Retainers reset on schedule and need clean billable tracking; Everhour keeps Basecamp to-do time tied to budgets.
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Client-paid recurring work needs a clear path from Basecamp activity to the retainer record. The practical job is to connect Basecamp projects, lists, and to-dos to a retainer budget, then keep billable time separate from internal work before the invoice goes out.
A useful retainer record shows the client, the project, the billing period, the included work, the budget limit, the rate structure, and the to-dos that consumed the time. The client does not need every internal discussion. The client does need enough detail to see which approved work used the retainer.
Retainer work needs a clear billing model before anyone tracks time. In Everhour, billing status lives at the project level: hourly project rate, hourly member rate, fixed fee, or non-billable. Within a billable Basecamp project, specific to-dos can be marked non-billable when planning, admin, or internal review should stay visible in reports without increasing the client total.
Rates need the same discipline. A retained project can use a project rate, member rates, or custom task rates for time-and-materials work. Task-level overrides help when one Basecamp to-do carries a different price than the project default. Cost rates stay separate from client-facing billable rates, so profitability reporting can compare labor cost against revenue.
A retainer needs a period boundary. Everhour budgets can reset daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly, which fits recurring client commitments better than a one-time tally. Set the reset schedule to match the contract, then decide whether the budget tracks hours, money, or a fee-based limit for the retained work.
Budget alerts protect the review point. For Basecamp projects, Everhour can send automatic budget emails at 50%, 80%, or custom thresholds, so the account owner sees usage before the retainer is consumed. A common mistake is waiting until invoice time to review usage. By then, the team has already spent the hours and the client conversation is harder.
A one-off worksheet is enough when you have one client, one rate, one billing period, and a short list of completed Basecamp to-dos. It can show a simple total for the month, especially when the client only needs a summary invoice and the team does not need an approval trail.
A managed workflow is better when retained work involves multiple people, mixed billable status, task-level rates, budget alerts, and invoice backup. Everhour embeds tracking controls into Basecamp through its browser extension, syncs Basecamp projects, lists, and to-dos into reports, and keeps approved, rate-priced hours ready for billing without re-keying the same work.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
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Define the retainer period from the client agreement, then match the tracking period to that reset. Monthly retainers need a monthly budget reset; quarterly commitments need a quarterly reset. The period should cover the work dates, the budget limit, the rate structure, and the invoice cutoff so unused, approved, and invoiced time do not blur together.
Internal planning can stay in the same Basecamp project when the reporting setup separates billable and non-billable work. In Everhour, a billable project can include specific non-billable to-dos, which keeps planning time visible for margin review without charging it to the client. Splitting everything into separate projects makes client backup harder to read.
Use a fixed fee when the client pays the same amount for a defined period of access or service. Use an hourly project rate when all billable work carries one price. Use member rates when seniority changes the client charge. Use custom task rates when a specific type of retained work has its own price.
Budget alerts create a review point before the retainer is spent. For Basecamp projects connected to Everhour, automatic budget emails can trigger at 50%, 80%, or custom thresholds. The alert should go to the person who can approve scope changes, pause work, or warn the client before the team exceeds the retained commitment.
Defensible backup ties each billed amount to a project, to-do, person, date range, billable status, rate, and approved time total. Basecamp to-do names, list names, task status, and task IDs can appear in Everhour reports, giving the client a clear work trail without turning the invoice into a full internal activity log.
Everhour embeds tracking controls into Basecamp through its browser extension and syncs Basecamp project, list, and to-do metadata into Everhour reports. That lets the team track from the work item while billing settings, budgets, timesheets, and report fields stay organized in Everhour.
Everhour Billing & Invoicing turns uninvoiced billable time and expenses into invoices, calculates amounts from rates and billable entries, and excludes non-billable work. After time appears on an invoice, Everhour marks it as invoiced so the same approved hours do not return to the next billing run.
Track retained work from Basecamp to approved, rate-priced billing records. Everhour connects embedded tracking, budget alerts, and invoice-ready reports for cleaner retainer billing.
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