Harvest
Track time and expenses, invoice from the timesheet, copy invoices to QuickBooks Online or Xero. Not a ledger.
Best for
Service teams that live in timers, invoice from those hours, and already close in QuickBooks Online or Xero.
Not ideal if
Anyone who needs Harvest to be the ledger, or whose billable work spans many projects on Flex and will not buy Unlimited.
Standout
Timers that become the invoice, then a documented one-way copy into QuickBooks Online or Xero.
About Harvest
Harvest is a time tracker that invoices. It is not a ledger. You log hours and project expenses in the browser, the Mac or Windows apps, or on iPhone and Android. At billing time you pull those billable lines onto an invoice, email it, and let the client pay on the invoice through Stripe (card or US ACH) or PayPal. On Teams and above, sent invoices and optional payments copy one way into QuickBooks Online or Xero. Time and expenses do not post as standalone entries. You still close in that file.
FreshBooks can be the books for a service shop, with bank rec on Plus. Wave is a cheap cash file plus invoices. Invoicely sends invoices and exports a file; it has no QuickBooks Online connector. QuickBooks Online is the file itself. Harvest sits next to that file. Its job is timesheets to invoices, then a one-way copy of those invoices into QuickBooks Online or Xero.
People who stick are agencies, consultants, and small service teams who already live in timers. They like a short onboarding for new hires, project budgets, and invoices that already have the hours. They stay when the seat math is clear. They leave when Flex usage on projects, clients, tasks, and invoices turns a $9-per-seat sticker into a much larger bill, or when they expected Harvest to replace QuickBooks.
What people who used it say
What they tend to like
Timers that become the invoice
App Store reviews describe hours, tasks, and budgets flowing onto a professional invoice instead of reconstructing the week in a spreadsheet.
Short onboarding for a service team
Owners say new hires learn the timer in one sitting, and an MSP described a 20-minute month-end: generate Harvest invoices, read them, copy to QuickBooks Online.
Lighter than QuickBooks Time for a small shop
A solo woodworker preferred Harvest over QuickBooks Time for jumping between projects and watching the remaining budget.
What they hesitate about
The seat sticker is not the bill
Help already warns the second Flex invoice can jump (example $44 to $404). 2026 owner threads describe renewals far above $9 or $14 a seat once usage or Unlimited is applied.
Invoice copy is a push, not a live file
You generate the invoice in Harvest, then copy it. It is not fully automatic, and retainers never copy.
The product stays simple, for better and worse
Long-time App Store users praise the timer and also say requested enhancements were declined and phone support was thin.
How it hits your books
- Replaces your ledger
- No
- QuickBooks Online
- Partial
- Xero
- Partial
- Inventory
- No
- Payroll
- No
Review Harvest invoices, copy them to QuickBooks Online or Xero if you are on a paid plan, then reconcile and close in that ledger. Time and expenses do not land as standalone entries. Retainers and write-offs stay manual in the books.
Invite them to the QuickBooks Online or Xero file that received the copies, plus Harvest invoice PDFs. There is no year-end tax package from Harvest. Free has no accounting connector.
Images
Features
Track time on projects
Log hours with a timer, a daily or weekly timesheet, or a Google or Outlook calendar import. Mark tasks billable. Free: 1 active seat and 2 active projects. Paid: unlimited seats.
Invoice from the timesheet
Pull billable time, expenses, and fixed fees onto an invoice. Recurring invoices and reminders are on the product pages. Free cannot email an invoice or export a PDF unless Stripe is connected, and cannot attach files or a logo.
Collect card or ACH on the invoice
Stripe takes card or US ACH. PayPal Payments Standard is the other rail. Official help: US cards are usually 2.9% + $0.30; ACH is 0.8% capped at $5. Harvest adds a Stripe cut unless you are on Teams Unlimited or Enterprise Unlimited. PayPal: Harvest adds no fee.
Copy invoices to QuickBooks Online or Xero
Teams and above. One-way copy of sent invoices and optional payments. Not on Free. Does not work with QuickBooks Self-Employed or Desktop. Time and expenses copy only as invoice lines. Retainers and negative invoices do not copy.
Project expenses and receipts
Log a cost against a project, attach a receipt photo, submit it for reimbursement, and roll billable expenses onto the next invoice. That is project costing, not a spend-card product.
Team reporting and approvals (Enterprise)
Teams adds team reporting and per-person billable and cost rates. Enterprise adds timesheet approvals, profitability reporting, the activity log, SAML SSO, and required notes. Slack is Enterprise-only. Forecast is a separate bill at $5/person/mo yearly.
Pricing
Free is $0 with 1 seat and 2 projects. A 5-person shop on Teams yearly pays $45/month in seats ($540/year) before Flex usage on active projects, clients, tasks, and invoices, or an unpublished Unlimited usage fee. Monthly Teams seats are $11 each ($55). Enterprise yearly seats are $14 ($70 for five). Help's own Flex example: a seats-only first bill of $44 jumped to $404 once usage landed at the second renewal. Forecast is a separate $5/person/month yearly. Stripe's usual US card take is 2.9% + $0.30; Harvest adds its own cut unless you are on Unlimited. Yearly is 20% off the monthly seat rate.
Free
A solo tester with two active projects who can connect Stripe if they need to email an invoice.
- 1 active seat, 2 active projects
- Time tracking, invoicing, expense tracking
- Mac and iOS apps
- No QuickBooks Online or Xero
- Email/PDF invoices only with Stripe connected
Teams
A team that invoices from timesheets and needs QuickBooks Online or Xero copy. Seat price is the floor; Flex usage is extra unless you buy Unlimited. 30-day trial.
- Unlimited seats
- Team reporting and billable/cost rates
- Stripe, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Deel
- Up to 4 custom reports per person
- Flex usage (projects, clients, tasks, invoices) or Unlimited (unpublished)
Enterprise
Shops that need approvals, profitability, SSO, and an audit trail. Checkout defaults to this plan on annual billing. Same Flex vs Unlimited choice.
- Everything in Teams
- Timesheet approvals and profitability reporting
- Activity log, required notes, unlimited custom reports
- SAML-based SSO
- Scheduled phone support
Enterprise Plus
Organizations that want Harvest tailored: custom integrations, a named CSM, and assisted migration. Not self-serve.
- Everything in Enterprise
- Custom integrations and product customization
- Dedicated Customer Success Manager
- Custom onboarding and assisted data migration
- White labelling
Integrations
Platforms
Audience
Pick something else instead of Harvest
FreshBooks
Pick FreshBooks instead if invoicing should live in the same file as the books. Time still pulls onto the invoice, and Plus adds bank rec and accountant access. Harvest copies out; FreshBooks can be the file.
Invoicely
Pick Invoicely instead if you only need to send and collect invoices at a published low price, and time tracking is optional. There is no QuickBooks Online copy; you export a file.
Wave
Pick Wave instead if you want free invoicing plus a cash-basis ledger, not a team timesheet product with per-seat and Flex fees.
QuickBooks Online
Stay in QuickBooks Online if you already invoice there, your CPA will only open that file, or Harvest's Flex or Unlimited quote is the reason you are leaving. Harvest sits next to QBO; it does not replace it.