In practice, we see that consultants quickly spend4 to 6 hours per monthon filling out timesheets. At a firm with 20 consultants, that’s 80 to 120 hours per month — nearly a full FTE lost to administration instead of billable work. At the same time, hours entered after the fact are structurally underestimated.
In this article, you will learn how to reduce the time spent on manual time entry by automating time tracking processes, without compromising on accuracy.
Key insights
- In practice, we see that consultants who track their time after the fact record an average of 10 to 15 percent fewer hours than consultants who track in real time.
- At an hourly rate of €130, that difference can amount to tens of thousands of euros per year per firm.
- Calendar integration saves 50 to 70 percent of manual entry time.
- Time tracking tools that reduce manual entry and errors combine timers, calendar integration, templates, and project integrations.
- The ultimate automation: from approved hours to sent invoice without any intermediate steps.
- A 3 to 5 percentage point improvement in billability yields thousands of euros per consultant per year.
The problem: administrative time waste
Consultants are hired for their expertise, not for administration. Yet, accurate time tracking is the foundation of billing, project management, and profitability. The problem is twofold: too much manual entry and too many errors in delayed registrations.
The problem is twofold. First, filling out hours takes too much time. Second, hours entered after the fact are inaccurate. In practice, we see that consultants who fill out their hours for the entire week on Friday afternoon record an average of10 to 15 percentless than consultants who track daily in real time.
For a firm that bills an average of€130 per hour, that can be a difference of tens of thousands of euros per year.
What can you do now?
- Calculate how many hours your team spends per month filling out timesheets
- Compare the registration rate of employees who track daily with those who fill them out weekly
- Identify which steps in the registration process are the most time-consuming
Six ways to automate time tracking processes
There are several ways to reduce the administrative burden of time tracking. These six approaches have proven to be the most effective in practice.
1. Calendar integration
Most consultants live by their calendars. By connecting your time tracking tool to Google Calendar or Outlook, appointments are automatically suggested as time blocks. The consultant only needs to confirm and, if necessary, select the project. This saves an average of50 to 70 percentof manual entry time.
2. Timer with project detection
Use a timer that you can start with a single click when beginning a task. Some tools automatically link the timer to the correct project based on your last entry or the active Jira ticket. No more guessing after the fact.
3. Weekly copying and templates
Many consultants work on the same projects week after week. The ability to copy the previous week as a starting point saves a huge number of clicks. You only need to adjust the exceptions.
4. Automated reminders
Daily or weekly notifications if hours have not yet been fully entered. This reduces the percentage of overdue entries.
5. Integration with project tools
Many consultancy firms work with Jira, Asana, or Trello. By connecting your time tracking to these tools, you can log hours directly from your project environment. The hours automatically appear in your time tracking system for billing and reporting.
6. From hours to invoice without intermediate steps
The ultimate automation: approved hours are automatically converted into invoice line items, including the correct rate per employee, project, or client. No Excel exports, no retyping, no errors.
📚 Read herehow to reduce billing errors caused by time tracking.
The impact on billability
The effect of automating time tracking processes on billability is often surprisingly large. We see two improvements in firms that switch from manual to automated time tracking:
- More hours are recorded— because fewer hours are lost to forgetfulness
- The registration process itself takes less time— meaning more hours are billable
For an agency with an average billability of75%an improvement of3 to 5 percentage pointscan generate thousands of euros in additional revenue per consultant each year.
Why is this relevant for consultancy and IT?
Consultancy and IT firms work almost exclusively on an hourly or project basis. Every hour that isn't recorded is an hour that isn't billed. This makes time tracking not just an administrative chore, but a direct revenue driver.
Moreover, clients increasingly expect transparency: detailed time breakdowns per project, per phase, and per employee. Manual reports take hours to compile. Automated reporting delivers the same result in seconds.
Note: with the tightening of theEU Working Time Directivein 2026, a reliable time tracking system is also becoming a legal requirement.
TimeChimp: time tracking tools that reduce manual entry and errors
We see that agencies switching to automated time tracking not only save time but also record hours more accurately.
- Calendar integration: Time blocks are automatically suggested based on your Google Calendar or Outlook.
- One-click timer:start and stop per task, automatically linked to the correct project
- Copy week:copy the previous week as a starting point and adjust any deviations
- Automatic reminders:daily or weekly notifications
- Jira integration:log hours directly from Jira, automatically synchronized
- Automatic invoicing:from approved hours to sent invoice in thirty seconds
💡See how the Jira integration works in TimeChimp here.
Conclusion
The key to less manual time entry isn't working harder, but working smarter. By combining calendar integrations, timers, templates, reminders, and integrations, you can reduce your administrative burden to just a few minutes a day.
✔️ Link your time tracking to your calendar
✔️ Use timers instead of retrospective estimates
✔️ Copy weeks and use templates for recurring projects
✔️ Turn on automated reminders
✔️ Eliminate manual steps between hours and invoice
👉Do you want to reduce the time spent on manual time entry and make more hours billable?Try TimeChimp free for 14 days.
