Since implementing Coretime, our administrative workload has decreased significantly. We can respond to client queries quickly, with accurate, trusted data, and focus on delivering high-quality projects. – Operations Director, Pharmaceutical Consultancy
Software built for consulting firms that sell time, expertise and outcomes
Coretime helps consulting firms track time, manage projects and retainers, and improve billing accuracy all in one system designed for firms that sell time and expertise rather than products.
Challenges consulting firms face
Losing billable hours
Managing retainers and fixed-fee engagements
Poor visibility into project profitability
Time-consuming invoicing
Scope creep and under-billing
Balancing utilisation vs burnout
How Coretime supports consulting firms
Consulting firms live and die by how well they track time, manage engagements and turn work into revenue. Coretime brings everything together into one system designed for businesses that sell expertise not products.
Track every billable minute (without chasing timesheets)
Consulting work is fluid. Coretime makes it easy for consultants to capture time as they work whether they’re in meetings, delivering client work, or supporting long-running engagements.
- Simple time entry for billable and non-billable work
- Support for different billing rates by role, consultant or client
- Clear visibility of billable vs non-billable time
- Reduce missed or forgotten billable hours
Outcome: Consultants get paid for the work they actually do not just the work they remember to log.
Manage consulting engagements, projects and retainers
Whether you run time & materials projects, fixed-fee engagements or monthly retainers, Coretime adapts to how consulting firms structure client work.
- Manage engagements by client, project, phase or workstream
- Track progress against budgets and agreed scope
- Support retainers, fixed-fee and hybrid pricing models
- Identify scope creep before it impacts profitability
Outcome: Better control over client work, fewer surprises, and healthier margins.
See real-time profitability across clients and engagements
Consultants need visibility while work is happening not weeks later in spreadsheets.
- Live insight into engagement and client profitability
- Understand cost vs revenue as work is delivered
- Compare performance across teams, practices or service lines
- Make informed decisions before projects drift off track
Outcome: Consulting leaders can protect margins and price future work with confidence.
Improve utilisation without burning out your team
Utilisation is a critical metric for consulting firms but it needs to be managed sustainably.
- Track utilisation by consultant, role or team
- Balance billable and non-billable workloads
- Identify under- or over-utilisation early
- Plan capacity for upcoming work and growth
Outcome: Higher utilisation, better forecasting, and happier consultants.
Supporting profitable consulting firms every day
Used by all types of consulting firms
IT Consulting Firms
- Track billable vs non-billable technical work
- Manage long-running client engagements
- Invoice accurately for complex project phases
Management Consulting Firms
- Track partner and consultant utilisation
- Monitor engagement profitability
- Support retainers, strategy projects and advisory work
Marketing & PR Consulting Firms
- Control scope and retainers
- Track creative and advisory time
- Understand client profitability across campaigns
What consulting firms achieve with Coretime
Higher billable utilisation
Fewer missed billable hours
Faster, more accurate invoicing
Better visibility into engagement profitability
Less admin, and more billable work
Boosting their staff productivity
The complete system for modern consulting firms
Whether you’re an IT consultancy, management consultancy, or marketing & PR firm, Coretime gives you the control, visibility and confidence to run a profitable consulting business.
Consulting Firm Time Tracking & Project Management FAQs
Consulting firms rely on accurate time tracking, utilisation reporting, and project financial management to protect profitability. Below are common questions consulting firms ask about tracking billable hours, managing client engagements, and improving fee forecasting.
- What software do consulting firms use to track billable hours?
Consulting firms typically use time tracking and project management software designed for professional services. Thes...
Consulting firms typically use time tracking and project management software designed for professional services. These systems allow consultants to log time against client engagements, retainers, or fixed-fee projects while tracking utilisation and profitability in real time.
Coretime is designed specifically for firms that sell time and expertise, helping consultancies capture billable hours accurately and reduce missed revenue.
- How do consulting firms track billable and non-billable time?
Consulting firms categorise time entries by client work (billable) and internal activities such as business developme...
Consulting firms categorise time entries by client work (billable) and internal activities such as business development, training, or administration (non-billable). Tracking both allows firms to measure utilisation rates and understand overall team productivity.
- What is utilisation in a consulting firm?
Utilisation measures the percentage of a consultant’s working hours that are billable to clients. It is one of the ...
Utilisation measures the percentage of a consultant’s working hours that are billable to clients. It is one of the most important performance metrics in consulting because it directly affects revenue and margin.
- How do consulting firms manage fixed-fee or retainer projects?
Even on fixed-fee or retainer engagements, consulting firms track time internally to monitor project costs and preven...
Even on fixed-fee or retainer engagements, consulting firms track time internally to monitor project costs and prevent scope creep. This ensures that work stays within budget and margins are protected.
Coretime allows firms to track time against budgets and compare planned versus actual costs in real time, helping maintain profitability across engagements.
- Why is time tracking important for consulting firms?
Accurate time tracking ensures consultants are paid for the work they deliver and clients are invoiced correctly. It ...
Accurate time tracking ensures consultants are paid for the work they deliver and clients are invoiced correctly. It also provides the data needed for forecasting, resource planning, and margin analysis.
- How can consulting firms forecast revenue and workload?
Consulting firms forecast revenue by analysing current engagements, pipeline opportunities, team capacity, and histor...
Consulting firms forecast revenue by analysing current engagements, pipeline opportunities, team capacity, and historical performance data.
- What reports should consulting firm leaders review regularly?
Consulting leaders typically review utilisation reports, project margin reports, work-in-progress (WIP), and revenue ...
Consulting leaders typically review utilisation reports, project margin reports, work-in-progress (WIP), and revenue forecasts to monitor financial health.
Coretime provides these reports in real time, helping decision-makers identify risks and opportunities quickly.
- ...
Insights for Consulting Firms
View all our resources23 Jan 2026
How Finance teams can use Coretime to reconcile Work in Progress (WIP)
Coretime simplifies the process by providing real-time insights, consistent billing rates, and automated WIP reporting helping finance teams close the books faster and more accurately.
Why Coretime is the preferred choice ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Callisto Consulting
Since purchasing Coretime our time spent on administrative tasks, especially around invoicing has greatly reduced. We can also now respond to Client queries much more efficiently and with a more accurate, trusted response.
Overall the processes that we undertake using Coretime are much quicker and simpler and along with the benefits we’re now receiving in how we can report on our Project data using different parameters, we expect to see a return on investment within a year based on administration time saved.
Paul Bunyan
Callisto Consulting
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
It’s cut the time spent on routine administrative tasks and enabled us to be more efficient, which means we can focus more on the actual projects. We can have around 20 live projects on the go at any one time and if a client wants a breakdown of where the time is going, we need to respond almost instantly.
Monica
Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust
R.G. Parkins & Partners
The Coretime system is easy to use, accurate, and has helped to increase our efficiencies, we would absolutely recommend it to other companies in that we find it invaluable.
David Heron
R.G. Parkins & Partners
Caulmert
With staff based at different office locations and sometimes different parts of the world, having Coretime has brought us all together using one easily accessible web based system.
Donna Milne
Caulmert
GWP Engineering Consultants
Coretime are a real business partner, I find them very helpful, and if I have any questions or queries the support team is there to help me instantly. In short, we’re delighted.
Amanda Godwin
GWP Engineering Consultants