Time and billing software records your team’s hours, sends them for approval, applies agreed rates and turns approved time into client invoices. One record runs from timesheet to invoice, so nothing is retyped.
This guide is for agencies, consultancies, IT services firms and other teams that bill clients for their time. It covers what the software does, the approval step most tools skip, a worked timesheet-to-invoice example and a buyer checklist. Running an accounting practice? Our guide to time and billing software for accountants covers matter codes, partner review and write-off reason codes.
What is time and billing software?
Quick Answer: Time and billing software connects time tracking to invoicing. Staff log hours against clients and projects, a manager approves them, the system applies each rate, and approved time becomes invoice lines. The best tools also sync invoices to your accounting ledger.
You will also see it called time tracking and billing software or time billing software. The labels describe the same category. What separates a real time and billing system from a plain timer is what happens after the hours are logged.
A timer answers one question: how long did the work take? Time and billing software answers three more. Was the time correct? What should the client pay for it? And has it already been billed?
What does time tracking and billing software actually do?
Most tools in this category run the same four-stage chain. The order matters, because each stage depends on clean data from the one before it.
- Capture. People log time against a client, project and task, with a note. Timers, weekly timesheets and calendar imports all feed the same record.
- Approve. A manager reviews submitted timesheets, sends back errors and locks the approved entries.
- Rate. The system prices each billable entry using a project, task or person rate, so nobody multiplies hours by hand.
- Invoice. Approved, unbilled time and expenses become draft invoice lines, which then sync to the accounting platform.
Is time and expense tracking software the same thing?
Nearly. Time and expense tracking software adds non-labour costs to the same chain. Travel, subcontractors and software bought for a client sit next to the hours and reach the invoice through the same approval step.
That matters because hours alone flatter a project’s margin. Our guide to project expense tracking explains which costs to capture and how to rebill them. When you compare tools, check that expenses follow the same approval and invoicing path as time.
Why is the approval step the one most tools skip?
Many tools can produce an invoice from tracked time. Fewer make approval a hard gate before that happens. Without the gate, the invoice is only as accurate as the least careful timesheet.
Approval catches three kinds of error before a client sees them:
- Misclassified time. An internal meeting logged as billable client work.
- Missing context. An entry with no note, which a client is likely to query.
- Wrong totals. A duplicated entry or a timer left running overnight.
Once a manager approves a timesheet, the entries should lock. That stops anyone editing billed time after the fact. It also gives you an audit trail if a client challenges a line later.
If your team runs approvals across contractors as well as staff, our contractor timesheet approval workflow template sets out who reviews what and when.
How do you create an invoice from a timesheet?
The timesheet to invoice process works best as a fixed sequence. Here is a worked example for a five-person consultancy billing one client for March.
Step 1: Log and submit the month’s time
Three people worked on the client’s project. The project bills by person rate, so each person’s rate applies automatically.
| Role | Rate | Billable hours logged |
|---|---|---|
| Partner | £180/hr | 6.0 |
| Senior consultant | £120/hr | 32.5 |
| Analyst | £85/hr | 41.0 |
| Total | 79.5 |
Step 2: Review and approve
The project manager reviews each submission before anything is invoiced. Three issues come up:
- 2.5 hours of the senior consultant’s time was an internal planning meeting. It is reclassified as non-billable.
- 1.5 hours of senior consultant time was rework on an error the firm made. The partner writes it off.
- One analyst entry of 1.0 hour has no note. It is rejected, resubmitted with a description and then approved.
That leaves 75.5 approved billable hours. The write-off is worth £180 at the senior consultant’s rate. It stays visible in profitability reports instead of quietly disappearing.
Step 3: Generate the invoice lines
The approved, unbilled time and one approved rebillable expense become a draft invoice. Here, lines are grouped by person.
| Invoice line | Quantity | Unit price | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner: strategy review and steering meeting | 6.0 hrs | £180 | £1,080.00 |
| Senior consultant: process mapping and workshops | 28.5 hrs | £120 | £3,420.00 |
| Analyst: data collection and reporting | 41.0 hrs | £85 | £3,485.00 |
| Expense: rail travel for on-site workshop | 1 | £146.40 | £146.40 |
| Subtotal | £8,131.40 | ||
| VAT at 20% | £1,626.28 | ||
| Total due | £9,757.68 |
Without the review, the client would have received a bill for 79.5 hours, £480 more than it should be. That is the kind of overbilling that triggers disputes and slows payment.
Step 4: Send, sync and mark the time as billed
The finance lead checks the draft, sends it and the invoice copies to the accounting ledger. The 75.5 hours are now marked as billed. They will not appear in next month’s invoice run.
For a deeper walkthrough of rounding, line-item wording and payment terms, see our step-by-step guide on how to generate an invoice from tracked hours. If totals stop matching your reports, our guide to billable hours not matching the invoice lists the usual causes.
What should “automatic invoicing from timesheets” really mean?
Searches for the best time tracking software with automatic invoicing from timesheets usually mean one thing. People want invoices without rebuilding them in a spreadsheet. “Automatic” should not mean that unreviewed time goes straight to a client.
A good definition of automatic invoicing includes these checks:
- Approved time only, by default. Unsubmitted or rejected entries stay off the invoice unless an administrator deliberately allows them.
- Rates locked at entry. A later rate change should not silently reprice work that was already invoiced.
- No double billing. Once time is on an invoice, it is marked as billed and drops out of future invoice runs.
- Flexible grouping. You choose lines by project, task, person or individual entry, depending on what the client expects.
- A draft first. The system builds the draft, and a person still presses send.
In Keito, this is how creating an invoice from time and expenses works. Approved billable time and expenses import into a draft, grouped the way you choose. Billed entries are excluded from later imports. Timesheet approval locks entries and makes them available for invoicing.
Do you need an ERP to automate timesheet-to-invoice for professional services?
Usually not. An ERP that automates timesheet-to-invoice for professional services is built for firm-wide finance, procurement and operations. Most small and mid-sized firms only need the time-to-invoice chain plus a connection to their existing ledger.
Larger firms often look at professional services automation (PSA) suites instead. These add resourcing, project planning and margin reporting on top of time and billing. Our explainer on what professional services automation is compares PSA with ERP and covers when the bigger suite pays for itself.
A simple test helps. If your accounting platform already handles the ledger, you need time and billing software that feeds it cleanly. You do not need a second general ledger.
How do popular time and billing tools differ?
Tools in this category tend to be built for one type of firm first. The table summarises how three common approaches compare. Features listed were checked on each vendor’s site in October 2026.
| Tool | Built mainly for | Strengths | Check before buying |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill4Time (often searched as “bill 4 time”) | Law firms and legal teams | Matter-based billing, trust accounting, pre-bill review, batch invoicing, QuickBooks sync | Legal-specific features you may not need outside a law firm |
| Harvest | Agencies and general teams | Timesheet approvals, invoices from tracked time and expenses, copies invoices to QuickBooks Online or Xero | How write-offs and rate changes show up in reporting |
| Keito | Professional services teams, including those using AI agents | Approval-gated invoicing, expense approvals, person, task or project rates, Xero and QuickBooks Online sync | Approvals need the Pro plan, and accounting integrations need the Business plan |
Whichever tool you trial, run a real billing month through it. Feature lists rarely show how approvals, write-offs and rate changes behave under pressure.
What should you check before choosing time and billing software?
Use this checklist on any trial. Each question maps to a stage in the track, approve and invoice chain.
| Question to ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Does time entry require a client, project and task? | Untagged time cannot be billed or reported on accurately. |
| Can a manager approve or reject timesheets, with locking? | Approval stops errors reaching the client. |
| Does it support project, task and person rates? | Most firms bill different rates for different work. |
| Does a rate change leave invoiced work untouched? | Old invoices must match what the client was charged. |
| Can you see written-off time in reports? | Hidden write-offs make projects look more profitable than they are. |
| Do expenses follow the same approval path as time? | Unapproved costs on an invoice cause disputes. |
| Does billed time drop out of future invoice runs? | It prevents double billing. |
| Does it sync invoices to your accounting platform? | Re-keying invoices is where numbers drift. |
Still choosing the tracker itself? Our time tracking software for accountants buying guide compares capture methods, and its tests suit most professional services firms. Teams on Xero can follow our guide to connecting time tracking to Xero invoicing to test the final step before going live.
Key Takeaway
Time and billing software earns its keep at the approval step. Invoice only approved time, lock the rates, and sync to your ledger so every bill matches the work.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is time and billing software?
Time and billing software records billable hours, routes them through approval and turns approved time into client invoices. It applies each project, task or person rate automatically. Most tools also sync finished invoices to an accounting platform.
What is the difference between time tracking software and time and billing software?
Time tracking software records how long work takes. Time and billing software also approves that time, prices it and turns it into invoices. If your tracker stops at a timesheet export, you are still billing by hand.
How do I create an invoice from a timesheet?
Create an invoice from a timesheet by approving the hours first, then applying the agreed rate to each billable entry. Group the approved entries into invoice lines by project, task or person and add any approved expenses. Review the draft, send it and mark the time as billed.
Should invoices include time that has not been approved?
No, invoices should normally include approved time only. Approval catches misclassified hours, missing notes and duplicate entries before a client sees them. Some tools let an administrator include unapproved work, but that should be a deliberate exception.
Does time and billing software handle expenses as well as hours?
Yes, most time and expense tracking software handles both. Expenses are logged against a project, approved and added to the invoice next to billable hours. Check that receipts attach to each expense and that expenses follow the same approval path as time.
Can time and billing software sync invoices with Xero or QuickBooks?
Yes, most time and billing tools copy invoices into Xero or QuickBooks Online. The sync should carry clients, line items and tax, then update payment status from the ledger. In Keito, Xero and QuickBooks Online sync is part of the Business plan.
Ready to bill from approved hours?
Keito connects time capture, timesheet and expense approvals, invoicing and accounting sync in one place. Approved hours become draft invoices without a spreadsheet in between.