Built for the way agencies actually bill.
Retainers that auto-invoice. Project P&L with real margin %. Cost rate vs billable rate, with per-person-per-project overrides. Designed for small business US shops, not 200-seat enterprises.
Five reasons small agencies pick us over Harvest or Toggl.
Most time-tracking tools were built for individuals or for enterprises and then stretched to fit agencies. SB Time Tracker was built for agencies first — every feature exists because a partner-led shop asked for it.
Five things every agency needs that most trackers fumble.
Retainers that auto-bill
Set a 40-hour or $5K monthly retainer. The auto-invoice service generates next month's invoice on the 1st. Burn-down view tracks hours used vs purchased.
Cost rate vs billable rate
Two rates per person. The P&L report uses both. Margin % isn't a guess — it's revenue minus cost, surfaced per project.
Per-project rate overrides
Senior consultant bills $250 on one client and $200 on another? Set the override on the project. Reports honor the hierarchy automatically.
Team-based access
Group people into the Brand team or the Dev team. Assign teams to projects and clients. New hires get access on day one without 30 permission flips.
Auto-overdue dunning
The invoice goes overdue → polite reminder → firm reminder → final notice — on a cadence you set. You stop chasing.
"How much of the 40 did we use?"
Most tools force you to fake retainers as projects with hour budgets — which works until you need to invoice the unused balance, roll over hours, or run a P&L on the actual retainer revenue. We built retainers as a first-class concept: hours-or-fee, with rollover policy and burn-down per period.
- First-class retainer model — not a project workaround
- Hours-based or fixed-fee retainers
- Monthly, quarterly, or custom periods
- Rollover or expire — your call per retainer
- Burn-down view at any point in the period
"Are we actually making money on this client?"
If you only track billable rate, every project looks profitable. If you track cost rate alongside it, you can see which clients are actually paying for your senior bench. The Profitability report does the math: revenue − cost, per project, per period.
- Project P&L with revenue, cost, margin, margin %
- Drill from any project to entry-level detail
- Sort by margin % to find your best and worst clients
- Past-budget projects flagged in red
- CSV export for the partner who wants to model it themselves
"Should we hire?"
The Utilization report compares logged hours against weekly capacity (40h default, override per person), split into billable vs total. Three weeks at 110% billable on a senior is a hiring signal. Three weeks at 60% is a different signal. You stop deciding based on vibes.
- Per-user weekly utilization
- Billable % and total %, side by side
- Capacity-aware (40h default, override per person)
- Heatmap across the team
- Weekly + monthly rollups
"Did anyone send the reminder?"
Net 30 invoice goes overdue → Day 1 polite email → Day 14 firm email → Day 30 escalation. The dunning service runs on its own schedule, in your branding. You only step in if the client actually responds with a question.
- Auto-overdue on due-date passage
- Three-stage dunning cadence (configurable)
- Each stage uses your own templates
- Stops automatically on payment
- Per-invoice dunning audit trail
Migrate from Harvest in under an hour.
CSV import accepts standard Harvest exports. Time entries, projects, clients, and people come over with names preserved.
| Feature | SB Time Tracker | Harvest |
|---|---|---|
| Price per user (annual) | $7/mo | $13.75/mo |
| First-class retainer model | ✓ Included | Workaround via projects |
| Recurring invoices from retainers | ✓ Included | Limited |
| Cost rate vs billable rate split | ✓ Included | Limited |
| Project P&L with margin % | ✓ Included | — Not available |
| Per-user-per-project rate override | ✓ Included | Limited |
| Auto-overdue + dunning emails | ✓ Included | Manual |
| Team-based access (with Team Leads) | ✓ Included | Permission groups |
| CSV import from Harvest | ✓ Included | n/a |
Agency questions we get a lot
We have 5 people. Will this fit?
Yes — that's the sweet spot. We built this for small business shops. The pricing is per-user, the workflows assume a partner or owner is doing approval and invoicing, and the reports answer the questions a partner-led shop actually asks.
Can subcontractors log time?
Yes. Add them as Employee or Manager users. Set their cost rate to what you actually pay them, their billable rate to what the client pays. Profitability report nets the difference automatically.
What if we have non-billable internal projects?
Internal projects (R&D, marketing, ops) are first-class. They count toward total utilization but don't show up on client reports or invoices. Mark them non-billable and the rate fields disappear.
Can clients see their own invoices?
Yes. The /features/portal page covers this — each client contact gets a read-only login to see their open / paid invoices and approved hours. Hosted card pay arrives Q2 2026 via Stripe Connect.
What about non-US agencies?
We're US-only today. USD pricing, US-format dates, US tax-rate model (a single rate per invoice, no VAT logic). Multi-currency and international tax are roadmap — Q4 2026 at the earliest. If you need them today, stay on Harvest.
What's the typical setup time?
Under an hour. Create the tenant, import Harvest CSV, set rates per user, set up your first retainer. We'll send a check-in email on day 3 and day 10 of the trial.