Everhour turns writing time into structured reports, so client work stays organized across drafts, edits, meetings, and revisions.
Enter your time in and out for each day. Overtime and gross pay are calculated automatically.
| Day | Time In | Break Start | Break End | Break | Time Out | Total |
|---|
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.
A writer's billable record usually starts with a simple question: which client assignment used the time. In 2024, self-employed workers were the largest employment category for U.S. writers and authors at 63%, so many writing records support freelance invoices, not internal employee timesheets. A useful tracker separates each client, project, deliverable, and date before the week becomes a blur.
Remote work makes that structure more important. Writers and authors can work anywhere with access to a computer, and freelance assignments often include short-term or recurring work such as columns, magazine articles, newsletters, and client deliverables. A clean record lets you show that 1.5 hours went to research for a newsletter, 2 hours went to drafting, and 0.5 hours went to client edits.
A strong time entry names the client, assignment, deliverable, task type, date, hours, billable status, and notes. Task types should reflect writing work as it happens: research, outlining, drafting, editing, interviewing, email, client meetings, and revision rounds. Writers often present drafts, discuss requested changes, and revise material, so a single finished article can need several billable categories.
For example, an entry can read: client Acme Studio, assignment June newsletter, task revision round 2, date June 12, 2026, time 1.25 hours, billable, note "updated intro and CTA after client comments." That level of detail gives the invoice line context without exposing unnecessary working notes. It also helps you compare planned effort with actual time when the next similar assignment arrives.
Writers rarely bill every project the same way. Editorial pricing commonly appears per word, per hour, per page, or per project, and the Editorial Freelancers Association labels one standard page as 250 words. A billable hours tracker should still record time when the invoice uses a per-word or flat-project fee, because time shows whether the assignment paid fairly for the effort.
This matters most when communication and revision work expand. O*NET reports that 88% of surveyed writers and authors described contact with others as constant, and 100% use email every day. Client coordination can be real project work, but it should not disappear inside a vague drafting total. Track email, meetings, interviews, and revision discussions separately when the client agreement allows those activities to be billed.
A free weekly total is enough for a single small assignment when the client only needs the final number of billable hours. It also works for a writer who wants a quick check against a flat fee before sending an invoice from another system. The limit appears when you juggle recurring clients, several deliverables, and revision cycles across the same week.
A managed workflow gives you a record that survives the invoice. Everhour can turn logged client and project time into customizable reports with columns, grouping, filters, date ranges, and exports in CSV, Excel/XLSX, or PDF. That helps writers review billable time by client, assignment, task type, or invoice status before sending a final number to a client or keeping records for business income support.
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.
Separate research from drafting when the client agreement bills both activities or when you need to understand project profitability. Research-heavy articles, interviews, and technical pieces can consume more time than the final draft suggests. Separate entries also make the invoice easier to explain, because the client sees the work that happened before the finished document appeared.
Client email and meetings can be billable when the contract, statement of work, or client approval includes that time. Writers use email every day, and many projects require constant client contact, but billable status comes from the agreement. Mark communication as its own task so it does not get hidden inside drafting or editing time.
Flat-rate writing projects still benefit from time records because the hours show whether the fee covered the real work. A $600 article that takes 6 hours performs differently from the same fee taking 14 hours. For U.S. self-employed writers, clear income and expense records must support tax return entries, and time records can support invoice and project notes.
Revision entries should identify the deliverable, the round, the requested change, and the billable status. A useful note says "round 1, reorganized section order after editor comments" or "round 2, added approved quotes." This protects the difference between included edits and extra scope, especially when a project includes one revision round but the client requests more.
For employees covered by the FLSA minimum wage or overtime provisions, employer records must include hours worked each workday and total hours worked each workweek. Unless exempt, covered employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a fixed 168-hour workweek at not less than 1.5 times the regular rate of pay.
Everhour Reporting lets writers build reports with 45+ columns, metadata filters, grouping, date ranges, and exports in CSV, Excel/XLSX, or PDF. A writer can group time by client, project, task, billable status, or invoice status before reviewing a month of work or sending totals to a client.
Track client writing time by assignment, task, and revision round, then use Everhour Reporting to review billable work by client, project, and invoice status.
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