Everhour turns freelance hours into reports and billing records, while your setup keeps each client entry clear.
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.
Freelance time tracking starts with a simple outcome: a week of entries you can trust when you invoice, review project profitability, or explain scope to a client. Each entry needs a date, client, project, task, time spent, billable status, and short note. Rate fields for U.S. client work normally use U.S. dollars, so keep currency consistent across time records and invoices.
Track the work at the level you bill or manage. A designer billing by project can separate discovery, revisions, and production. A consultant billing hourly can track meetings, research, writing, and admin separately. Keep internal business work in the record too, even when it stays non-billable, because proposal time, bookkeeping, and client communication affect your real capacity.
Choose one capture method for active work and one correction method for cleanup. A live timer works best during focused client tasks because it records time as the work happens. Manual entry works for meetings, calls, and short tasks you forgot to start. Add missing time the same day while the details remain clear.
Use the same project and task names every week. A record that says "Acme, website audit, content review, billable, 1.5 hours" gives you more value than a note that says "client work." Consistent labels make invoice review faster and show which clients consume planning time, revision time, or unpaid support.
Client-facing time records need enough detail to explain the charge without exposing every internal note. Use plain task names, clear dates, and billable time totals. Keep private notes, sales follow-up, and internal planning out of the invoice description unless the contract makes that time billable.
Create a boundary before work starts. A retainer can include all tracked client service time, while a fixed-fee project can use time tracking only for budget control. Weekend or holiday work does not automatically create premium billable time under the federal FLSA rule; premium billing comes from your agreement with the client, not the calendar alone.
A free weekly record is enough when you need a quick total for one invoice or a snapshot of where time went. It works for a small number of clients, simple hourly work, and projects that do not require approval, reporting, or a repeatable handoff.
A managed workflow becomes necessary when tracked time feeds recurring invoices, project budgets, client reports, or payroll review for a team. Everhour fits that stage by turning logged freelance or team time into customizable reports with grouping, filters, date ranges, and exports, so the record becomes a system of record instead of a reconstructed spreadsheet.
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.
Each entry should identify the client, project, task, date, time spent, billable status, and a short work note. Add enough context for invoice review and future project analysis. Avoid vague labels such as "admin" or "work" when the time affects a client bill or a project budget.
Yes. Non-billable time shows the full cost of running the freelance business. Track proposals, revisions outside scope, bookkeeping, learning, client follow-up, and internal planning separately from billable work. Those records show whether a client or project consumes unpaid time that should affect pricing.
A timer is better for focused work that starts and stops clearly. Manual entry is better for meetings, short calls, and corrections made the same day. End-of-week reconstruction weakens the record because task names, durations, and billable decisions blur together.
Freelancers can round billable time when the client agreement allows it and the invoice stays clear. State the billing increment in the contract or proposal, such as 15-minute increments. Keep the underlying tracked time precise enough to review project profitability even if the invoice uses rounded billing units.
The federal FLSA overtime rule applies to covered nonexempt employees, not to a self-employed freelancer tracking personal client work. If you employ covered nonexempt workers, records must include hours worked each workday and total hours worked each workweek, and overtime applies after 40 hours in a fixed 168-hour workweek.
Everhour Reporting lets you build reports with 45+ columns, metadata filters, grouping, date ranges, and formatting. A freelancer can group logged time by client, project, task, billable time, labor costs, invoice status, and other fields, then download CSV, Excel/XLSX, or PDF reports for review.
Everhour can run as a standalone time tracker or inside tools such as Asana, ClickUp, GitHub, Linear, Jira, Monday, Notion, Trello, and Basecamp. You can start a timer from the task, then keep the tracked time connected to the project record.
Track client work once, then use Everhour Reporting to group, filter, schedule, and export the records that support cleaner freelance billing.
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