TimeTally - Timesheet Management AppTimeTally
Consulting Firms

Timesheet Software for UK Consulting Firms

Consultants work across several clients at once, and the hours have to be right for both payroll and profitability. TimeTally is consulting time tracking software — timesheet software for management consultants and the teams around them. Consultants log hours against a client project from their phone. Managers and partners approve the week. Approved timesheets export straight to Xero, QuickBooks, or CSV. From £3 per consultant per month.

Get Started Book a Demo
Consultant timesheet showing hours, breaks and the client project for the week
Consultant clocked in on their phone

“The app is simple to use, reliable, and makes managing holidays, absences, and staff records straightforward. The system has saved us a significant amount of administration time.”

CLI ManchesterJordan Ingoe, CLI Manchester

Simple Timesheets That Fit Around Client Work

Timekeeping software for consultants has to be faster than the spreadsheet it replaces. A day takes under 60 seconds to enter: start time, end time, breaks, the client project, and a note if the line needs one. It works in any phone browser, on a tablet and on a laptop.

TimeTally timesheet entry screen showing consultant hours logged against a client project

  • Assign Each Line to a Client Project

    Every timesheet line carries the project it was worked on. A consultant who splits a day between two clients logs two lines.

  • Add a Note to the Day and the Week

    Free-text notes sit on each entry and on the timesheet as a whole. A partner reading the week can see what the time went on.

  • Log Hours on Any Device

    Any phone browser, tablet or laptop works, and there is a native iOS app. Nothing has to be installed first.

Every consulting time tracking scenario, handled

Tap any card for the detail.

Start your free trial

14-day free trial · No credit card needed

What it does for consultants

What TimeTally Does for Consulting Teams

TimeTally is a straightforward timesheet tool for consulting firms. Here is what each part does and how it fits around client work.

Project & Client TrackingHourly Rates & OvertimeBreak TrackingTimesheet Approval WorkflowPayroll ExportMobile Access — No App Download

  1. Create projects for each client engagement. Consultants select the project when logging their hours, so you can see exactly how much time was spent on each client. If a consultant splits a day between two clients, they log separate entries for each. Reports show total hours and costs per project.

  2. Set an hourly rate and overtime rate for each consultant. TimeTally calculates standard pay and overtime pay automatically when timesheets are submitted. You can set daily or weekly overtime thresholds to match your firm's policies.

  3. Track lunch breaks and rest breaks separately. Under UK law, workers on shifts over 6 hours are entitled to a 20-minute uninterrupted break — check your obligations with our break time compliance calculator. TimeTally records breaks and deducts them from total hours so payroll figures are accurate.

  4. Consultants submit timesheets. Managers or partners review and approve them before payroll export. Every approval is recorded with a timestamp, giving you a clear audit trail of who approved what and when.

  5. Export approved timesheets to Xero, QuickBooks, or CSV with one click. The export includes employee names, standard hours, overtime hours, pay amounts, and break deductions. No manual re-entry needed.

  6. TimeTally works in any mobile browser. Consultants working at client sites or working remotely do not need to download an app or install anything on their devices. They can bookmark the page and log hours in under a minute. There is also a native iOS app for those who prefer it.

Explore time trackingEmployee time tracking software

Approve a Consultant's Week Split by Client Engagement

Managers and partners approve or reject timesheets from a phone, a tablet or a desktop. Each week arrives already totalled, with the hours split across the engagements the consultant worked on. Approved and exported are tracked as separate states, so a week signed off on Friday is not paid twice when the office runs payroll.

  • Open a day to see the detail behind it

    Each day is one line. Open it to see the hours, the break, the engagements the day was split across, and the note the consultant wrote about the work.

  • Rejections carry a written reason

    Send a week back with a reason and the consultant sees which line to change before resubmitting. The reason stays on the record rather than in a reply.

  • Approved and exported are separate states

    A week a partner signed on Friday has not yet gone to payroll. Export marks it separately, so nothing is paid twice when an engagement ends mid-month and nothing is missed.

  • Hide pay figures from a manager

    Rates and pay totals can be switched off for a given manager. An engagement lead then approves everyone's hours without seeing a single figure.
Rejection reasons recordedPay visibility is per-manager
Timesheet approvals Get Started
Approved weekly consultant timesheet showing hours, overtime and pay for each day

Every Consultant's Submitted Hours in One List

The timesheet screen lists every consultant for the current period with their total hours and a tick showing whether the week is in. A manager can see who still owes a timesheet without emailing round the team, and can work down the list from a phone between meetings.

  • One row per consultant, showing the team they sit in and their total hours for the period.
  • A tick marks whoever has submitted, so an outstanding timesheet is visible at a glance.
  • Step back and forward a period at a time to check an earlier week.
  • Approve every outstanding timesheet in the list in one action, or open one consultant and approve their days on their own.
Phone, tablet or desktopExport the period from the same screen
Manager view on a phone listing each consultant's submitted hours and total for the week

Watch a Week Get Approved and Exported

A short loop of the manager's screen. The month shows timesheet requests and time-off requests as they arrive. A submitted week is approved, then the payroll export opens with each person's hours, overtime and pay for the period.

All Departments
Jun 2026
M
T
W
T
F
S
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
S
M
T
AR1

Amelia Roberts

Kitchen

JK2

James Kelly

Front of house

PS3

Priya Shah

Kitchen

MP4

Maya Patel

Front of house

TW5

Tom Wilson

Bar

Timesheet Requests

3
AR

Amelia Roberts

37h 30m · Week of Jun 15

JK

James Kelly

38h 30m · Week of Jun 8

Time-off Requests

2
PS

Priya Shah

3d · Annual Leave

MP

Maya Patel

2d · Sick Leave

AR

Amelia Roberts

Monday 15 June · 09:00

AR

0h 00m

09:00 – 17:00

Break
End Done

Timesheet submitted

Week of Jun 15

AR

Amelia Roberts

Kitchen

Week of Jun 15, 2026

Mon15
09:00–17:00·30m

7h 30m

Tue16
09:00–17:00·30m

7h 30m

Wed17
09:00–17:00·30m

7h 30m

Thu18
09:00–17:00·30m

7h 30m

Fri19
09:00–17:00·30m

7h 30m

Submit Timesheet Submitted

Payroll Export

Week of Jun 15, 2026 · 5 employees

Employee
Reg. pay
Overtime
Total
AR

Amelia Roberts

37.5h

£281.25

—

£281.25

JK

James Kelly

40h

£300.00

£22.50

2h

£322.50

PS

Priya Shah

32h

£240.00

—

£240.00

MP

Maya Patel

38h

£285.00

—

£285.00

TW

Tom Wilson

40h

£300.00

£45.00

4h

£345.00

Total · 5 employees

£1,406.25

£67.50

£1,473.75

Confirm Export Exported!

Settings for Projects, Activities and Timesheet Periods

Which engagement the hours went to, which workstream inside it, and how many weeks make up a timesheet period. All three are settings, not a different product.

Create a project for each client engagement.

Project tracking is on by default. Create one project per client engagement, then nest it if the engagement has workstreams. Projects run three levels deep, so a client can sit above Discovery and Implementation rather than beside them.

A consultant splits a single day across as many projects as the day had. Four hours on discovery, two on implementation and one on internal business development is three lines, each with its own note, and the day still totals seven.

Activities are a second dimension and they are off by default. Turn them on when you want a week broken down by what was done as well as by who did it. The tag then follows the hours into every export and report.

Set the timesheet period to one, two or four weeks.

Choose a period of one, two or four weeks, then set the date the first period runs from. Every period after that follows the same cycle.

Consultancies rarely run to one clock. The team is paid monthly, a retainer is reported fortnightly, and a fixed-fee engagement is reviewed at each milestone. Match the period to the cycle the timesheet feeds and nobody has to add four weekly sheets together by hand.

An existing timesheet keeps the period it was created under. Changing the setting mid-year does not rewrite the weeks a partner has already approved.

Used Across UK Consulting Firms

TimeTally works for any consulting firm that needs to track staff hours by client and project. It is the same timesheet software for IT consultants as for management consultants, HR advisers and two-person boutiques. One price, and nothing switched on that you do not need.

  • Management Consulting

    Strategy, operations, change management, and organisational consulting firms

  • IT Consulting

    Technology consulting, software implementation, infrastructure, and cybersecurity firms

  • HR & Recruitment

    HR consulting, talent advisory, and executive search firms

  • Boutique & Specialist

    Environmental, sustainability, health and safety, and niche sector consultancies

Why it matters

Why Consulting Firms Need Accurate Timesheets

Consulting is a time-based business. Whether your firm bills by the hour or runs fixed-fee engagements, knowing how consultants spend their time is fundamental to understanding profitability.

Most UK consulting firms — management, IT, strategy, HR, or operational — juggle multiple client engagements at once. A senior consultant might split a week between two clients and internal work. Without a clear record of those hours, it is difficult to know which engagements are profitable, which are consuming more time than expected, and where to focus resources.

For firms that employ consultants on payroll, the Working Time Regulations 1998 still apply. The 48-hour average weekly limit (over a 17-week reference period) and rest break entitlements do not disappear because the work is project-based. Consultants who regularly work long hours across client sites are just as protected as any other worker.

For firms that engage contractors or freelance consultants, the off-payroll working rules (commonly called IR35) add another layer of complexity. Under the Finance Act 2021, medium and large businesses (those meeting two of: annual turnover above £10.2 million, balance sheet above £5.1 million, or more than 50 employees) are responsible for determining whether a contractor falls inside or outside IR35. TimeTally does not make IR35 determinations — that requires assessing factors such as personal service, control, and mutuality of obligation, typically with the help of HMRC's CEST tool or legal advice. However, having accurate records of hours worked and projects assigned can be useful evidence if HMRC queries an engagement.

Beyond compliance, there is a practical reason: payroll accuracy. Missed overtime, incorrect break deductions, or misallocated project hours lead to underpayments, overpayments, or both. Getting the data right at the point of entry — before it reaches payroll — saves time and avoids disputes. Our ROI calculator shows the potential savings from eliminating these errors.

Honest Positioning

What TimeTally Does — and What It Does Not

TimeTally is a timesheet and holiday management tool. It is genuinely useful for consulting firms, but it is not a billing platform, a utilisation tracker, or a project management suite. Here is the honest picture.

What TimeTally Does

Tracks hours worked by each consultant, with start time, end time, and breaks

Assigns hours to projects (which you can name after clients, engagements, or internal work)

Calculates pay based on hourly rates and overtime thresholds per employee

Manages holiday requests with statutory entitlement calculations and team calendar

Exports approved timesheets to Xero, QuickBooks, or CSV for payroll

Allows notes on timesheet entries (useful for recording what was worked on)

What TimeTally Does Not Do

Does not calculate utilisation rates or billable percentages — you would need to do this yourself from the exported data

Does not generate client invoices or billing reports — it exports to CSV/payroll, not to clients

Does not have a built-in billable vs non-billable toggle — though you can create separate projects for client work and internal work to achieve a similar result

Does not determine IR35 status — that requires legal or specialist assessment, not timesheet software

Does not track project budgets, burn rates, or profitability dashboards

Does not capture expenses, receipts or mileage — full time and expense tracking for consultants needs a second tool running alongside it

If your consultancy needs a full professional services automation (PSA) tool with utilisation dashboards, client invoicing, and project budgeting, TimeTally is probably not the right fit. But if you need a simple, affordable way to track consultant hours by project, manage holiday requests, and get the data into payroll — without paying £15-30 per user per month for features you will never use — TimeTally does exactly that.

UK Compliance Context

Compliance Context for UK Consulting Firms

TimeTally is a timesheet tool, not a compliance system — but accurate timesheet records support your legal obligations. Here is how the regulations apply to consulting firms and what role timesheet data plays.

Working Time Regulations

The WTR 1998 limit average weekly working hours to 48 (over a 17-week reference period) and require 11 consecutive hours of rest between working days. These rules apply to employed consultants. TimeTally records all hours worked, giving you the data you need to monitor these limits. You can export this data at any time if HMRC or the HSE request records.

IR35 and Off-Payroll Working

IR35 determines whether a contractor is effectively an employee for tax purposes. Since April 2021, medium and large businesses must make this determination for their contractors. TimeTally does not assess IR35 status — you need HMRC's CEST tool or specialist advice for that. But having accurate records of hours worked, projects assigned, and working patterns can be useful supporting evidence if a determination is queried.

HMRC Record-Keeping

HMRC requires employers to keep records of hours worked for at least two years. TimeTally stores all timesheet data digitally with timestamps and approval records — a complete audit trail that you can export whenever needed.

National Minimum Wage

Accurate hours tracking ensures your effective hourly rate does not fall below the National Minimum Wage (£12.21/hour for workers aged 21+ from April 2025). This can be relevant for junior consultants or administrative staff where unpaid overtime could push the effective rate below the legal minimum.

Holiday Entitlement

All UK workers get 5.6 weeks statutory holiday (28 days for full-time). This applies to employed consultants regardless of their seniority or the nature of their client work. TimeTally calculates entitlement automatically, including pro-rata for part-time staff and mid-year starters.

Rest Break Records

Under UK law, workers on shifts over 6 hours are entitled to a 20-minute uninterrupted break. TimeTally tracks breaks separately, so you have a record that breaks were taken. This applies even when consultants are working long days at client sites.

Simple, Transparent Pricing

One price. Every feature. No surprises.

£3/employee/month

Billed monthly, incl. VAT. Cancel anytime.

Project and client tracking
Hourly rates and overtime calculation
Break tracking and timesheet approval workflow
Payroll export to Xero, QuickBooks, or CSV
Mobile access — log hours from client sites
Get Started
Book a Demo

In short

What is consulting timesheet software?

Consulting timesheet software records the hours each consultant works on each client engagement, so the time can be approved, costed and passed to payroll. TimeTally does this for UK consulting firms from £3 per consultant a month. Consultants log start time, end time and breaks from any phone browser or the iOS app. They split the day across the engagements they worked on, add a note saying what the time went on, and submit the period for approval. A manager approves it or sends it back with a written reason. Every state change is timestamped. Approved hours export to Xero, QuickBooks or CSV with a breakdown per project. It is not time and billing software for consultants in the full sense: there is no client billing module, TimeTally does not raise the client invoice, and it does not capture expenses. It is the hour record that invoice is built from, which is where timesheet-to-invoice accuracy starts.

Price
£3 per consultant a month
Logging
Any phone browser, or the iOS app
Costs to
A project per client engagement
Exports to
Xero, QuickBooks, CSV
Not included
Invoicing, expenses, utilisation

Frequently Asked Questions

Can consultants log hours against specific clients or projects?

Yes. You create projects in TimeTally for each client engagement (or internal activity). When consultants log their hours, they select the relevant project. Reports show total hours and costs per project, so you can see how much time was spent on each client.

Does TimeTally track utilisation rates?

No. TimeTally does not calculate utilisation percentages or billable ratios. It records hours by project, which you can export to CSV and use to calculate utilisation yourself in a spreadsheet. If you need built-in utilisation dashboards, you would need a dedicated PSA tool.

Can I separate billable and non-billable time?

TimeTally does not have a built-in billable/non-billable toggle. However, you can create separate projects for client work and internal activities (e.g., 'Client A - Strategy Review' and 'Internal - Business Development'). The project-level reports then give you a breakdown of where time went.

Does TimeTally generate client invoices?

No. TimeTally exports approved timesheets to Xero, QuickBooks, or CSV for payroll purposes. It does not generate client-facing invoices or billing reports. You would use your accounting software for invoicing, with TimeTally's exported data as the source for hours worked.

Does TimeTally help with IR35 compliance?

TimeTally does not determine IR35 status — that requires assessing personal service, control, and mutuality of obligation using HMRC's CEST tool or specialist legal advice. However, TimeTally's records of hours worked and projects assigned can serve as supporting evidence of working patterns if HMRC queries an engagement.

Can consultants log time from client sites on their phones?

Yes. TimeTally works in any mobile browser — no app download needed. Consultants can bookmark the page on their phone and log hours in under a minute between meetings. There is also a native iOS app on the App Store for those who prefer it.

How does the approval workflow work?

Consultants submit their timesheets. Their manager (or partner) gets a notification and can review the entries — hours, projects, breaks, and notes. They approve or reject with one tap. Every approval is timestamped, creating an audit trail.

How do I audit a consultant's timesheet against what was delivered to the client?

Open the week and each day expands into its own lines: the hours, the break, the engagement or workstream each block of time was booked to, and the free-text note the consultant wrote about what that time went on. Because a day can be split across several projects, a mixed day reads as several lines rather than one round number, and the note is what ties a line to a deliverable. Approvals and rejections are timestamped and a rejection carries a written reason, so the trail of who accepted which line, and why one came back, stays on the record rather than in an inbox.

Can I set different hourly rates for different consultants?

Yes. Each consultant has their own hourly rate and overtime rate in TimeTally. When timesheets are submitted, standard pay and overtime pay are calculated automatically based on these rates. You can update rates at any time from the employee settings.

Does TimeTally track expenses as well as time?

No. There is no expense claim, receipt capture or mileage feature in TimeTally — it records hours, breaks, projects and leave. Firms that need combined time and expense tracking for consultants run an expenses tool alongside it, and use TimeTally's CSV, Xero or QuickBooks export as the hours half of the picture.

What payroll systems does TimeTally export to?

TimeTally exports to Xero, QuickBooks, and CSV/Excel. The export includes employee names, standard hours, overtime hours, pay amounts, and break deductions. Most payroll systems can import CSV files if a direct integration is not available.

Is TimeTally suitable for a small consulting firm with 5-10 people?

Yes — and at £3 per person per month, it is particularly well-suited to smaller firms that do not need (or want to pay for) a full PSA platform. A 10-person firm pays £20 per month for timesheet tracking, holiday management, and payroll export. No contracts, cancel anytime.

Still have a question? See all FAQs

Explore TimeTally

Employee Time Tracking SoftwareStaff Holiday TrackerRota PlannerProfessional Services TimesheetsAll Industries

Related Resources

Guides and tools for UK consulting firms

Professional Services Timesheet Software

Timesheet solutions for law firms, accountants, architects, and engineersLearn more

Track Employee Hours Legally

UK legal requirements for tracking staff hoursRead guide

Working Time Regulations Guide

Complete guide to WTD compliance for UK employersRead guide

Try TimeTally Free for 14 Days

No credit card required. Set up your consulting team in 10 minutes. Start tracking hours by client and project and exporting approved timesheets to payroll.

Book a Demo Get Started

FREE 14-day trial · No credit card required · Cancel anytime

Support that answers

A real person replies within 24 hours. No ticket queues, no bots.

UK GDPR compliant

A UK company, ICO regulated. Your data encrypted and never sold.