For consultants

Time tracking software for consultants who invoice in Wave

Independent consultants and small consulting firms lose hours between the work and the invoice: calls nobody logged, rates retyped by hand, a spreadsheet rebuilt every month. Swell tracks billable time by client and project, applies your rates and rounding, and creates the invoice draft in Wave for you to review and send.

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What is the best way to track hours as a consultant?

Log time against the client and engagement as you work, not from memory at month-end. Mark each entry billable or not, keep one rate per engagement and one rounding rule that matches your contracts, and generate invoices from the tracked entries instead of retyping them. If you invoice through Wave, use a tracker that sends those entries to Wave directly.

Where consulting hours get lost

Most consultants do not under-bill because they work slowly. They under-bill in the gap between doing the work and building the invoice.

The month-end invoice rebuild

Hours live in a timer app or a spreadsheet and invoices live in Wave. On the first of the month you copy each client's hours across, multiply by the rate, round the totals and type the line descriptions again. It takes an evening, and one transposed number becomes an awkward email from a client.

Short calls and emails that never get logged

A twenty-minute call, a quick review of a draft, an answer sent from your phone between meetings. Each one is small, and each one is billable under most consulting agreements. When time is reconstructed at month-end, those are the entries that disappear, and nothing tells you they are missing.

Different rates for different work

Strategy work and implementation are often billed at different rates, and subcontractors cost you a different amount than you charge. Keeping that straight in spreadsheet formulas works until someone adds a row in the wrong place, and the error only shows up after the invoice has gone out.

Edits after the invoice is sent

A client asks what a line covered, so you open your tracker, but entries have been edited since the invoice went out and the totals no longer match. Without a link between invoiced time and the invoice itself, every question becomes a reconciliation exercise.

How Swell fits a consulting practice

Swell covers one stretch of the work: from the moment you start a timer to a reviewed invoice draft in Wave.

Capture time where it happens

Start a timer from your browser or phone, or log time afterwards as a date and duration. Assign each entry to a client, project and task, and mark it billable or not. Saved timer shortcuts restart recurring work in one click, and Swell emails you when a timer has been left running.

Rates and rounding set once

Set a rate per project, per team member, or both; the most specific rate always wins, and amounts are stored as exact figures. Choose account-wide rounding, nearest or up to 6, 15 or 30 minutes, to match your engagement letters. The same numbers appear on timesheets, reports, CSV exports and the invoice.

Review, then create the Wave draft

Pick a client and date range and Swell shows every outgoing invoice line, grouped or in detail, with the hours, rate and notes behind it. Adjust a line description for that invoice without changing the original entries, then create a draft in Wave. Nothing is sent to your client until you send it from Wave.

Invoiced time stays put

Once a draft is created, the included entries are linked to that Wave invoice and their hours and amounts are frozen, so they cannot be edited, deleted or billed twice. Project budgets in hours show how much of an engagement is used, and reports filter by client, project or team member, with CSV export.

A month-end billing close in Swell

1

Connect Wave and import clients

Connect your Wave business once. During setup Swell brings in your Wave customers, and you match each one to an existing client or add it as a new one, so every client you invoice is ready to track against.
2

Track the month

Log billable and non-billable time against each client's projects as you work, from a timer, a saved shortcut or manual entry.
3

Check the numbers

Filter the report by client for the billing period, check project budgets and fix any entry that is missing a project or note.
4

Create each draft

Open the invoice review for a client, confirm the lines and rates, and create the draft in Wave.
5

Send from Wave

Approve and send the invoice in Wave as usual. The entries behind it are now linked and locked in Swell.

What to look for in time tracking software for consultants

Whatever tool you choose, these are the features that decide whether tracked time turns into accurate invoices.

Billable and non-billable time: A clear billable flag on every entry, so internal work and business development never land on a client invoice.
Rates per engagement: Rates set by project or person, applied automatically, instead of a rate column you maintain by hand.
Rounding that matches your contracts: If your agreements bill in 6- or 15-minute increments, the tracker should round the same way everywhere.
A direct path to your invoicing system: Invoices created from tracked entries in the accounting system you already use, without export and re-entry.
Locked invoiced time: Entries tied to the invoice they were billed on, so later edits cannot change what the client was charged.
Reports by client and project: Totals you can filter and export when a client asks for detail or you review an engagement's profitability.

When Swell is not the right fit

Swell is deliberately narrow. Look elsewhere if any of these apply:

You invoice from QuickBooks, Xero or another system instead of Wave. Swell only creates invoices in Wave.
You need native mobile or desktop apps, or offline tracking. Swell is a web app that works in a phone browser.
You bill mostly on retainers and need retainer balances managed in the tracker. Swell tracks budgets in hours only.
Your team needs weekly timesheet submission and approval before invoicing. Swell does not have an approval workflow yet.
You want project management, expenses or payroll in the same tool.

Questions from consultants

Do I need Wave Pro to use Swell?

Yes. Wave allows API-connected integrations only on its Pro plan or Wave Advisors, so you need one of those to connect Swell. You can still sign up and explore Swell during the 14-day trial, but creating Wave invoice drafts requires the connection.

Can I charge different rates for different clients?

Yes. Rates are set per project, per team member, or both, with an account default underneath. Give each client's projects the rate you charge that client, and use a project-and-person rate when a subcontractor bills at a different level. The most specific rate always applies.

Does Swell handle retainers?

Partly. You can set a budget in hours on a project and see how much of a monthly allowance is used. Swell does not manage retainer balances or create fixed-fee retainer invoices, so set those up in Wave and use Swell for the hourly work and for tracking usage against the allowance.

Can subcontractors or associates track time in my account?

Yes, on the Team plan. Invite people by email as members, admins or owners. Members track and manage their own time; owners and admins see account-wide reports and create invoices. Team is $29 a month including three users, then $7 for each additional user.

How much does Swell cost for a consultant?

Solo is $15 a month for one person tracking and billing their own time. Team is $29 a month for up to three users, then $7 per additional user, and adds team reports, budgets and role-based permissions. Both plans include a 14-day trial, and there is no free plan.

Bill this month's hours from Swell

Connect Wave, track a few days of work and create your first invoice draft during the 14-day trial.