBooks Online bi-directional sync (Ultimate tier)

TPS Cloud Axis positions itself as CPA firm time tracking software built specifically around accounting practice management, not adapted from a legal or generic time-tracking product. Engagement letter tracking and due date monitoring are aimed squarely at firms juggling filing deadlines and client documentation across busy season, which is a narrower but genuinely accounting-specific angle than most tools on this list cover.

The entry tier covers time and billing on its own; workflow, calendars, and client communication tools are added at the Pro tier, with QuickBooks sync and advanced integrations reserved for Ultimate.

Best for: Traditional accounting firms that want engagement and deadline tracking built into the same system as time and billing.

Pricing: Entrepreneur $18 per user per month; Pro $25 per user per month; Ultimate $34 per user per month.

Free trial: No self-serve trial – a free guided walkthrough or demo is available on request.

Pros:

• Engagement letter and due date tracking built specifically for accounting workflows
• Top tier ($34/user/month) is still priced below several comparable practice-management tools

Cons:

• No free trial – evaluating it requires booking a demo first
• QuickBooks sync and advanced integrations are locked to the top Ultimate tier

9. Productive.io

Key features:

• Time tracking tied to project budgets and profitability
• Recurring and one-time budget models
• QuickBooks and Xero integration
• Billable time approval workflow
• AI-assisted time tracking

Productive.io connects logged hours directly to budgets and real-time profitability reporting – effectively continuous cost tracking across engagements rather than a once-a-month reconciliation. It supports hourly, fixed, and mixed billing models, and can split long engagements into phases for more precise tracking.

The Essential tier covers core time tracking and budgeting; billable time approvals, rate cards, and advanced reporting are reserved for Professional, which is the more relevant tier for a firm that wants review controls before invoicing.

Best for: Firms that want time tracking connected directly to engagement-level profitability, beyond hours logged in isolation.

Pricing: Essential $12 per user per month, billed annually ($10/month if paid monthly); Professional $25 per user per month; Ultimate custom pricing.

Free trial: 14 days, no credit card required.

Pros:

• Every logged hour ties directly into budget and profitability reporting
• Supports hourly, fixed, and mixed billing models in the same system

Cons:

• Billable time approval workflow is locked to the Professional tier and up
• Broader feature set than a small practice with simple time-tracking needs may require

10. Laurel

Key features:

• AI-powered automatic time capture across apps and devices
• Automated time-entry narratives
• Automatic client and billing-rule mapping
• QuickBooks Online mapping
• SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA compliant

Laurel is the closest thing on this list to fully automated AI time tracking for accountants – it automatically records chargeable and non-chargeable work across the apps and devices staff already use, then uses AI to categorize and narrate that time into billable entries. That level of automation mainly pays off at firms with enough staff and engagement volume to generate meaningful data for the AI to work with.

It’s positioned for mid-market to enterprise accounting firms rather than solo practitioners, and pricing reflects that – there’s no self-serve signup, only a sales conversation.

Best for: Mid-market and enterprise accounting firms that want to eliminate manual timesheet entry entirely, not smaller practices.

Pricing: Custom pricing – not published; requires a sales conversation.

Free trial: No self-serve trial – evaluation happens through a demo.

Pros:

• Most automated time-capture approach on this list, reducing manual timesheet work to near zero
• AI narrative generation saves time on writing up what was actually done

Cons:

• Smaller firms may not generate enough data volume to get real value from the AI features
• No published pricing or self-serve trial – evaluating it takes a sales call

11. PracticePro 365

Key features:

• Time tracking integrated with billing and invoicing
• CRM and client dashboards
• Workflow automation and approvals
• Microsoft integration (Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Power BI)
• Real-time profitability dashboards

PracticePro 365 bundles time tracking into a broader practice-management platform – CRM, workflow automation, and billing sit alongside the timer rather than being separate tools. It’s built on Microsoft’s stack, so firms already using Outlook, Teams, or SharePoint get tighter integration than most other options here.

It’s explicitly aimed at CPA firms, tax and advisory practices, and multi-location firms scaling from roughly 50 to 1,000+ users – not a fit for a solo practitioner or very small team looking for just a timer.

Best for: Mid-size to large CPA and tax advisory firms that want time tracking bundled with CRM and workflow automation, on Microsoft’s stack.

Pricing: Custom pricing based on firm size – not published; requires a sales conversation.

Free trial: No self-serve trial – a demo is required.

Pros:

• Deep Microsoft ecosystem integration (Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Power BI)
• Combines time tracking, CRM, and workflow automation in one platform, avoiding separate tools

Cons:

• Not aimed at solo practitioners or very small teams – pricing and features assume a larger firm
• No published pricing or free trial – requires a sales conversation to evaluate

12. Timely

Key features:

• Fully automatic background time tracking
• Real-time capacity, budget, and billable-percentage dashboards
• One-click invoicing with QuickBooks integration
• Privacy-first design – no screenshots or keystroke monitoring
• Task management and scheduling

Timely tracks work automatically in the background across the apps and documents staff use, then lets each person review and confirm entries before they’re submitted – rather than starting and stopping a timer all day. It explicitly avoids screenshot capture or keystroke logging, positioning itself against employee-surveillance-style tracking tools.

Real-time dashboards surface capacity, budget spend, and billable percentage at the team level, which is more useful for a manager overseeing several accountants than for someone tracking only their own hours.

Best for: Firms that want automatic time capture without surveillance-style monitoring, and want staff to stay comfortable with the tool.

Pricing: Starter $9 per user per month, billed annually ($11/month month-to-month); Premium $16 per user per month, billed annually ($20/month month-to-month); Unlimited $22 per user per month, billed annually ($28/month month-to-month); Enterprise custom pricing.

Free trial: 14 days, full access to all features.

Pros:

• Automatic background tracking removes the need to remember to start a timer
• No screenshots or keystroke monitoring, which helps with staff adoption
• Real-time budget and capacity dashboards for team-level oversight

Cons:

• Starter tier caps out at 5 users, so it doesn’t scale down cheaply for a slightly larger small team
• Automatic tracking depends on desktop app permissions, which some IT policies restrict

13. DeskTime

Key features:

• Fully automatic time tracking, no manual input required
• Productivity analysis (productive vs. unproductive time)
• Project tracking and task assignment
• URL and app usage tracking
• Optional screenshot capture on higher tiers

DeskTime leans toward productivity monitoring more than billing – it automatically tracks time and categorizes app and URL usage as productive or not, which suits a firm more interested in where the workday actually goes than in generating client invoices. It doesn’t offer a permanent free tier, only a trial.

Screenshot capture is available on higher tiers, which is worth flagging directly to staff before turning it on – monitoring features like this tend to affect trust and adoption more than any other feature choice on this list.

Best for: Firms more focused on internal productivity analysis than on client billing, comfortable with activity-monitoring features.

Pricing: Pro €5.50 per user per month, billed annually; Premium €8.25 per user per month, billed annually; Enterprise custom pricing (200+ users).

Free trial: 14 days; no permanent free plan.

Pros:

• Fully automatic tracking with no manual timer needed
• Productivity breakdown by app and URL usage, useful for internal efficiency reviews

Cons:

• No permanent free tier, unlike several other tools on this list
• Screenshot and monitoring features can affect staff trust if rolled out without buy-in first

Side-by-side comparison

Connecting time tracking to your accounting software

Almost every tool on this list integrates with QuickBooks or Xero in some form, and it’s worth checking the depth of that integration before committing – a native sync (like QuickBooks Time) behaves differently from a one-way export, and the difference shows up the first time you need to reconcile records. actiTIME connects to QuickBooks through its own QuickBooks integration, exporting time and cost data for payroll and invoicing without duplicate entry.

If QuickBooks is specifically your integration priority rather than time tracking in general, our separate roundup of QuickBooks time tracking integrations goes deeper into that comparison alone.

How to roll out time tracking at your firm

1. Set clear rules for what counts as billable before launch. Ambiguity here is what causes inconsistent logging across staff – decide upfront how client calls, internal meetings, and research time get categorized, and write it down.
2. Train the team on the tool itself, beyond the written policy. A short walkthrough of the actual interface prevents the most common early problem: people forgetting to log time simply because they haven’t built the habit yet.
3. Review entries regularly during the first few weeks. The same discipline that time card approval workflows apply at scale catches formatting problems and miscategorized time before they turn into a pattern across a whole billing cycle.
4. Connect it to your accounting software from day one. Delaying the integration means a period of manual re-entry that’s easy to get wrong and tedious enough to undermine adoption.
5. Track utilization more closely than raw hours. Once the tool is in daily use, watch utilization rate over time – it’s a better indicator of whether time tracking is actually improving billing accuracy than hours logged on their own.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Choosing surveillance-heavy features by default. Screenshot capture and keystroke monitoring can look like a shortcut to accountability, but they tend to damage trust and adoption faster than they improve billing accuracy. Reserve them for a specific, communicated reason – not as a default setting.
• Ignoring security and compliance requirements. Client financial data carries real regulatory weight. Skipping due diligence on how a tool stores and protects that data is a legal risk first, and an IT inconvenience second.
• Picking the tool with the most features instead of the one that fits. A solo bookkeeper doesn’t need trust accounting, and a CPA firm handling audits shouldn’t settle for a tool with no audit trail. Match the tool to the practice, not the other way around.
• Skipping the rollout plan. Buying the right software doesn’t guarantee it gets used correctly – without clear billable-time rules and a short training pass, adoption tends to stay inconsistent across the team.

FAQ

Do CPAs need different time tracking features than other accountants?

To an extent, yes. CPAs handling audit, tax, or other regulated engagements often need audit-trail documentation, period locking, and role-based billing rates to meet compliance standards like GAAP or IFRS. Bookkeepers and general accountants who bill clients directly but don’t handle regulated work usually just need accurate billable-hour tracking and straightforward invoicing – the compliance-heavy features matter less until a firm takes on regulated work.

Can accountants find free time tracking software?

Yes – several tools on this list offer free time tracking for accountants as a genuine tier rather than a time-limited trial. actiTIME is free for up to 3 users with no time limit, Harvest’s free plan covers 1 seat and 2 projects, and both Toggl Track and Clockify offer free plans for up to 5 users. Beyond a solo practice or a very small team, expect to move to a paid tier.

How much time do accountants actually lose without a time tracker?

There’s no single authoritative figure, but the direction is consistent across sources: Harvest estimates accountants can lose up to 20% of productive hours to manual, memory-based tracking. A more concrete benchmark is utilization rate – typical billable utilization sits around 55–60%, against a realistic target of 70–80%. That gap is time already being worked but not captured or billed.

What’s the difference between time tracking and time-and-billing software for accountants?

Time tracking software is the narrower category – it captures hours against clients, projects, or tasks, and some tools stop there. Time-and-billing software adds a compliance and money-movement layer on top of that: custom rates by role, retainer management, trust accounting, and invoice generation built into the same system. Most tools on this list blend both to some degree; if billing depth is your main priority rather than time tracking itself, see our dedicated roundup of time and billing software for accountants.

Time tracking software helps accountants capture every billable hour

There’s no single best time tracking software for accountants – the right tool depends on which category your practice falls into more than which one has the longest feature list. A solo bookkeeper needs accurate billable-hour tracking and simple invoicing; a CPA firm handling regulated work needs audit trails and approval workflows on top of that. Start from what your firm actually bills for and how it’s structured, then match features to that – not the other way around.

Try actiTIME free to see how tying time tracking to project cost and profitability works for your practice.