Time & Workforce

Project Time Tracking & Timesheets Software

Project time tracking software records the time people spend on clients, projects and tasks through timers, weekly timesheets or automatic activity capture. It applies billable and cost rates, routes timesheets for approval and reports hours against budgets, so firms can invoice accurately and see project profitability.

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By LeadChange Research Team

LeadChange may earn a fee when you request pricing through our site or follow a sponsored link. Rankings are computed without knowing which vendors pay us.

Research in progress

We are verifying project time tracking & timesheets products against vendors’ official documentation and pricing pages. A ranking by LeadChange Score appears here once at least 3 products pass our research checks. Until then, this page explains what the software does, what we evaluate and how to choose.

What we evaluate

  • Timers and timesheets

    Captures time through timers, daily or weekly timesheets, mobile and browser entry.

  • Client, project and task codes

    Organizes time by client, project, phase and task, with billable and non-billable categories.

  • Billable and cost rates

    Applies rates by person, role or project to value time for billing and costing.

  • Timesheet approvals

    Routes timesheets to managers or project leads and locks approved periods.

  • Budget tracking

    Tracks hours and fees against project budgets with alerts.

  • Invoicing from time

    Creates invoices from approved billable time and expenses.

  • Profitability and utilization reports

    Reports margin by project and client, and billable utilization by person and team.

  • Accounting integration

    Syncs clients, invoices and payments with accounting or ERP systems.

  • Edit history

    Records who entered, changed and approved each time entry.

Who needs project time tracking & timesheets software?

Firms that sell time, bill by the hour or need to know what each project really costs are the core buyers: consultancies, agencies, accounting and law practices, architecture and engineering firms, and internal teams that charge work back to departments or report time on capitalized projects. The usual trigger is revenue leaking through unbilled hours, budgets overrun before anyone notices, or month-end chasing of spreadsheets.

It is a different job from time and attendance. The Department of Labor's recordkeeping rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act apply to each non-exempt worker, and employers may use any timekeeping method as long as records are complete and accurate. Those records include hours worked each day and each workweek, which time and attendance software captures along with pay rules. Project time tracking answers where time went, by client and task, and many firms run both.

A spreadsheet can work for a solo consultant or a very small team with a few clients. Buy a tool when you need approvals before invoicing, billable rates by person or role, budget alerts or reports across many projects.

How to choose project time tracking & timesheets software

Project time tracking succeeds only if people actually log their time, so ease of entry matters as much as reporting. Choose on how quickly time gets captured, how rates and budgets are modeled, and how cleanly approved time flows to invoicing and accounting.

Bring a real project to the demo, with its rate card and budget, and ask the vendor to track a week of time, approve it and produce the invoice.

  1. Fast time entry

    Time logged days later is less accurate and often under-reported, which means unbilled work.

  2. Client, project and task structure

    Reports are only as useful as the structure time is logged against.

  3. Billable rates and cost rates

    Profitability needs both what you charge and what the time costs, by person, role or project.

  4. Timesheet approvals and locking

    Approving time before invoicing catches errors, and locking prevents edits after billing.

  5. Budget tracking and alerts

    Overruns found at month end are too late to fix.

  6. Invoicing and accounting integration

    Re-keying approved hours into invoices creates errors and delays cash.

Requirements by company size

  • Small businesses

    • Timers and weekly timesheets that take seconds
    • Billable rates and invoice creation from tracked time
    • Accounting integration

    Watch out for

    • Paying for resource planning you will not use
    • Per-user prices that jump when you add part-time staff
    • No timesheet reminders, so time goes unlogged

  • Mid-sized companies

    • Approval workflows by project or manager
    • Budgets with alerts and profitability reports
    • Role-based billable and cost rates

    Watch out for

    • Reports that cannot combine billable and cost rates
    • Approved time that can still be edited
    • Separate tools for time, expenses and invoices

  • Enterprises

    • Integration with ERP, project accounting and HR systems
    • Audit trail of edits and approvals
    • Multi-entity, multi-currency rate cards

    Watch out for

    • Time codes that drift out of sync with the ERP
    • Weak controls for contract or audit requirements you must meet
    • Long implementations for features a simpler tool already covers

Red flags

  • Time can be edited after approval or invoicing with no history
  • Rates can be set only per person, not per project or role
  • No reminders or reporting on missing timesheets
  • Invoices must be built manually from exported hours
  • The tool is pitched to hourly payroll without overtime, break or rounding rules
  • Activity capture is on by default with no clear employee notice

Frequently asked questions

What is project time tracking software?

Project time tracking software records time spent on clients, projects and tasks, applies billable and cost rates, and reports hours against budgets. Most tools include timers, weekly timesheets, approvals and invoicing from approved time. Firms use it to bill accurately and see which projects and clients are profitable.

What is the difference between project time tracking and time and attendance software?

Time and attendance software records when hourly employees start and stop work and applies pay rules such as overtime and breaks for payroll. Project time tracking records what people worked on, by client and task, for billing and costing. Federal recordkeeping rules apply to each non-exempt worker, so firms with hourly staff often need both, or a tool that does both well.

What is the best way to track billable hours?

Log time as you work with a timer or daily timesheet, against a client and task with the right billable rate, and have it approved before invoicing. Set reminders for missing time and review unbilled hours every billing cycle. Logging from memory at the end of the week tends to under-record work you could have billed.

Is timesheet software worth it for a small firm?

It is worth it when unbilled hours, invoicing delays or budget overruns cost more than the subscription. A solo consultant with a few clients can often manage with a spreadsheet. Once you have several people billing time, approvals and invoices built from tracked time usually save hours every billing cycle.

How do accounting and law firms track time?

They log time against clients and matters or engagements, usually in short increments, with rates by person or role and approval before billing. Many use time tracking built into practice management software; others use a standalone tool connected to accounting. Look for client and matter structure, rate cards, edit history and invoice creation.

Can project time tracking software track time automatically?

Some tools capture activity from calendars, documents or applications and suggest time entries for people to confirm. This saves effort but collects more data about employees, so tell people what is captured, keep confirmation in their hands and check any notice rules that apply where they work.

Is there free project time tracking software?

Several vendors offer free plans, usually limited by users, projects or features such as approvals, invoicing and reports. Free plans can work for freelancers and very small teams. Check what you lose, such as timesheet approvals or accounting integration, before rolling one out to a billing team.

How we research

Products are ranked by the LeadChange Score, computed only from verified facts: capability coverage (30%), pricing transparency and value (20%), integrations and API (15%), security and compliance (15%), fit and support (10%) and data confidence (10%), times a category fit that lowers products built for another job. Payment never changes a score or a position.

Read the full methodology

  • Facts, not impressions

    Every input is a fact verified against vendors’ official documentation, with the date we last checked it.

  • Missing data scores zero

    We never assume a feature; unverified items lower the confidence label.

  • Independent of revenue

    Rankings are computed before and without knowing which vendors pay us.

Tell us what you need

We are still verifying products in this category, so no shortlist is shown yet. Tell us about your team and we keep your request; it is shared only with your consent.

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