SaaS for Justifying Non-Billable Time in Professional Service Firms

Many professionals, especially new hires in fields like law, consulting, or agencies, struggle to accurately track and justify time spent on learning, administrative tasks, and internal meetings, which are essential but often non-billable. This leads to conflict with management focused solely on billable hours, like the 'stealing hours' accusation in the post. A SaaS product could provide granular time tracking categories beyond just 'billable' vs. 'non-billable.' It would allow users to log time spent on specific learning activities, skill development, internal process familiarization, client-specific admin, and internal communications, with detailed notes on their value. The system could then generate reports that contextualize non-billable time, demonstrating its necessity for future productivity, skill enhancement, or operational efficiency. This helps new professionals defend their work, provides management with better data for performance reviews and training ROI, and bridges the gap between effort and billable output. The product would be a web/desktop application with detailed time entry, categorization, note-taking, and customizable reporting dashboards, potentially integrating with existing project management or HR systems. Targeting law firms, consulting agencies, marketing firms, and any organization with a billable hour model that invests in professional development.