Many business owners selling services still use Excel spreadsheets when it’s time to bill, making them prone to guessing or even making up the billable time when invoicing because they failed to track the time. Doing this can cost you and your team time, money, and resources.

Billable time is any time spent working on client-related projects and tasks. These include research, client phone calls, reading and sending emails, planning and completing client’s projects, attending and holding meetings, and more.

Time tracking for accountants is crucial to have an accurate and trusted record of where your accounting firm is spending its business hours. It measures your productivity, lets you manage tasks and projects effectively, streamlines your billing process, and makes sure that all your hard work is compensated for, especially when your job is billed by the hour.

Time Tracking for accountants: What Are the Steps to Track Billable Hours?

Monitoring your billable hours lets you gain insights into the amount of time you spend on work. Tracking your time properly could make a real difference to the way you do business. Here are some steps to track your billable hours accurately:

1. Set your hourly rate

The first step to start tracking your billable hours is to determine your hourly rate. To get fair pay, conduct research on the rates of businesses offering services similar to yours and have a target annual salary.

Afterward, divide your salary in mind by the number of working hours in a year. If you are working for a full-time job, use 2,080 hours. You may raise your hourly rate accordingly to offset the amount of time you’ll spend working on your non-billable tasks.

2. Choose an invoicing schedule

Set an invoicing schedule as soon as you have your hourly rate set. You can follow a monthly billing cycle or adjust it according to your agreement with your client.

3. Use a reliable time-tracking software

Time tracking for accountants starts with an effective time log. To develop a manual time log, set up a spreadsheet with separate columns. Indicate your client’s name, the work you performed, and the date and the time you spent working on their projects. Record your billable hours by project then calculate your total working hours.

On the other hand, you can use an accounting practice management software like ours. With our time-tracking software for accountants, you don’t need to time in and out of different apps. You can seamlessly track billable and non-billable time inside our workflow tool with our built-in time tracker.

In addition, you can invoice your clients accurately. Our software lets you integrate with QuickBooks Online so you can export your time entries or send invoices without any hassle and help you get paid faster. Moreover, our time-tracking reports let you see where you spend your time, help you manage your payroll more efficiently, and boost your productivity and profitability.

Conclusion

Active time tracking can scale your accounting firm. With an accounting platform with dependable time-tracking and invoicing features like ours, you can streamline your workflows, hit your deadlines, and grow your business.

Scale your accounting firm with our accounting practice management platform. Start your free trial today and get your free accounting workflow templates!