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Harvest Zapier integrationAutomate Harvest with Zapier.

The Harvest Zapier integration gives you 16 triggers, 9 actions and 4 searches. Here is what each one does, what it costs in tasks, why nothing in Harvest fires instantly, and where a time tracking Zap breaks without telling you.

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Overview

What the Harvest Zapier integration does for you

The Harvest Zapier integration links your Harvest account to your other tools without code. Zapier watches Harvest for new clients, invoices, projects, expenses and time entries, and it can write clients, contacts, projects, tasks and hours back. Every Harvest trigger is checked on a timer, so how fast a Zap reacts depends on your plan.

A project ready the day a client signs. New Client starts the Zap, then Create Project and Create Task build the workspace, so nobody opens an empty project by hand or forgets the default task.

Hours that land without retyping. Create Time Entry and Start Timer turn an event from another tool into logged time, with the project and the task already chosen.

Billing news that travels on its own. Invoice Sent and Invoice Paid tell the rest of the team when money moves, instead of someone refreshing Harvest to find out. A filter can keep only the invoices of the clients you care about.

What Zapier does not do with Harvest: no trigger is instant, no action edits or deletes an existing entry, none creates or sends an invoice, and nothing already in your account is picked up when a Zap goes live. If you want to compare tools, the same app has a Harvest n8n integration page and a Harvest Make integration page.

Vocabulary

Zapier words, in one minute

Seven words come back on every line of this page. Here they are once, in plain English.

Zap
The automation you build in Zapier: one trigger, then one or more actions that run each time that trigger event happens.
Trigger
The Harvest event that starts the Zap, like a paid invoice or a stopped timer. Once the Zap is on, Zapier waits for it.
Action
The step the Zap carries out after it starts: it creates or writes something for you, here a client, a project or hours.
Task
Zapier's billing unit: one action completed successfully. Your plan counts tasks, not Zaps and not trigger checks.
Polling or instant
Polling: Zapier asks the app for new items on a timer. Instant: the app calls Zapier itself. All 16 Harvest triggers poll.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap go on only when the incoming item meets your condition, and quietly stops it otherwise.
Search step
A step that looks up something already in Harvest, such as a project by its name, so the next steps can use what it found.
Cost

What a Harvest Zap really costs

Short version: you pay for what the Zap does, never for what it watches.

  • Free plan100 tasks a month, unlimited Zaps
  • Steps on the free plan2: one trigger, one action
  • Trigger checksNever billed
  • HarvestNot a premium app

The trigger never costs a task, and neither do the checks Zapier runs on Harvest, however often they happen. Each action that succeeds is billed on its own: a Zap that creates a project and then a task uses two tasks per new client. A failed action is not counted. The free plan gives you 100 tasks a month and Zaps of two steps only, so adding a filter or a search makes it a multi-step Zap, which needs a paid plan. Harvest is not a premium app, so it works from the free plan.

Connect

Connect your Harvest account to Zapier

  1. 01

    Open Apps and add a connection

    In your Zapier account, open the Apps page and click + Add connection. A dialog opens: type Harvest in the search box and pick it from the list of results.

  2. 02

    Sign in to Harvest

    Click Add connection. A new tab opens on Harvest: sign in with the account whose clients, projects and hours the Zap should see. You need an existing Harvest account for this.

  3. 03

    Grant access, once

    Grant Zapier access to that account. Every Harvest step in every Zap then reuses this connection. If the Zap must touch projects you do not own, the account needs read or write access to them first.

First Zap

Your first Zap: from new client to ready project

GoalEvery new Harvest client that matches your rule gets a starter project and a default task, without anyone opening Harvest.

  1. 01

    Build the trigger

    Create a Zap, pick Harvest as the app that starts it and New Client as the event. Choose the Harvest connection you added earlier.

  2. 02

    Test on a real client

    Run the trigger test. Zapier brings back the three most recent clients of the account, so you map fields on a real one rather than on a guess.

  3. 03

    Add the filter

    Add a Filter step from the plus icon and fill the three boxes: field, rule, value. Use a text rule on a name, or the filter never passes.

  4. 04

    Create the project, then the task

    Add Create Project and fill its two required fields, Client and Name, from the trigger step. Then add Create Task, give it a name and test each action once.

  5. 05

    Publish

    Click Publish to switch the Zap on. It reacts to clients added from now on; the ones already in Harvest stay as they are. This Zap has four steps, so it needs a paid plan.

Triggers

The 16 Harvest triggers

16 events start a Zap when something happens in Harvest. Zapier checks for them at the interval your plan allows.

1

Invoice Paid

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when an invoice is fully paid.”

Starts the Zap once a Harvest invoice is fully paid, which makes it the cleanest signal that a job is closed on the money side.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
tell the account manager a client has settled, so the thank-you note and the next proposal go out while the relationship is warm.
Watch out
an invoice paid in two parts only counts once the last part is in.
2

Invoice Sent

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when an invoice is sent or marked as sent.”

Picks up an invoice as soon as Harvest records it as sent, whether Harvest sent it or a teammate only marked it that way.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
add the invoice to the finance team's follow-up list so payment reminders start from the right date.
Watch out
marking an invoice as sent counts too, so one flagged by mistake still starts the Zap.
3

New Client

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new client is added.”

Reacts to each client added to Harvest, which makes it the natural first step of any onboarding Zap.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a consultancy that wants every new client to arrive with a starter project and a kickoff task already waiting.
Watch out
editing an existing client does not fire it; Updated Client is the trigger for that.
4

New Contact

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when new contact is added.”

Watches the people attached to your Harvest clients and fires for each new one, so the right person exists everywhere you need them.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
add a client's new finance contact to your mailing tool so billing emails reach someone who reads them.
Watch out
contacts that existed before the Zap went live are never picked up.
5

New Expense

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new expense is added.”

Catches each expense logged in Harvest, from a train ticket to a software licence billed back to a client.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
route every expense to whoever approves them, rather than discovering them all at once in an export.
Watch out
it sees new expenses only; an expense corrected later does not start the Zap again.
6

New Invoice

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when an invoice is created.”

Fires when an invoice is created in Harvest, before anyone has sent it or been paid.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
warn the project lead that billing has started on their project, so they can check the hours before the invoice goes out.
Watch out
creation is the only moment it sees; for sending or payment, use Invoice Sent or Invoice Paid.
7

New Project

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a project is created.”

Gives you one run of the Zap per project opened in Harvest, a reliable starting point for everything that follows a new job.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
create the matching board in your project tool, so the team does not set the same job up twice in two places.
Watch out
a Zap that ends with Create Project in the same account sets itself off again.
8

New Task

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new task is added.”

Tasks are what every Harvest time entry points to, next to a project, and this trigger fires when a new one is added to the account.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
keep the list of billable work types in your reporting sheet aligned with Harvest without anyone copying it over.
9

New Time Entry

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a time entry is created.”

Fires for every new block of time in Harvest, whether someone typed hours in or a timer created the entry.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
feed a client-facing report with fresh hours, so a retainer client sees where the time went without asking.
Watch out
turn on Exclude entries created as running timers? or a timer that is still running can start the Zap.
10

New User

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new User is added.”

Sees each person added to your Harvest account as a user, which is often the first trace of a new hire or a new freelancer.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
start the onboarding checklist in your HR or project tool the day someone gets a Harvest seat.
Watch out
people added before the Zap was published are not picked up.
11

New User Assignment

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a user is assigned to a project.”

Fires when someone is assigned to a project in Harvest, which is often the first sign of a new person on that job.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
send the person the project brief and the client contact as soon as they join, instead of on their first call.
Watch out
one person added to five projects means five runs, and five times the tasks of each action.
12

Timer Started

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a timer is started.”

Notices when someone presses start on a Harvest timer, which tells you what they are working on right now.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
set your chat status to busy on a client while the clock runs, so colleagues know not to interrupt.
Watch out
the plan's interval applies, so the Zap can start several minutes after the timer did.
13

Timer Stopped

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a timer is stopped.”

Catches the end of a work block: a running Harvest timer has just been stopped.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
post the finished block to the project channel so the lead sees progress without opening Harvest.
Watch out
a Zap that uses Stop Timer stops timers itself, so pairing it with this trigger can make it fire again.
14

Updated Client

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a client is updated.”

Runs when the details of an existing Harvest client change, a renamed company for instance.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
keep the client record in your CRM in step with Harvest, so invoices and contracts carry the same name.
Watch out
brand new clients do not fire it; pair it with New Client if you need both.
15

Updated Invoice

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when an invoice is updated.”

Reacts to any change on an invoice that already exists, after its creation.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
keep a finance tracker accurate when someone corrects an invoice after the first draft.
Watch out
every edit starts the Zap, so add a filter when only some changes matter, and count the tasks each run uses.
16

Updated Time Entry

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a time entry is updated.”

Follows corrections: it fires when an existing Harvest time entry is edited after the fact.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
keep a billing sheet honest when a teammate fixes yesterday's hours after the fact.
Watch out
the same Exclude entries created as running timers? switch exists here; leave it off and running timers can trigger runs.
Actions

The 9 Harvest actions

Harvest gives you 9 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Create Client

Action

In Zapier“Creates a Client”

Adds a client to Harvest, and the only field it insists on is the client's Name.

When to use it
a deal marked won in your CRM becomes a Harvest client without anyone retyping the company.
Watch out
if the same company can arrive twice, run Find Client first, or you end up with two records for one client.
2

Create Contact

Action

In Zapier“Creates a Contact”

Attaches a new person to a client that already exists, with a Client and a First Name as the two required fields.

When to use it
a signed contract names a new billing contact, and Harvest learns about them at once.
Watch out
the client must exist before this step runs.
3

Create Project

Action

In Zapier“Creates a Project”

Opens a new project under a client, from just two required fields: Client and Name.

When to use it
a proposal accepted in your quoting tool turns into a Harvest project the team can log hours against straight away.
Watch out
Find Project needs the exact name later, so keep naming consistent.
4

Create Task

Action

In Zapier“Creates a Task and optionally assigns it to a project”

Adds a task to Harvest and, if you choose, assigns it to a project. Name is required; Billable By Default and Is Default are optional switches.

When to use it
give every new project its standard work types without setting them by hand.
Watch out
without a project attached, the task stays unlinked, so map one when it matters.
5

Create Time Entry

Action

In Zapier“Creates a Time Entry with duration”

Logs a block of time as a duration on a project and a task, for a given day. Hours take a decimal or hh:mm (1.5 or 1:30), the date YYYY-MM-DD.

When to use it
a finished call in your meeting tool becomes billable hours on the right client.
Watch out
all four fields are required, including Spent Date.
6

Create Time Entry (Start & End Times)

Action

In Zapier“Creates a Time Entry with start and end times”

Records the same kind of entry with a start and an end time instead of a duration, in 12h or 24h format (14:30 or 2:30pm).

When to use it
your calendar already holds when a workshop began and ended, and the client wants those times on the timesheet.
Watch out
project, task, both times and the date are all required.
7

Start Timer

Action

In Zapier“Creates and starts a timer for a given date”

Creates a timer and starts it for the date you give, on a project and a task you pick.

When to use it
a support ticket assigned to you starts the clock on that client, so time is counted from the first minute.
Watch out
Project, Task and Spent Date are required, and the clock keeps running until something stops it.
8

Stop Timer

Action

In Zapier“Stops any running timers”

Halts any timer that is running, which makes it the simplest of the nine actions to set up.

When to use it
close the clock when a meeting ends or a ticket is solved, so forgotten timers stop padding the timesheet.
Watch out
it stops running timers in general, not one you name, and a Zap watching Timer Stopped will see it.
9

API Request (Beta)

Action

In Zapier“This is an advanced action which makes a raw HTTP request that includes this integration's authentication.”

An advanced step that sends your own request to Harvest with the connection already signed in, for the cases no other action covers.

When to use it
you need something the other eight actions do not offer, and you know which request Harvest expects for it.
Watch out
it only reaches Harvest's own addresses, and Stop on error decides whether a refusal halts the Zap or lets it carry on.
Searches

The 4 Harvest searches

4 search steps look for data that already exists in Harvest, so a later step can use it.

A search step finds something that already exists in Harvest and hands it to the next steps. In the editor, searches sit at the bottom of the Action event list, under SEARCH. Three settings decide what happens when the result is not the one you expected.

1

Find Client

Search

In Zapier“Finds a client by name or ID”

Looks a Harvest client up by name or by its ID and returns it to the following steps.

When to use it
before Create Project, so the project lands under the client that already exists instead of a duplicate.
Watch out
with no result and default settings, the Zap stops right there.
2

Find Invoice

Search

In Zapier“Finds an invoice by ID”

Fetches one invoice, and only by its Invoice ID: there is no way to search it by client or amount.

When to use it
another tool stored the Harvest invoice ID earlier and you need the invoice again to finish the job.
Watch out
without that ID, this step has nothing to work with.
3

Find Project

Search

In Zapier“Finds a project by name”

Retrieves a project from its name, and the name must match exactly.

When to use it
point a Create Time Entry at the right project when the hours come from a calendar event titled with the project name.
Watch out
a name spelled even slightly differently and nothing is found.
4

Find Task

Search

In Zapier“Finds a task by name”

Returns a Harvest task whose name matches yours exactly, ready for a time entry step.

When to use it
map a type of work coming from your ticketing tool to the Harvest task with the same name.
Watch out
no partial match here either; keep task names identical on both sides.

The three settings every search exposes

  1. Successful if no search results are found?
    Left as it is, a search that finds nothing stops the Zap and skips the steps that relied on it. Switched on, the Zap carries on with empty values.
  2. If multiple search results are found?
    Keep the first match (the default), stop the Zap, or pass every match on at once. With exact names, the first match is usually the right one.
  3. No find-or-create here
    Harvest searches do not offer to create the missing item. To get that behavior, follow the search with the matching Create action.
When it breaks

When a Harvest Zap breaks

Four limits, all general to Zapier, and time tracking makes two of them easy to hit.

Zapier lists no error specific to Harvest, so trouble comes from how Zaps work in general. Read these before you publish, and keep the Zapier troubleshooting guide nearby when a run looks wrong.

  • The backlog stays where it is

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after you publish it. Clients, invoices and hours already in Harvest are never picked up; moving them is a separate job.

  • A time entry Zap that feeds itself

    A Zap on New Time Entry that ends with Create Time Entry in the same account sets itself off again, and every round eats tasks. Add a filter or write elsewhere.

  • A bulk import held back

    Importing many clients or projects at once can make a trigger return a huge batch, and Zapier's flood protection can hold that batch back.

  • No double start on the same item

    Zapier remembers what it has already seen on a polled trigger, so the same client or entry does not start the Zap twice, even across several checks.
Need help

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FAQ

Harvest and Zapier: frequent questions

01Is the Harvest Zapier integration free?
Yes, you can start without paying. Harvest is not a premium app, so it works on Zapier's free plan, which gives you 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps. The catch is the size of each Zap: on the free plan a Zap has two steps, one trigger and one action. As soon as you add a second action, a filter or a search, it becomes a multi-step Zap and needs a paid plan. You also need a Harvest account of your own to connect.
02How many tasks does a Harvest Zap use?
One task per action that succeeds, each time the Zap runs. The trigger costs nothing, and the checks Zapier runs on Harvest cost nothing either, however often they happen. So a Zap that turns each new client into a project uses one task per client, and one that also creates a task uses two. An action that fails is not counted. Watch the triggers that fire often, like New Time Entry or Updated Invoice: a busy team can produce many runs in a week, and each run multiplies the actions inside it.
03Is Harvest on Zapier real time?
No. All 16 Harvest triggers are polling triggers: Zapier asks Harvest for new items on a timer rather than being told the moment something happens. On the free plan it checks every 15 minutes, on Professional every 2 minutes, and on Team and Enterprise every minute. On paid plans you can also run a check by hand from the editor. If a Zap must react within seconds, Harvest on Zapier is not the right tool.
04What does it take to connect Harvest to Zapier?
An existing Harvest account and a Zapier account. In Zapier, open Apps, click + Add connection, search for Harvest, click Add connection, sign in to Harvest in the tab that opens and grant access. The connection is then reused by every Harvest step. One more condition matters: if the Zap must read or write projects, clients or entries you do not own, the connected account needs read or write access to them first.
05Why can a Harvest Zap keep creating time entries?
Because it is watching its own output. A Zap triggered by New Time Entry that ends with Create Time Entry in the same Harvest account sees the entry it just made as new, and starts again. The same goes for Timer Stopped paired with Stop Timer, or New Project paired with Create Project. Each round uses tasks, so the plan drains fast. Add a filter that lets only outside entries through, or write the result to another tool instead of back into Harvest.
06What if the Harvest operation you need is not listed?
Use API Request (Beta). It is an advanced action that sends a request of your own to Harvest with your connection already signed in, so it can reach things the other eight actions do not cover. It only talks to Harvest's own addresses, and its Stop on error setting decides whether a refusal halts the Zap. It assumes you know what Harvest expects; if that is not the case, a team that builds Zaps can set it up.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Harvest?
It depends on the criterion that matters most to you. Zapier is the quickest to start: no code, a free plan, and a Harvest app with 29 visible operations ready to use. Its limits here are the polling delay on every trigger and the task count on busy Zaps. Compare the operations each one offers for Harvest and how each counts usage before deciding, rather than picking a name. The same app has its own pages for both.
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