Track every billable minute without missing a beat

Starting a live timer

Live timers are for work you are actively doing right now. The floating ticker at the bottom of the screen keeps you aware of running time even when you navigate away.

1. 1
   Open Time Tracking inside the client workspace you are working in.
2. 2
   Click New Timer. A timer card appears at the top of the timers list.
3. 3
   Select a service from the dropdown — Design, Development, Strategy, etc. If the service you need is not listed, add it in the client's Services settings first.
4. 4
   Choose Billable or Included. Billable time goes on invoices. Included time counts against a monthly support block but does not get invoiced separately.
5. 5
   Add a note describing the work. This note prints on invoices so keep it clear — "Homepage wireframes, round 1" is better than "design work."
6. 6
   Click Start. The timer begins counting. A floating ticker appears at the bottom of the screen.

Stopping and logging a timer

1. 1
   Click Stop on the active timer when the work is done. The timer freezes at the current duration.
2. 2
   Review the entry — check the service, billing type, note, and duration before logging.
3. 3
   Click Log to save the entry to the session log. It is immediately available for invoice generation.
4. 4
   If you stopped by accident, you can discard the entry without saving by clicking Discard or deleting the stopped timer.

Adding hours manually

Use manual hours when you forgot to start a timer, worked offline, or need to backfill entries from a previous day.

1. 1
   Click Add Hours in the Time Tracking section.
2. 2
   Select the service the work falls under.
3. 3
   Choose Billable or Included.
4. 4
   Set the date the work actually occurred — not today's date if you're backfilling.
5. 5
   Enter the hours using the increment controls. You can enter decimal hours — 1.5 means 1 hour 30 minutes.
6. 6
   Add a descriptive note and click Save. The entry appears in the session log immediately.

Using the session log

The session log is the master record of all time entries for a client. Everything that gets invoiced flows through here.

1. 1
   Open Session Log inside the Time Tracking section. Entries appear in reverse chronological order.
2. 2
   Each entry shows: service, date, hours, billing type, note, and invoice status (Uninvoiced, Invoiced, or Included).
3. 3
   Filter entries by service, billing type, or date range using the filter controls at the top.
4. 4
   Edit an entry by clicking the edit icon. You can fix the note, service, hours, or billing type.
5. 5
   Reset to uninvoiced by clicking the reset icon on an invoiced entry. WorkRate confirms before changing the status. Use this when you need to re-invoice a previously invoiced entry.
6. 6
   Delete an entry by clicking the delete icon and confirming. Deleted entries are gone permanently.

Billable vs. included time

This distinction controls whether time appears on invoices or just tracks usage.

Monthly block tracking

If a client pays for a block of included hours each month (e.g., 10 hours of support), WorkRate tracks usage against that block.

1. 1
   Set the monthly block hours in Client Settings. For example, 10 hours per month.
2. 2
   Log included time using the Included billing type when working on support tasks for this client.
3. 3
   WorkRate shows usage vs. block — for example, "6 of 10 hours used this month."
4. 4
   If the client exceeds the block, you can decide whether to absorb the overage or bill it as standard billable time. Log those extra hours as Billable and invoice them normally.

Tips & best practices

• Write good notes. "Design work" on an invoice looks sloppy. "Mobile navigation redesign, Figma file v3" is professional and defensible.
• Log as you go. Stopping a timer and logging it immediately is more accurate than trying to remember at the end of the day.
• Use the floating ticker. It keeps running even when you navigate to other parts of the app so you never lose track of an active timer.
• Check the session log before generating an invoice. Confirm all entries are correctly marked Uninvoiced and Billable before pulling them into an invoice.
• Reset vs. delete. If an entry was invoiced but needs to be re-billed, use Reset. Only delete entries that were logged by mistake entirely.

Troubleshooting