When it comes to tracking time, Harvest and Clock Shark are my go-to apps for automating timesheets. I typically recommend Harvest to clients that need to manage several projects and retainers; I recommend Clock Shark to my clients within the construction industry or general small businesses.
This week, we’ll take a deep-dive into Harvest.
To start, what is Harvest?
Harvest is time tracking software designed for tracking both billable and non-billable time, expenses, projects, and invoices.
When do I recommend Harvest?
I recommend Harvest to clients that need to:
- Track retainers
- Track an unlimited amount of projects
- Provide estimates
- Integrate with other software systems that they are using
- Save time and money through the automation and integrations
What are the main features in Harvest?
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- Time Tracking. Track time spent and by task. You can really see where you are spending time.
- Estimates. You can create and send estimates to clients.
- Retainer Management. Your team can track their time against multiple retainers. Your clients can login to their portal and see how much time is left on their retainers.
- Expenses. You can track expenses on the project and client level.
- All-in-One Invoice Management. Harvest is an all-in-one billing and invoicing program! You can create Invoices for your billable time or setup recurring invoices for clients. The system also allows you to collect payment and send preset or scheduled payment reminders. All Harvest invoices and payments automatically sync with QuickBooks Online and Xero.
- Integrations. Harvest connects with over 70 other popular tools. The accounting and project management software integrations save me the most time but Harvest also connects with CRMs, customer tracking systems, proposal tools, and other apps my clients use every day.
- Automation. Harvest takes what used to be a very manual process and completely automates it. Between time reporting, cost analysis, reporting, invoicing, and seamless integration with other projects, the automation saves time and provides useful stats that can shape future business decisions.
Why I love Harvest:
Where do I start? Harvest is one of my favorite apps for several reasons:
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- Simple, Easy Setup. Setting up new accounts, new projects and new retainers is a very simple process. The easy-to-use interface allows you to effortlessly create and maintain accounts.
- Comprehensive Invoice Management – You can create Invoices for your billable time directly from your Harvest timesheets. In addition, the system allows you to send Invoice payment reminders, export invoices and set up recurring invoices.
- It Talks to QuickBooks Online (and a lot of other accounting programs). You can export your billable time or invoices into Excel or directly into QuickBooks. What a time saver! I love that Harvest recognizes the difference between billable and non-billable time and only imports what you select. The automated integration between timesheets and accounting saves a tremendous amount of time each month.
- Custom reporting. Harvest’s report engine is very easy to use and completely customizable. You can quickly get a visual of your billable and non-billable time, identify which projects take the most time, and how much time you have spent on each retainer. You can also use the reports to answer questions like: Did I price the project correctly? Are we burning through retainer hours too quickly? How long does it usually take to complete this task?
- Mobile app. The mobile app is so handy! You can start a timer from literally anywhere. It also allows you to snap a pic of an expense or invoice clients on the go.
Harvest has completely changed the way so many of my clients work.  If you’re looking for an easier way to track your billable time or get a handle on your retainers, I’d love to show you more about this easy to use tool! Contact me with questions about time-tracking or other bookkeeping needs.
I am finding Harvest and QBO and retainers do not play nice. Do you have a recommended way to set this integration up?
Great question! So, when you look in your QBO account you’ll see that the retainers are sitting in a Balance Sheet liability account called, Retainers Payable. What you’ll need to do is go into each invoice manually (in QBO) and adjust them by creating an invoice line item that is “Retainers” and making it negative to pull money from the Retainers Payable account. This is will reduce the invoice amount owed and show that you are applying the retainer to the invoice, and reduce the Retainers Payable account in your QBO file. It’s an extra step but, works nicely once you see what you’ll need to do.
I’m happy to jump on a call with you and do a quick Zoom screenshare to show you how to adjust them!
When I synced Harvest with QBO, my invoices went to Billable Income Expense in QB and automatically split to Accounts Receivable. I’m new to using QBO. Am I doing this right?
Hi Lorraine: in the integration setup, you can “select” where you are mapping them to. Billable Income Expense is an expense account (not income) used to capture the expenses you have in your business that you are passing on to your clients. You want to map the “income” to an “income” account, not an expense account (look for: income, service/fee or sales of product income and choose what best fits your business). Here’s a Harvest link to the QBO integration [click here]. The default Chart of Accounts sounds like it needs to be reviewed + customized a bit specific to your business – I do this with clients during our training. Some QBO training would definitely set you on the right path and set you up with bookkeeping tips + tricks.