Design agencies sell expertise by the hour or fixed fee. Everhour keeps project time tied to scope, teams, and budgets.
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.
Use this page to organize design time into records you can review, bill, and compare against scope. A design agency usually juggles multiple client projects at once, with designers, art directors, production staff, and account roles moving between discovery, concepts, production, and feedback. The useful output is a clean weekly view by client, project, phase, person, billable status, and budget.
Graphic design services include planning, designing, and managing visual communication for printed materials, packaging, advertising, signage systems, and corporate identity such as logos. Staff knowledge and skill are the main production input, so hours show whether a fixed fee is realistic, whether a retainer is burning too fast, and whether internal creative time is crowding out client work.
Reliable agency records need more than a timer total. Include the client, project, task or phase, team member, date, start and stop time or total time, billable status, rate or budget category, and notes that explain the work. For expenses, attach the category and receipt reference for items such as shipping, presentation materials, computer expenses, parking, taxis, or approved travel.
For U.S. payroll records, covered employers must keep accurate records for nonexempt workers, and records for employees covered by the FLSA minimum wage or overtime provisions must include hours worked each workday and total hours worked each workweek. The FLSA does not require a particular timekeeping form or system. State wage, overtime, privacy, and employee-monitoring rules can add requirements. Employers must preserve payroll records for at least three years and basic time and earnings records for at least two years.
A design proposal should define the scope of work, process, schedule, and total price, often as a fixed fee. Time categories should mirror that promise. Use the same phase names your proposal uses, such as planning, design, production management, client review, and milestone follow-up. This avoids a vague bucket called "design" swallowing the real work, and it gives project managers a cleaner view of scope movement.
A sample entry reads: "Harbor Foods, packaging refresh, production management, Maya Lee, 3.0 hours, billable, vendor proof review, receipt pending for shipping." That single line links time to a client, a project phase, a person, a billing decision, and an expense follow-up. Client-reviewable records matter because some design clients request reimbursable-expense receipts or audit rights for project records.
A free one-off tool is enough when a principal needs a quick read on a small fixed-fee logo project or a single client invoice. Enter time by person and phase, confirm billable status, and save the result with the project file. That lightweight approach breaks down once multiple designers share work, expenses need receipt support, or project managers review time after submission.
A managed workflow becomes the better answer when time affects payroll review, client billing, and staffing decisions every week. Everhour Team Management gives agencies approval workflows, lock rules, admin time correction, personal tracking limits, weekly capacity, roles, project assignments, team groups, and team-wide policy defaults. That structure creates an approved record before data moves into reporting, budgets, invoicing, or payroll review.
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.
The structure should follow the path from client promise to finished record: client, project, phase or milestone, task, person, billable status, and notes. Use phase names that match the proposal instead of generic labels. A usable weekly review should show which clients consumed capacity, which phases moved forward, and which hours belong on a client invoice.
Yes. A fixed fee sets the client price, but internal hours show whether the fee covered overhead, client-project time, and the target profit margin used in rate planning. Track brand identity work by phase and milestone so future proposals use actual agency effort instead of guesses.
Yes, if expenses stay distinct from labor hours. Design-project records should identify out-of-pocket items such as shipping, presentation materials, computer expenses, parking, taxis, or approved travel. Some clients request receipt copies or audit rights for project records, so expense entries need a category, date, USD amount for U.S. work, and receipt reference.
Covered employers may choose any complete and accurate method; the FLSA does not require a specific app or clock. For employees covered by the FLSA minimum wage or overtime provisions, records must show hours worked each workday and total hours worked each workweek. Covered nonexempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a 168-hour workweek at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate. State wage and overtime rules can add requirements.
A useful note names the deliverable, phase, or client decision that explains the time, such as vendor proof review or logo file preparation. Avoid collecting personal details that do not support payroll, billing, or project records. U.S. businesses handling personal information must avoid unfair or deceptive practices under Section 5 of the FTC Act and keep sensitive employee information secure.
Everhour Team Management lets agencies set approval workflows, lock periods after approval, correct time as an admin, and control access through roles, project assignments, and team groups. Project managers review time before billing, while regular members lose edit access once submitted or approved time is locked.
Everhour Project Budgeting tracks hour-based or money-based budgets as people log time against project work. Agencies can use recurring budgets for retainers, receive threshold alerts at 75%, 90%, 100%, or custom levels, and stop extra logging when budget protection is enabled.
Set roles, approvals, lock rules, and weekly capacity before project time reaches billing review. Everhour Team Management keeps agency time cleaner before payroll, reporting, and client billing.
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