BetterFlow vs Harvest: verified hours vs billable estimates
Harvest has been helping agencies track time and bill clients since 2006. It's mature, reliable, and integrates with the accounting tools professional services firms actually use. For time-to-invoice workflows, Harvest excels. But there's a gap: Harvest trusts whatever hours you enter. For engineering teams where work can be objectively measured, that trust creates billing risk.
BetterFlow approaches the problem differently. Instead of trusting entered hours, it verifies them against GitHub commits, pull requests, and Jira tickets. The result: billable hours that reflect actual work.
Top Software Testing Companies: Verified vs Estimated Hours
When evaluating top QA companies or best software testing providers, ask how they prove hours worked. The best partners can demonstrate correlation between billed time and deliverables. BetterQA built BetterFlow to provide that proof automatically.
Quick comparison
FeatureBetterFlowHarvest Time trackingYesYes InvoicingBasicComprehensive Expense trackingNoYes AI verificationYesNo GitHub integrationDeep (commit correlation)None Jira integrationDeep (ticket correlation)Basic Leave managementIncludedNo QuickBooks integrationVia exportNative Starting price$8/user/month$10.80/user/month
Different strengths
Harvest optimizes for the billing workflow: track time, categorize by project, generate invoices, sync with accounting. It's excellent at moving hours through to revenue. The assumption is that entered hours are accurate; the system doesn't question them.
BetterFlow optimizes for the verification workflow: track time, verify against actual output, flag discrepancies, approve with confidence. It's excellent at ensuring hours reflect reality before they become billing entries.
When to choose Harvest
Harvest makes sense when your primary need is time-to-invoice workflow and QuickBooks/Xero integration. You bill for non-engineering work where output can't be objectively measured. Your team's work doesn't generate trackable artifacts like commits or tickets. Expense tracking is as important as time tracking. You trust your team and don't need verification systems.
Harvest is genuinely excellent for agencies billing design work, consulting hours, or other services where verification isn't practical.
When to choose BetterFlow
BetterFlow makes sense when you bill for engineering work that generates commits, PRs, and tickets. You want verification before hours become invoices, not after disputes arise. Clients have questioned bills or you've had to write off hours. You need leave management alongside time tracking. AI-powered team analytics would help with capacity planning.
For engineering-focused professional services, BetterFlow's verification capabilities fill a gap that Harvest's billing features don't address.
The trust problem
Most timesheets contain honest mistakes, not fraud. Someone forgets to log Friday's hours and estimates them Monday. Someone logs 8 hours but spent 2 in meetings that should have been categorized differently. Someone rounds up because they "worked hard" even if the hours don't quite add up.
These mistakes compound across teams and months. Harvest has no mechanism to catch them. BetterFlow's verification surfaces discrepancies before they become billing entries, protecting both revenue and client relationships.
Integration philosophy
Harvest integrates with accounting and invoicing tools because billing is its focus. BetterFlow integrates with development tools because verification is its focus. Neither approach is wrong; they serve different needs.
If your primary workflow is time to invoice, Harvest's accounting integrations matter more. If your primary workflow is time to verification to approval, BetterFlow's development integrations matter more.
The verdict
Harvest is the better choice for agencies focused on time-to-invoice workflows, especially those billing non-engineering work. Its maturity, accounting integrations, and expense tracking serve that market well.
BetterFlow is the better choice for engineering teams who need verified hours, not just tracked hours. The AI verification creates confidence in billing that trust-based systems can't provide.
Many teams could use either tool. The deciding factor is whether you need verification or trust the hours your team enters without it.
About BetterFlow
Built by BetterQA, a software testing company that builds its own tools. BetterFlow verifies engineering hours against actual output, ensuring billable time reflects real work.
Sources & References
- Harvest - Time and Expense Tracking
- SPI Research - Professional Services Benchmark
- G2 - Harvest Reviews
Published by BetterQA, an ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certified company with 8+ years of experience in software quality assurance. According to research by McKinsey, data-driven project management improves team productivity by up to 25%. Last updated on .
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