Harvest Time Tracking

Are you wondering about Harvest time tracking? You’re at the right place.

Harvest is a time tracking software solution with a user-friendly interface. It helps companies understand the time structure of their employees.

That is to say, it will help you answer two important questions:

How is the entire team spending their time?
Does a project cost more than it brings in?

Harvest is one of the most recognizable time tracking software solutions on the market.

Let us see what makes it so special.

We will be going through Harvest time tracking, as well as its other features, functionalities, and alternatives.

Time tracking is the main function of the software.

The practice itself gives the employees a clear view of their work process. It also helps the management identify issues before they become more serious.

Harvest allows its users to create to-do lists. This is an important part of the time tracking process itself.

Namely, the users can pick an item from their list and start a timer on that activity.

Each entry is connected to a specific project and client. In other words, the system categorizes spent time by these categories as well.

It is important to know that timers aren’t the only way to keep track of time. The users can manually add time entries as well.

Project Management with Harvest

Harvest offers its users the option of tracking project progress. Having this information is crucial if you are looking to deliver projects on time.

Control logged hours – see how much time has been invested in a project already
Budget and time estimates – see how close you are to achieving your projected time and identify issues
Project costs – see all resources (human, material, and overhead) as well as external and internal costs that have gone into a project so far
Uninvoiced totals – see the items that haven’t been charged yet

Knowing these statistics will help you create future estimates with more accuracy.

Expense Control

Harvest allows a more thorough overview of expenses with one handy addition. Namely, the users can take photos of their business-related receipts.

These receipts are then uploaded to the app and come as proof of all expenses. This way the spending is completely transparent and accountability increases.

Integrations

Harvest works great with many different software solutions. The platform has seamless integrations with

Web browsers – Mozilla, Edge, and Chrome
Project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Jira
Invoice software – Xero, QuickBooks, Freshservice
Payment apps – InvoicePayout, Stripe, PayPal
Employee communication and collaboration tools – Slack and Google Workspace
Zapier, Make, and Intregrately, which add thousands of additional integrations

Harvest Pricing and Plans

Harvest offers two plans – Free and Pro.

Some time tracking solutions create tiered plans, with users having to pay more for higher functionality. Yet, Harvest takes a different approach. Namely, the Free plan has all the functions of the Pro.

The difference in this case comes from the number of seats and projects allowed.

That is to say, the Free plan is available for a single user and up to two projects.

This means that Harvest is a great tool for freelancers.

However, if you want to get Harvest time tracking for your team, you will have to purchase the Pro plan license. The cost of the license is $12 per user per month.

User Experiences with Harvest

Here are the biggest pros and disadvantages to Harvest as expressed by its users on Capterra and G2.

Pros: clear reports, ease of use, alarms and reminders, good integrations

Cons: high price point, no versatile features, issues with handling even small files

Reviews

Capterra: 4.6 (534 reviews)

G2: 4.3 (774 reviews)

What are the alternatives to Harvest?

Harvest is, as you have seen, a relatively lightweight solution.

We are aware of the differences between different organizations. This is to say, Harvest is such a prominent name because companies see its worth.

This, of course, doesn’t have to mean you need to use it if you aren’t happy with its performance or pricing.

We are going to tell you a little about a great Harvest time tracking alternatives.

Time Analytics – a Short Introduction

Time Analytics is a time tracking solution that puts user experience above all other principles.

That is to say, the platform is extremely simple to use and doesn’t add unnecessary obligations to employees’ busy schedules.

The interface is intuitive, and using the application doesn’t require any training. Authorized users can make the interaction with the program even shorter by creating templates for the employees.

Yet, the reports the software delivers are extremely accurate and clear. This is true as the employees only enter the relevant information.

Time Tracking with Time Analytics

Time tracking is the main purpose of the program. The entire process is based on electronic timesheets.

Automatic entries allow users to create time logs with a simple click of a Start/Stop button.

Manual entries help edit, remove, and add logs more accurately and fix any mistakes. It is also a great option for field teams

The simple interface allows creating entries in only a few clicks by using recent entries, favorites lists, and templates

Real-time tracking gives you an insight into the activities of all team members and the progress and health of all projects

Two different views let you choose whether you’d like to see daily or weekly activity based on the number and scope of tasks

Task management gives authorized users the option of creating tasks and allocating them to the personnel

Client and Project Tracking

Time tracking is one element of mapping out your business process.

If you are looking to understand all the moving parts, you need to keep an eye on the clients and projects themselves as well.

Time Analytics delivers information and reports on all three. In other words, the software can help you identify the roots of any problem, whether it comes from within the company, or outside factors.

You will be able to find out exactly which clients and projects are unprofitable. Then, you can choose whether to negotiate the contract terms or terminate them altogether (the contracts, not the clients).

Key Performance Indicators (or KPIs) will show you all important facets of your business with the data collected from the employees
Client tracking allows the recognition of the best and lowest-performing clients
Profit tracking gives you an insight into the most and least profitable service lines and projects
The Billing feature helps you deliver transparent itemized lists that contextualize all costs
Finally, you can set custom hourly billing rates for each employee and project

Performance Reports

Employee performance is the element that pushes all organizations forward. You need to have an insight into said performance. However, this can be a touchy subject.

Namely, you need to monitor your employees to be able to know how they’re doing. Unfortunately, this is one of the most universally-despised elements of work.

Micromanagement is a huge issue that can lead to employee dissatisfaction. This, further, causes high turnovers and accompanying costs.

That is why Time Analytics has features that show employee performance. Rather than focusing on the minutiae, you will be able to see everyone’s biggest strengths and the issues they face.

Unrecorded hours reports show whether the employees have spent their allocated hours working
Overtime management lets you know who is struggling with their workload
Productivity evaluation shows time utilization per employee. That is, the part the billable hours make up in their overall hours
Task structure helps you understand how your workflow functions, bottlenecks, and other issues included
The Profitability optimization feature lets you compare your results to plans. This way you’ll be able to take action quickly.

Timesheets

Time Analytics relies on timesheets to bring you all reports and insights.

That is why timesheet management is one of the most important aspects of the application.

We are aware that managing paper timesheets and Excel tables is too much for any manager or team leader. That is why our reports are created with all users in mind.

Two different views – see daily or weekly timesheets depending on the number of tasks and the time they take
Editing logs – if a user tracks their time via the time clock, the entries will be transferred into the timesheet. however, users can still make changes to them
Reviewing timesheets – the managers and team leaders can review and edit the timesheet before the final submission
Exporting – turn the timesheets into Excel sheets or PDF files for easier handling

Invoice Assistant

An invoicing assistant that creates itemized lists of completed tasks is a great option in any time tracking software.

An invoice appendix is a great proof of work as it shows all activity that went into a project. It is also a great reminder of the value of your business.
Adjustable rates allow you to customize the rates of your employees for every project
Custom view removes all unnecessary information from the appendix and only shows the relevant data.
You can edit the invoices to make sure all the numbers are right and you haven’t forgotten anything.
Finally, you can export the invoices and send them either as a physical copy or via email

Time Analytics pricing

Final Word

Harvest is a relatively lightweight time tracking solution with some other functions. It gives the employees complete control over their data and delivers reports that can help them make better business decisions.

We have given you a short overview of its most important features, as well as the plans you can get. Hopefully, this guide can help you make an informed decision when choosing your time tracking software.