Time Tracking for Accounting Firms

Time Tracking Software for Accounting Firms

Accounting firms handle tax preparation, audits, bookkeeping, and client consultations that require precise time tracking, especially during tax season surges. Professional time tracking helps accounting firms bill accurately for tax work, audits, and bookkeeping while maintaining profitability and managing seasonal workload fluctuations.

40%
More billable hours captured
32%
Better tax season workload visibility
93%
Client satisfaction with billing transparency

Time Tracking Built for Accounting Firms

Accounting firms face unique challenges around time tracking accuracy and billable hour capture that generic tools cannot address. With annual engagements, seasonal work, and advisory retainers, your team of CPAs, bookkeepers, tax specialists, and advisory consultants needs a time tracking system that understands managing seasonal peaks in tax work alongside year-round advisory and bookkeeping engagements. AgencyPro's time tracking capabilities are designed specifically for service businesses like yours. Rather than forcing you to adapt enterprise software or cobble together freelancer tools, AgencyPro streamlines the process of logging hours accurately across clients and projects in a way that matches how accounting firms actually operate. Tracking billable hours per project, Monitoring retainer utilization, Generating timesheet reports, Analyzing team productivity — all connected to your client projects and team workflows. The impact of poor time tracking and ensuring all billable work is captured compounds quickly for accounting firms. When lost billable hours and inaccurate project costing become the norm, it affects not just your bottom line but your client relationships and team morale. Key metrics like billable utilization rate, time capture accuracy, cost per project hour determine whether your agency thrives or merely survives. AgencyPro gives you the visibility and automation to optimize these metrics and build a more profitable, scalable operation.

Why Accounting Firms Need Better Time Tracking

CPA firms and bookkeepers managing tax preparation, audits, financial reporting, and advisory services.

Tracking time spent on tax preparation, especially during busy tax season when workload surges

Measuring hours for audit work, financial statement preparation, and compliance reviews

Capturing time for bookkeeping, payroll processing, and monthly retainer work

Documenting hours spent on client consultations, tax planning, and advisory services

How AgencyPro Solves Time Tracking for Accounting Firms

Smart time tracking with project-level timers, billable/non-billable categorization, and team timesheets.

Track time by service type (tax prep, audit, bookkeeping, advisory) for detailed billing

Monitor time spent per client and service to optimize pricing and identify high-maintenance accounts

Categorize time by activity (preparation, review, consultation, filing) for accurate service pricing

Generate reports showing time allocation across clients and service types, especially useful during tax season

Key Benefits for Accounting Firms

Capture Every Billable Hour

Multiple tracking methods — timers, manual entry, and weekly timesheets — ensure no billable work goes unrecorded. Integration with project tasks means time is always allocated correctly.

Real-Time Retainer Visibility

Monitor how many retainer hours each client has used in real-time. Get alerts before clients exceed their allocations so you can manage scope and expectations proactively.

Accurate Project Costing

Understand the true cost of every project by tracking time at the task and phase level. Compare estimated hours versus actual to improve future project pricing and estimates.

Team Productivity Insights

See billable utilization rates per team member, identify capacity for new work, and understand how time is distributed across clients and project types.

How It Works

1

Track Accounting Activities

Start timers for tax preparation, audit work, bookkeeping, or client consultations with automatic client and service categorization.

2

Monitor Service Time

Associate time entries with specific tax returns, audits, or bookkeeping periods to track work progress and billing.

3

Bill and Report

Export time data to invoices showing exactly what accounting work was performed, with detailed breakdowns by service type and client.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do we track time during tax season when workload is extremely high?

Quick-entry timers and batch time entry allow you to log time efficiently even during busy periods. The system supports time entry in 6-minute increments (standard for accounting) and can be accessed from mobile devices, so you can log time even when working late during tax season. Many accounting firms find it helpful to log time at the end of each client engagement rather than trying to track continuously.

Can we track time separately for tax preparation vs audit work vs bookkeeping?

Yes, you can create separate time categories for different accounting services. Tax preparation, audits, bookkeeping, and advisory services all have different time requirements and billing rates. Tracking this time separately helps you understand the true cost of each service type and price them accurately.

How do we handle time tracking for bookkeeping retainer clients?

Set up retainer-based time tracking that monitors hours against monthly allocations. The system alerts you when retainer hours are running low and helps you track time spent on different bookkeeping tasks (data entry, reconciliation, reporting). Many accounting firms bill additional hours beyond retainer allocations separately.

What about tracking time for audit work that spans multiple weeks?

Create audit-based time entries that can span extended periods, with the ability to organize time by audit phase or workpaper. The system aggregates all time spent on an audit, including fieldwork, documentation, and review time, ensuring all audit hours are captured and billed correctly. Audit work often involves multiple team members whose time needs to be tracked separately.

Track Accounting Time Precisely

Ensure every hour of accounting work is properly tracked and billed. Start tracking time accurately and improve your firm's profitability today.