Tracking time and managing projects
Projects hold sessions, notes, documents, approvals, and billing records. A budget and pricing profile can be optional, so verify the intended pricing before starting billable work.
Where projects come from
Create a project from a client workspace or All Projects, optionally using a template. Accepted quotes can also create linked projects when that setting is enabled.
Quote-derived projects use the supplied project name or quote title and the accepted one-time amount after discount as their budget where applicable. They do not infer an hourly rate merely because a quote contains labor.
Pricing profiles
| Pricing basis | How tracked work is valued |
|---|---|
| Hourly | Rounded billable time × applicable hourly rate and multiplier |
| Block | Included-hour usage at the package's effective hourly value; excess at its overage rate |
| Fixed price | Agreed fixed amount; time is useful for delivery and profitability, not another hourly charge |
| Retainer | Included usage against the allowance; eligible excess at the agreed overage rate, with the base fee billed separately |
| Other / unpriced | Depends on an explicitly configured pricing basis; a category name alone does not establish a fee |
A block is not the same as a fixed-scope fee with informational time. Review its package fee, included hours, and overage rate.
Applicable project rates and retainer agreements are locked rather than silently repriced by later catalog edits. Manage new offerings at Pricing; change an existing engagement through its reviewed pricing or agreement workflow.
Starting and stopping work
From the project, choose Start Work. Check the billable setting and any rate override. The session remains open until stopped; closing the tab or locking the phone does not stop it.
Choose Stop Work, review the stop details, and enter the required work note. Check that the session appears as completed. The note is client-facing, not a private scratchpad.
Start and stop notifications keep the client informed, but a notification delivery failure does not undo saved time.
Recorded time versus billed time
The app records start and stop timestamps. Positive elapsed durations are counted in whole minutes, rounded up: a 61-second session counts as two minutes.
Billing then applies the project's locked minimum increment, falling back to the organization setting. The normal fallback is 15 minutes. This rounding applies to each billable session, not once to the day's combined total.
| Example with a 15-minute increment | Tracked minutes | Billable time |
|---|---|---|
| One five-minute session | 5 | 15 minutes |
| Two separate five-minute sessions | 10 | 30 minutes |
| One sixteen-minute session | 16 | 30 minutes |
Raw timestamps are not rewritten to the rounded billing duration. Review tracked and billed metrics separately when explaining an invoice. Completed sessions are captured into billing snapshots; an open timer is not a finalized invoice line.
Billable, non-billable, and rate overrides
Use the Billable control to distinguish chargeable work. Non-billable time can remain visible in project history and total-hours reporting; it is not necessarily private.
An explicit rate multiplier can adjust eligible time-based charges. Without an override, applicable after-hours and weekend rules may select the multiplier. Fixed-price value and included retainer time do not turn into new hourly charges merely because a multiplier is present.
A zero multiplier is not the same data state as marking a session non-billable. Use the billable control for that intent.
Manual session corrections
Use the available manual start/stop or log-session form to enter the actual work times. Times are interpreted in the organization's configured time zone. The server validates order, future timestamps, and overlapping sessions where applicable.
The current recent-session list is not a general-purpose Edit/Delete session interface. Do not delete or recreate invoiced work as a correction shortcut. If a saved session or captured invoice needs a change outside the available controls, use the supported correction process and review affected billing records.
For an accidentally running timer, open its stop form and enter the actual end time if the form permits it. Check the recorded duration afterward.
Budget tracking
For an applicable budgeted project, the approval system compares tracked billable value with the effective cap, including approved extensions. It can request approval around 80% and block new billable starts at the cap. Fixed-price projects are exempt from that time-value gate.
The timer does not automatically stop at the instant usage crosses the cap. A running session can cross it; stopping still records the actual work. Check warnings and get approval before continuing.
Non-billable work bypasses budget/usage approval gates, but it does not bypass a completed-project restriction or a required unpaid-deposit gate.
See Approvals and surcharges. A pending approval badge alone does not mean every kind of work is blocked.
Time tracking for retainer projects
The client's included allowance can be shared across eligible retainer projects for the billing period. Separately priced hourly or fixed work is not automatically the same pool.
Included hours consume the allowance without an additional hourly charge. Eligible overage uses the agreed overage rate and applicable approval rules. Both per-session rounding and the frozen agreement affect usage.
The scheduled or manual billing snapshot can include the retainer fee and eligible overage together. Do not create a second manual overage invoice for work already captured in a recurring snapshot.
Retainer prices remain the agreed prices until a reviewed, client-approved terms change takes effect. See Recurring invoices.
What clients see
In Projects, clients can review their project status, tracked hours, sessions, notes, and available billing records. Session feedback can include a rating and comment.
Live indicators refresh from server state and can lag briefly. If the displayed timer looks wrong, inspect the actual session before starting another.
Provider-direct recurring costs appear separately from your billable work and surcharge invoices.
Start and end dates
Optional project dates help plan delivery. The end date appears in deadline/calendar views but does not stop a timer or mark the project complete by itself.
Use the project's available date controls or Client Actions → Budgets & dates to update them.
Project status
A project with no open session is idle; a running session makes it in progress. Completion is an explicit action, recorded with the project's completion details.
Completing work is not automatically proof the balance invoice was sent or paid. Review any completion draft and use Finalize & send when appropriate.
Completed projects retain their history. Use Reopen Project when work genuinely resumes; you do not need to reopen just to read records.
Dictation for work notes
Use the microphone when available and grant browser microphone permission. Review the transcript before posting, especially names, quantities, and billable claims.
Organize with AI can help structure notes. Check the rewritten text against what actually happened; a polished note should not invent work or client approval. Use voice controls only when safe to do so.
Calendar push
When calendar integration is enabled, supported work-session events can be pushed to the connected calendar. Calendar edits are not a way to change the portal's billing session.
Check Settings → Calendar and Calendar and client visibility for integration options and visibility.
Active session safety
Only one session can be open on a project at a time. Other projects can have their own sessions; a connected assistant may apply a stricter single-session workflow and require an explicit switch.
Every session records its initiating admin. Authorized admins can stop sessions through the available controls, but an assistant's force-switch action may be restricted to the creator's own session. Never assume switching projects silently stops a teammate's work.