Timesheets for accountants: How to improve your practice with timesheet software
Time is money for any business … but particularly for an accounting practice. An accountancy is a business with mostly fixed costs – you hire a bunch of talented people, and how much profit you make depends on how well you make use of their time on client work. Keep utilisation and billability high, and your firm will make excellent profits. Let it slip too low, and your firm starts bleeding cash.
Timesheet software, also known as time tracking or time management software, helps accounting firms track and bill their time. Since time is, quite literally, money for an accountancy then it is evident that choosing the right timesheet solution is a critical business decision.
Timesheets to boost your revenue
With the right timesheet solution, an accounting services firm can dramatically improve its revenue. Effective time management boosts an accountancy’s revenue in several ways, including:
- Billing more of the time you spend on client work
- Scheduling the right resources on the work
- Charging the appropriate rate in all instances
- Scoping and pricing its projects better
Timesheets to control your costs
Look at the profit and loss (P&L) statement of a typical accountancy practice, and it quickly becomes apparent that employee costs make up the vast majority of their cost structure. Choosing the right timesheet system enables an accounting firm to control its costs by
- Catching scope creep or project management issues early
- Reducing the opportunity cost of time spent on unbillable activities
- Understanding how its internal practices (e.g. meetings) impact on staff utilisation
- Reducing the overhead and administration associated with managing time
Are you still using spreadsheets to track your time?
If so, you wouldn’t be the only one. It’s frightening how many accounting firms still use spreadsheet time tracking. Sure, it is an easy way to get started but as your business grows the problems escalate and you end up wasting billable time across the organisation – accountants and bookkeepers take longer to fill in their time, admin staff have to consolidate and re-enter data, the finance team is forever sending out new spreadsheet versions with the latest job codes, and management has to do their own spreadsheet analysis to get the data they need in the right format. Don’t you need a proper time tracking solution?
These days there are many powerful timesheet solutions that are easy to use, cost effective, and accessible from anywhere via the internet. You’ll be amazed how much time you save on admin alone, let alone the significant benefits that can come from understanding and managing your billable time more effectively.
Find the right timesheet solution for your accounting firm
For an extensive list of options to consider, see our timesheet software directory.
Alternatively, see below for a shortlist of great online timesheet solutions for accountants. Most vendors offer free trials, so we encourage you to click through and test them out for yourself. Usability matters enormously (and preferences can vary from person to person, or firm to firm) so make sure you look at how a solution does something as well as what it does.
Bill4Time
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Complete time billing solution, particularly well suited to legal and accounting firms (but used by plenty of others too including engineers, consultants, designers, etc). Bill4Time enables you to easily track time, manage projects, organise expenses, invoice clients and accept payment. Access it online and or via your mobile. Take a free trial of Bill4Time |
WorkEtc
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Online business management solution including timesheets, CRM, projects, and billing that is cost effective and easy to use. Allows you to manage everything in one place, with access via web, iPhone and Android. Comes with a powerful automation engine to streamline your processes. Take a free 30 day trial of WorkEtc. |
Harvest
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Online timesheet solution that is very intuitive and easy to use. Enter time against projects via the web, on your phone, or with a desktop widget. You can also send invoices and track payments from within the system. It also provides excellent reporting functionality. Take a free trial of Harvest |
