What to Look for in a Harvest Alternative (For Architecture & Engineering Practices)

Harvest has long been a familiar time tracking tool for small studios and consultancies. But recent pricing changes have prompted a lot of practice managers and finance leads at UK architecture and engineering firms to properly compare Harvest alternatives, not just on cost, but on whether a generic time tracker was ever really built for how AEC project work runs. 

1. Time tracking built around projects, not just tasks

Most time tracking software alternatives are designed for generic client billing. Architecture and engineering work needs more structure than that. 

Look for: 

• Time logged against project stages (e.g. RIBA Stages 0-7), not just a project name 
• Mobile and site-based entry for staff working away from the studio
• Role and grade-level tracking, since fee burn depends on who's doing the work, not just how long it takes

Project time tracking that ignored project structure just produces a number, not something a director can use to see if a job is running to fee.

2. Timesheets your design and technical teams will actually complete

Timesheet compliance is a real problem in practices where architects and engineers are focused on drawings and deadlines, not admin.

Before switching, check:

• How quickly can staff log time against the right stage and task, ideally in a few clicks?
• Can practice managers approve timesheets in bulk, by project or by team? 
• Does it distinguish chargeable from non-chargeable time (business development, internal CPD, etc.)?

Good employee timesheets reduce chasing at month-end, which matters more in a 20-80 person practice than almost anywhere else.

3. Invoicing that reflects project progress, not just hours

This is usually the sharpest gap when firms move off Harvest. Practices don't invoice like agencies, billing often needs to reflect percentage completion, fixed-fee stages, or milestone billing, alongside disbursements and expenses.

Ask any alternative:

• Can invoices be generated from tracking time and fix-fee stage completion, not just an hourly total?
• Does it support multiple currencies and VAT handling for UK & Ireland practices working across borders?
• Can disbursements and expenses be added to an invoice with manual re-entry?

If invoicing and time tracking sit in separate systems, someone on your team is reconciling by hand every billing cycle, exactly the manual work switching tools should remove. 

4. Reporting that shows fee burns, not just hours logged

Director and finance leads need to know whether a job is on track before it's overrun, not after. 

Look for reporting that shows: 

• Time and cost against fee, by stage, in real time
• Work in progress (WIP) across the full project pipeline
• Utilisation and profitability by project, team, or office, without exporting to a spreadsheet to work it out. 

A tool that can only report what happened last month isn't giving practice leaders what they actually need. 

5. A migration path that doesn't stall live projects

Practices can't afford a messy switch mid-project. Before committing to any Harvest pricing alternatives, get clear on: 

• Whether historical project time and budgets import cleanly, stage by stage 
• Whether there's dedicated onboarding for AEC-specific setup, or just generic documentation 
• How long a practice your size can realistically expect to be fully live

Project Profitability

A project can meet its deadline and still underperform financially. Architecture and engineering firms should therefore monitor project margin, labour costs, billable hours and actual versus forecast profitability throughout delivery.

Project Margin = (Project Revenue − Project Costs) ÷ Project Revenue × 100

Monitoring margin as the project progresses can reveal whether extra hours, scope changes or resource costs are reducing the expected return, allowing teams to take corrective action before project close.

The bottom line

For architecture, engineering, and IT consultancies, a Harvest alternative needs to do more than track hours, it needs to understand how project-based fee work actually runs, from stage-based tracking through to invoicing that matches how you bill. 

Try Milient Project Flow: Track Metrics, Improve KPIs, and Deliver on Time

Milient Project Flow helps architecture and engineering teams connect project planning, time tracking, budgets and reporting in one place. With clearer visibility across every stage, teams can monitor performance earlier, improve key project KPIs and make better decisions before issues delivery or profitability. 

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