Everhour tracks legal work time by task or project, so attorney hours can move from entries to review and billing.
Enter your daily hours and rate to instantly calculate total hours, regular pay, and any overtime — no spreadsheet needed.
The calculator gives you the number — Everhour takes it from there.
One click and you're timing. Start a timer, add an entry, edit the details. This is exactly how it feels in Everhour.
Set a budget, assign rates, and get alerted before you're over.
Measurement
Track your budget through time or costs
Every report you need — configured your way, always up to date.
Tracked hours flow straight into a polished invoice — no copy-paste, no manual math.
An attorney time tracking template answers a practical question: how many hours belong to each client, matter, task, and billing category for a specific period? The calculation starts with each time span, then separates billable work from internal, administrative, training, or leave time. A clear template also keeps start time, end time, break time, and notes in separate fields.
The same record can support payroll review when a firm tracks employees, but billing totals and payroll totals are not always the same number. Short breaks provided by an employer, usually about 5 to 20 minutes, count as compensable hours worked under federal law. A bona fide meal period is generally unpaid only when the employee is completely relieved from duty.
Start with the gross time span, subtract unpaid break time, then assign the remaining hours to billable or nonbillable categories. For billing, multiply billable hours by the agreed rate. For payroll, keep a separate weekly total because covered nonexempt employees in the United States must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a fixed workweek.
For example, an attorney works 7 tracked hours on a matter day, with 2 hours marked nonbillable for internal research and admin review. The billable total is 5 hours. At a $315 hourly billing rate, the invoice line is $1,575.00. The template should still show the full 7 tracked hours so the reviewer can see the difference between time worked and time billed.
The common mistake is using one total for every purpose. A client invoice needs billable matter time, while payroll review needs hours worked, break handling, and the fixed workweek. The FLSA workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of seven consecutive 24-hour periods, and hours cannot be averaged across multiple workweeks for overtime.
Rounding also needs care. Federal time-clock rounding is accepted only to the nearest 5 minutes, tenth, or quarter-hour when it averages out over time and does not underpay employees for actual hours worked. Attorney billing increments, such as tenths of an hour, are client-billing rules. They should not replace actual time records used for payroll or wage review.
A one-off template is enough when you need a simple matter total, a draft invoice line, or a quick check before sending time to accounting. It works best when entries are few, policies are stable, and one person controls the review. The template should still preserve raw time, break treatment, billing category, and approval status.
A managed workflow fits better when attorneys and staff submit time every week, managers approve entries, and accounting needs a clean handoff. Everhour Time Tracking supports timers and manual entries, then feeds timesheets, reports, budgets, invoices, and payroll review. Admins can also use approvals, locked periods, reminders, and timer rules to reduce late edits.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
High Performer
G2
Summer 2026
Best Ease Of Use
Capterra
Summer 2026
Rated in the top time trackers across G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius — with consistent praise for ease of use, integrations, and support.
A practical template includes date, client, matter, task, start time, end time, unpaid break time, total hours, billable status, rate, description, reviewer, and approval status. Keep billing notes separate from payroll notes. That separation lets a reviewer approve a client invoice without losing the underlying hours worked record.
Subtract unpaid break time from the gross time span, then classify the remaining time as billable or nonbillable. Multiply only billable hours by the client rate. For example, 7 tracked hours with 2 nonbillable hours leaves 5 billable hours, and 5 hours at $315 equals $1,575.00.
Nonbillable legal work should stay in the template because it explains the full day and supports staffing, profitability, and payroll review. Excluding it from the invoice does not erase the time worked. Internal research, training, admin review, and business development should use clear categories instead of being deleted.
Attorney billing can use the increment allowed by the engagement terms or firm policy, such as tenths of an hour. Payroll records need a separate standard. Federal time-clock rounding is accepted only when it averages out over time and does not underpay employees for actual hours worked.
Weekly overtime matters when the template covers covered nonexempt employees. Under the FLSA federal baseline, covered nonexempt employees in the United States must receive at least 1.5 times the regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a fixed workweek. Attorney billing totals do not replace that payroll calculation.
Everhour Time Tracking captures task and project hours through timers or manual entries, so legal teams can record matter work as it happens or add time after the work is done. Those entries can feed timesheets, reporting, budgeting, invoicing, and payroll review.
Track approved hours by matter, task, and period with Everhour Time Tracking, then use approvals and locked periods to protect reviewed time before billing or payroll handoff.
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