Time Tracking for Accountants & Bookkeepers
Every client call, every review, every filing session - if it isn’t logged, it isn’t billed. Accountants and bookkeepers lose revenue each month to unbilled time entries. Sandtime.io makes it easy to capture time per client as you go, monitor retainer usage in real time, and invoice from a complete record instead of rebuilding your week from memory.
Accountants & Bookkeepers: why they choose Sandtime.io
Track time by client
Organize every entry under the right client account. Billing is accurate when time is logged where it belongs, not reconstructed at month end.
Capture every billable interaction
Log time for reviews, calls, filings, and client questions as they happen. No end-of-week reconstruction, no forgotten 15-minute consultations.
Monitor retainer usage
See how many hours each client has consumed against their retainer. Know when a client is running low before they go over - not after.
Manage staff time
Track time across partners, staff accountants, and bookkeepers from one account. See who worked on which client without chasing timesheets.
How an accounting firm tracks billable time by client
An accounting or bookkeeping firm sets up Sandtime.io with one project per client, with revenue rates set per project and cost rates per staff member. Staff log reviews, filings and client calls against that client as they go, and partners get invoice-ready totals per client at month end with no per-user fee.
- Open a project for each clientName each project after the client, or split a large client into engagements such as year-end accounts and monthly bookkeeping. Put internal training and practice admin on a non-billable project so it never reaches a client total.
- Give partners and staff the right accessMake partners Administrators, let a senior who runs a group of clients be a Project Administrator, and invite bookkeepers as Users. Users see only the clients they are assigned to, and everyone signs in with email, Google, Microsoft or Apple.
- Log time between client callsStart a timer in the web app or the Chrome extension when a file opens, and add a short call afterwards with its start and end time. Reports can round time to 6 or 15 minutes to match the increments you bill in.
- Close the month with approvalsStaff submit their timesheets, a partner approves them, and the month locks so billed hours stop changing. The Invoices template then lists time, rate, net revenue, tax and total revenue per client, ready to export to Excel or CSV.
Step by step in the help center: invite the team with the right role, approve a week from the email, and turn on auto-locking.
Common use cases
- Track billable hours per client account throughout the day
- Turn monthly time logs into invoice-ready client totals
- Monitor retainer hours so clients know when they are running low
- Log time for tax prep, reviews, filings, and client consultations
- Track staff and associate time across multiple client engagements
- Export time data into billing or practice management software
Key features
One-click timers
Start timing the moment a client call begins or a file opens. Each entry goes to the right client.
Retroactive time entry
Add entries for work completed without a running timer - with client context and notes - anytime.
Multiple clients at once
Run separate timers for different clients simultaneously. Switch between engagements without losing time.
Invoice-ready reports
Pull time reports by client, date range, or staff member - ready for invoicing or practice review.
Where Sandtime.io stops
Better to know before you invite the team. These are the gaps people in this line of work ask about most.
- No invoicingSandtime.io does not send invoices. The Invoices report template lists time, rate, net revenue, tax, and total per project, and you export it to Excel or CSV for your billing software.
- No project budgetsThere is no budget field or budget alert. A report grouped by project shows hours, cost, and revenue so far, and you compare them with the estimate yourself.
- Reminders are a weekly emailThe fill-timesheet reminder is one email, sent on Friday at 6 PM while auto-locking is on. It is off by default, so each member switches it on in their notification settings.
Common questions
Is Sandtime.io free for accounting firms?
Yes. Sandtime.io is free for unlimited users, so every accountant, bookkeeper and assistant in the firm can track time without a per-user fee or a credit card.
Can I track billable hours per client?
Yes. Give each client its own project, mark time as billable or non-billable, and set cost and revenue rates per project and per team member. Reports then show billable hours and their value by client.
How do I turn tracked hours into invoices?
Start from the Invoices report template, which lists time, hourly rate, net revenue, tax and total revenue per project, then export it to Excel or CSV for your billing or practice management software.
Can partners review timesheets before billing?
Yes. Team members submit their timesheets, an Administrator approves or rejects them, including from email, and past periods can lock automatically so billed hours stop changing.
Does Sandtime.io monitor what my staff do on their computers?
No. There are no screenshots, no screen recording and no keystroke logging. People record the time they worked, and reviewers see those records.
Keep exploring
Continue with the most relevant Sandtime.io pages for this topic.
Track breaks and other non-billable time
Sandtime.io has no dedicated break timer. Non-billable projects with the Billable switch off keep breaks in your timesheet and out of what you bill.
Open pageBillable Hours
Work hours that can be charged to a client or project. Essential for professional services firms to track revenue.
Open pageCost, revenue, and billable reporting
Use billable flags and rates to understand project profitability without losing the self-reported workflow.
Open pageCost
The expense associated with employee work hours. Calculated by multiplying time by cost rates for profitability analysis.
Open pageCreate a project for reported time
Create projects that people can report against, mark them billable or non-billable, and keep reporting tidy.
Open pageCustom Reports
User-defined reports with flexible groupings, metrics, and filters. Custom reports answer specific business questions.
Open pageTrack your first hour today
Create your free account and see results in minutes.