Everhour adds estimates, timers, budgets, and invoice-ready reporting to Basecamp projects without changing where to-dos are managed.
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Dave Jung0:00:00Alejandro Luna0:00:00Dave JungThe 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.
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Track your budget through time or costs
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Tracked hours flow straight into a polished invoice — no copy-paste, no manual math.
Use this page to turn Basecamp to-dos into planned work, then check whether actual hours matched the plan. The practical unit is the to-do: the title describes the work, the notes hold scope details, the assignee owns delivery, and the due date or date range sets the calendar expectation.
The estimate is the effort expectation, not the deadline. A to-do due Friday can carry 2 planned hours or 18 planned hours. Keeping dates in Basecamp and effort in Everhour prevents a schedule from being mistaken for workload, especially when one person has several small items due on the same day.
A useful Basecamp estimate starts with the smallest deliverable the team can recognize. Split broad to-dos into subtasks or clearer list items before assigning hours. A single "launch page" to-do hides design, copy, QA, and publishing effort; separate to-dos make the estimate easier to defend and review.
Attach the estimate to the same to-do where time will be logged. That keeps the comparison clean: planned hours, tracked hours, remaining hours, and over-estimate hours point to one work item. Notes should define scope boundaries, such as included revisions or review steps, so later variance reflects work reality instead of unclear wording.
Variance tells you whether the estimate held, but the number needs interpretation. A to-do that took 6 hours against a 4-hour estimate signals under-scoped work, rework, or missing detail that should become a separate to-do next time. A to-do that shows 1 hour against a 6-hour estimate signals either simpler work or incomplete recording.
Review variance while the work is still fresh. Ask for missing time before closing the project, and update future estimates with the reason, not only the final number. Consistent overages on review, QA, or coordination tasks signal a planning issue; one unusual overage points to a project-specific exception.
A one-off estimate works for a quick project check when you only need planned hours and actual logged time for a small set of to-dos. That is enough for a short internal review, a lightweight client update, or a planning conversation where no invoice or durable budget record is required.
A managed workflow becomes necessary when estimates need to inform budgets, billing, approvals, and future planning. Everhour can compare tracked time against task estimates, show remaining or over-estimate hours in reports, and carry billable time and expenses into invoices while excluding non-billable work. That turns a Basecamp project guess into a record the next budget can use.
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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G2
Summer 2026
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Capterra
Summer 2026
Rated in the top time trackers across G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius — with consistent praise for ease of use, integrations, and support.
Estimate the effort needed to finish the to-do as written, using hours actually expected for the assigned person or role. Keep the due date separate from the effort number. A two-day date range does not mean 16 hours of work unless the person is expected to spend that much working time on that to-do.
An estimate describes effort. A due date or date range describes timing. Basecamp to-dos can carry assignments and due dates, while Everhour adds the time layer that compares planned effort with logged hours. Treating dates as effort creates bad capacity planning because a deadline does not show how much working time the task needs.
Estimate to-dos that affect staffing, budgets, client billing, or delivery risk. Tiny administrative items can stay unestimated if they do not change a plan. Large, vague to-dos should be rewritten before estimation because the team cannot compare actual time against a scope that nobody defined clearly.
A negative variance means the to-do used fewer tracked hours than planned. Treat that as useful only after confirming the time record is complete. Missing manual entries, stopped timers, or work logged to a different to-do can make the estimate look accurate or generous when the real issue is incomplete tracking.
Review estimates at project checkpoints and again when the project closes. Active reviews catch missing time while the assignee still remembers the work. Closing reviews improve the next plan by showing patterns across similar Basecamp to-dos, such as reviews, bug fixes, handoffs, or recurring client requests.
Everhour Billing & Invoicing can use tracked billable time and expenses to generate invoices, calculate amounts from rates, and exclude non-billable tasks. Invoice data can be grouped by project, task, person, date, or other available breakdowns so Basecamp to-do work can become a client-facing billing record.
Everhour Project Budgeting can compare tracked time with task estimates and show remaining or over-estimate hours in reports. Basecamp project names, to-do names, list names, task IDs, and task status can appear in Everhour reports, giving managers the context needed to improve future estimates.
Track Basecamp to-do hours, compare actuals with estimates, and turn tracked billable time and expenses into invoices. Everhour marks invoiced time so it does not appear again in future invoices.
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