Time Tracking for Consultants Who Bill by the Hour

  • ✅ Automatic billable vs. non-billable hour tracking
  • ✅ Multi-client, multi-rate billing
  • ✅ Invoicing straight from tracked hours
  • ✅ Utilization rate reporting

No credit card required

Free up to 10 users

Cancel anytime

Mac Windows Linux iOS Android Chrome
Consultant time tracking dashboard
Forbes Advisor 2025
USA Today
Business Insider
Forbes Advisor 2026
Entrepreneur
Capterra
G2
GetApp
Software Advice
GDPR
HIPAA
SOC 2
ISO

Join 29,000+ Organizations

Start Tracking Consulting Time in 3 Steps

one

1. Create Your Account

Enter your email and organization name. No credit card required.

two

2. Add Your Clients and Set Rates

Create a client for each engagement, and set rates per client or per project where they differ.

three

3. Track Time and Invoice Directly

As hours get tracked and categorized, invoicing and utilization reporting update automatically.

one

1. Create Your Account

Enter your email and organization name. No credit card required.

Create your Apploye account
two

2. Add Your Clients and Set Rates

Create a client for each engagement, and set rates per client or per project where they differ.

Invite your employees
three

3. Track Time and Invoice Directly

As hours get tracked and categorized, invoicing and utilization reporting update automatically.

Review work activity
1. Create Your Account 2. Add Your Clients and Set Rates 3. Track Time and Invoice Directly

Everything You Need to Track and Bill Client Work

Billable Hour Tracking

Every tracked hour gets categorized as billable or non-billable, automatically, so nothing gets reconstructed from memory when it's time to invoice.

  • Per-client and per-project breakdowns
  • Manual entry for time logged elsewhere
  • Exportable reports for clients who ask for them
See Billable Hour Tracking
Call center screenshot monitoring dashboard with activity tracking and employee productivity insights.

Multi-Client, Multi-Rate Billing

Different clients, different rates. Apploye applies the right one automatically as time is tracked.

  • Client-specific and project-specific rates
  • No manual rate lookup
  • Handles a packed client roster without extra spreadsheets
employee-screen-recording

Invoicing

Turn tracked hours into client invoices without exporting to a separate billing tool.

  • Draft, preview, and send from the same dashboard
  • PDF export
  • Invoice a client once, or in smaller recurring amounts
 Live Feed showing projects and real time screenshots, and which tasks employees are working on.

Utilization Rate Reporting

See what percentage of tracked time is actually billable, per consultant or firm-wide, instead of a rough guess at the end of the month.

  • Track trends over weeks, months, or quarters
  • Spot who's overloaded or underutilized early
See the Utilization Report
Daily productivity report showing time spent on Slack, Facebook, Figma, and task trends.

Project and Task Management

Manage the work alongside billing and tracking all your hours.

  • Create projects and tasks under each client
  • Track time against specific tasks, not just the project as a whole
  • Set and monitor project budgets
Manage Projects
Dashboard showing activity screenshots and app usage for team members on Apploye.

What Apploye Users Are Getting

Man sitting on a grey couch working remotely using a laptop near large windows and a small potted plant.

Around 30% faster timesheet reviews

A real-estate firm billing by the hour per case replaced manual notes with tracked time. Internal disputes over logged hours largely stopped, because there was finally a record to point at instead of two conflicting recollections.

Read the story
Three men sitting at a table in an office, smiling while looking at a laptop screen together.

25% less admin time

HubXpert manages a hybrid team across two countries and more than 150 projects.

Read the story
Two men discussing something while working together on a laptop in a modern office.

Billable and non-billable sorted automatically

A 1,000+ person accounting firm used to split hours by billable status, client, and project by hand before every billing cycle. Now billing reads from a record that's already sorted.

Read the story

Tracking Stays on Your Terms

Screenshots are Optional

Some firms need proof of work for distributed consultants or contractors. Others don't want it anywhere near their team. You can turn screen monitoring off, turn it on, or adjust the frequency.

Screenshot tracking settings for frequency, blur, deletion, notifications, and screen records.

What Gets Measured, And What Doesn't

Activity tracking measures active and idle periods during tracked hours. It does not record what anyone types.

Individual employee monitoring settings for screenshots, activity, apps, and URLs.

Client Data Stays Protected

Apploye is GDPR and HIPAA-compliant. Consulting firms working under client confidentiality agreements can point to that in a security review without escalating it.

Pricing Clarity

The free plan is for up to 10 users, with no time limit and no credit card. Paid plans start at $4.50/user/month.

What is included in Apploye's free plan?

Features
Free Plan
Price
$0
Users
Up to 10
Time tracking
Included
Screenshots
1 screenshot/hour
Application tracking
Up to 3 apps/day
Website tracking
Up to 5 websites/day
Activity analytics history
7 days
Timesheet history
1 month
Projects
Up to 3 with unlimited tasks
Clients
Up to 3
Attendance & leave tracking
Included

How to Calculate Consultant Utilization Rate

Utilization rate is the share of tracked time that is billable.

Utilization rate = (billable hours ÷ total tracked hours) × 100


A consultant who tracks 40 hours in a week and bills 30 of them has a 75% utilization rate. Most consulting firms target somewhere between 60% and 80% for billable staff, lower for those carrying internal or business development responsibility.

Billable vs. non-billable: billable hours are hours a client is invoiced for delivery work, client meetings, and research tied to an engagement. Non-billable hours are real work that no client pays for directly: internal meetings, proposal writing, training, admin.

What else Apploye, 
offers  consulting teams

Online timesheets · Time & project reports · Timesheet approval · Payroll management · Project budget tracking · Mobile time tracking · App & website tracking · Activity tracking

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Apploye work for solo consultants, or does it need a team?

Both. A solo consultant uses the same client, rate, and invoicing setup as a full firm; there's no minimum seat count, and the free plan covers up to 10 users, so most small firms never hit a paywall.

Can I set different rates for different clients?

Yes. Rates can be set at the client level or the project level, and Apploye applies the correct one automatically as time is tracked. You don't look up or apply rates manually at invoicing time, which is where most rate errors happen.

Can I invoice clients directly from tracked hours?

Yes. Tracked hours convert into a draft invoice inside Apploye that you preview, adjust, and send without exporting to a separate billing tool. Invoices can be sent once or set up as smaller recurring amounts, and exported as a PDF.

Does Apploye calculate utilization rate?

Yes. Once hours are categorized as billable or non-billable, the utilization report calculates the percentage automatically, per consultant or firm-wide. You can view it over weeks, months, or quarters to see whether someone is consistently overloaded or underutilized.

Do I have to use screenshots and activity tracking?

No. Both are optional and off by default. You can run Apploye as pure time tracking and invoicing, enable screenshots only for specific contractors, or adjust how often they're captured.

Can I manage multiple client projects in one place?

Yes. Create separate projects and tasks under each client, then track time and budgets for each independently. Reports break hours down by client, project, team member, or date range.

Stop reconstructing timesheets at month-end

Track hours as they happen, bill the right rate automatically, and invoice from the same place.

No credit card required

Apploye Dashboard - Employee Productivity Tracking