The 3 Best Time Tracking and Billing Software Built for Engineers

Time tracking and billing are major challenges for engineering firms. Employees often guess their hours or round up after a long day, which leads to inaccurate time entries. Engineering firms also struggle to track work-in-progress (WIP) and which hours can be billed to clients. 

Having a clear view of which hours need to be billed at each project stage saves administrative time and enables you to accurately bill your clients when phases of work have been completed. That’s why it's important to find software that solves the unique challenges of time tracking and billing for engineering firms.

In this article, we highlight the top three time tracking and billing software for engineers, five key features to look for, and tips for choosing the right one for your business.

The Advantages of Time Tracking and Billing Software

Choosing a solution that offers both time tracking and billing capabilities saves project managers administrative time, improves the accuracy of budgeting, and enables firms to pay employees and subcontractors faster.

Integrated time tracking and billing software simplifies project management for engineering firms. Specialized software that offers a centralized platform to accurately track billable hours, streamline client invoicing, and optimize resource allocation is a critical tool to leverage for increasing operational efficiency. 

Additionally, time tracking and billing software provides valuable insights into project profitability, which allows for better decision-making and more informed resource planning. 

In essence, it streamlines administrative tasks, improves financial transparency, and ultimately drives business growth.

5 Features Engineers Should Look for in Time Tracking and Billing Software

To choose the best time tracking and billing software for engineering firms, it needs to have certain features: 

• Templates: Having pre-made templates for timesheets, with tags for different types of work, can save time when you're creating timesheets for new projects.
• Reports: Real-time data on hours worked help managers in the front-office to make better, faster decisions for resource allocation.
• Invoices based on phases of work: Being able to invoice your clients when phases of work are completed allows your firm to get paid faster and speed up the cash collection process.
• Link tasks to hours: Having the ability to link tasks employees have completed to the hours they spent on them increases your understanding of productivity. 
• Include markups: Many engineering firms markup subcontractors’ fees when billing clients, and most softwares don’t have the ability to easily do so. 

Top 3 Time Tracking and Billing Software for Engineering Firms [2024]

1 - Aldoa

Aldoa is an all-in-one solution for engineering firms that includes time tracking, billing, and task management to gain full visibility into all projects. 

• Connect tasks with the time spent on those tasks for accurate invoicing and reporting. 
• Create timesheet templates with project phases, and invoice clients quickly as each phase of work is completed. 
• Include markups for direct expenses and subcontractors, and invoice clients with multiple cost structures.
• Adjust each project’s budgets and hours based on real-time data.
• Software purpose-built for engineering firms and their complex workflows, projects, and processes.

2 - Hubstaff

Hubstaff enables employees to track their time whether they’re at the office or in the field. It shows project managers when employees begin working, managers can then approve timesheets before pushing them to payment. 

The finance team or project manager can set each employee’s rate and send payments through their integrations with major payment platforms. It also improves bookkeeping with its reports and integrations with accounting solutions.

3 - Apploye

Using Apploye, employees can choose whether they want to monitor their time with automatic or manual timers. It also provides a Pomodoro timer to improve productivity. It has full reporting and dashboards to help managers understand employee productivity. Apploye also has a schedule and leave management to improve your team management in one place. They also have a simple task assignment system where managers can assign tasks to employees and see how long it takes to complete.

It doesn’t have an in-built payment system, so you can create invoices in the platform based on fixed fees or hours worked and then send it to clients by email.

How to Choose the Right Software for Your Engineering Firm

Choosing the right software is key to enabling you to solve time tracking and billing effectively. 

We suggest that you first research the options available. Look at generalized and specialized software to understand the differences between them. You can check reviews online from platforms such as Capterra to see what actual users say about your options. 

Finally, choose 2-3 solutions to examine more closely and schedule a demo on their website. Ask the sales team your questions, discover what their customer support is like, and whether the software solution will solve your problems.

Time Tracking and Billing Software: Aldoa's Solution for Engineering Firms

Aldoa supports engineering firms with time tracking and billing with clear, easy-to-use timesheets and simplifies billing without using a 3rd party system.

Book your free demo here.