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Time tracking for architects with Harvest: fees vs hours

Harvest tracks hours against each project and RIBA stage, and project budgets update as time is logged. From about $9£7€8A$13C$13 a person a month.

At a glance

  • What it costs$27–33£20–25€24–30A$38–48C$38–47 a month

  • Worth, in extra profit or time saved in the worked example$798£600€714A$1,152C$1,128 a month

  • Pays for itselfIn a few days

  • Sign up and configure; no technical skills neededEasy to set up

Figures come from the worked example below, using its stated assumptions. Tool prices checked . How we check prices

The problem

Fixed fees for extensions and houses are easy to overrun without noticing, especially when technical design drags. If a practice of 3 overruns 2 projects a month by 15 unbilled hours each, that's 30 hours a month, worth $1,596£1,200€1,428A$2,304C$2,256 at $53£40€48A$77C$75 an hour, given away without anyone deciding to.

What the AI does

Harvest lets each person log time from a browser, desktop or phone against a project, and it updates project budgets as time is tracked. It can send automated reminders to log time and turn tracked time into invoices, which can be copied to Xero or QuickBooks Online. Set up each RIBA stage you're appointed for as a task, set each project's budget in hours from your fee proposal, review budget use weekly, and raise an additional-fee conversation as soon as a client's changes push a stage over.

A worked example

A three-person RIBA chartered practice in Leicester works on fixed fees for house extensions and one-off houses. Everyone logs time in Harvest against the project and stage, and the director checks budget use every Monday.

Before

No time records; overruns found at the end, about 30 unbilled hours a month across 2 projects

After

If budgets show changes early and half the overrun is billed as additional services or avoided: 15 hours a month recovered

What it's worth

About $798£600€714A$1,152C$1,128 a month recovered, against about $27£20€24A$38C$38 to $33£25€30A$48C$47 for three seats. 15 hours a month billed or avoided, worth about $798£600€714A$1,152C$1,128 at an assumed $53£40€48A$77C$75 an hour (fee work that is almost all labor, so counted in full). Cost: Teams is $9 (about $9£7€8A$13C$13) a seat a month billed annually or $11 (about $11£8€10A$15C$15) monthly, so $27 to $33, about $27£20€24A$38C$38 to $33£25€30A$48C$47 for three seats.

How to set it up

  1. Set up each live project in Harvest with a task for each RIBA stage you're appointed for, and a budget in hours from your fee proposal.
  2. Ask everyone to log time daily and turn on Harvest's automated reminders to track time.
  3. Review budget use for every project at a weekly meeting.
  4. When a client's change will push a stage over budget, write to them before doing the work, under the change process in your terms of engagement.
  5. At the end of each project, compare hours with the fee and adjust how you price the next one.

What goes wrong

  • Time tracking only works if everyone does it. A week of missing timesheets makes the budgets meaningless.
  • The free plan is 1 seat and 2 projects, so a practice needs Teams, priced per seat in dollars.
  • The pricing page doesn't list budget alerts, so someone has to look at the numbers each week.
  • Profitability reporting and timesheet approval are Enterprise only, at $14 to $17.50 a seat.

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Last updated October 17, 2026.