Writers juggle drafts, revisions, email, and client work. Everhour keeps those hours organized for billing and review.
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 rarely bills only for words typed into a document. Client assignments often include research, outlines, interviews, drafting, editing, email, meetings, and revision rounds after feedback. A usable time record separates those activities by client, assignment, and deliverable, so a newsletter draft does not blur into a blog rewrite or a magazine article pitch.
Freelance writers also move between short-term and recurring work. One client may need four monthly columns, while another sends a single landing page project. Track each entry with a date, client, project, deliverable, task type, and notes. A note such as "revision round 2 after editor comments" gives more context than "writing" when you review scope or explain an invoice.
Writer billing does not always use one unit. The Editorial Freelancers Association rate chart uses per word, per hour, per page, and per project rates, with one page labeled as 250 words. Time tracking still matters when the invoice uses a flat fee or per-word price because it shows whether the assignment stayed within the expected effort.
A practical entry can read: "Client A, white paper, research, 1.5 hours" followed by "Client A, white paper, draft section 1, 2 hours." For a per-page editing job, record the pages or word count separately from the time. That pairing helps you compare a 2,500-word draft, a 10-page edit, and an hourly consulting call without forcing every project into the same billing format.
Client contact takes real time. O*NET reports that 88% of surveyed writers and authors described contact with others as constant, and 100% use email every day. A writer who tracks only drafting time misses interviews, briefing calls, feedback discussions, email clarification, and file handoff work that may belong to the project.
The common mistake is using one catch-all timer for the whole day. That hides whether a client consumed the budget through revisions, meetings, or new writing. Use separate task labels for drafting, research, editing, revision, admin, and client communication. That structure makes the record useful when a client questions a charge or asks for another round within the same fee.
A free one-off tracker is enough when you need this week's hours for a single client, a quick invoice note, or a personal check on where your writing time went. It works best when the output is simple: client, assignment, date, hours, task, and a short description.
A managed workflow becomes necessary when tracked time feeds recurring invoices, client budgets, approvals, or team review. Everhour Timesheets collect weekly project and working hours, let users submit time for approval, and allow managers to approve, reject, partially approve, and lock entries before billing or payroll review. That matters when editors, content teams, or agencies need records that survive beyond one invoice.
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
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.
Track the tasks that consume assignment time: research, outlining, interviews, drafting, editing, revision rounds, client email, meetings, and file delivery. Use the client, assignment, deliverable, task type, date, hours, and notes. That level of detail helps you defend scope, prepare invoices, and compare actual effort with the price you quoted.
Yes. A flat-fee invoice does not remove the need to understand effort. Time records show whether the project stayed profitable, which revision rounds caused overruns, and whether a similar assignment needs a higher quote next time. Keep the flat price on the invoice, then use the tracked hours internally for pricing decisions.
Keep the billing unit and the time record side by side. The EFA rate chart uses per word, per hour, per page, and per project units, with one page labeled as 250 words. Record the word count or page count for the deliverable, then track research, drafting, editing, and revisions in hours.
No federal overtime premium applies solely because work happens on Saturday, Sunday, a holiday, or a regular rest day. Under the FLSA federal baseline, covered nonexempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a fixed 168-hour workweek, unless an exemption, state law, policy, or contract changes the result.
U.S. self-employed writers need business records that clearly show income and expenses and support tax return entries. The IRS allows any recordkeeping system suited to the business. Time records help connect invoices to client work, especially when projects use mixed pricing such as hourly consulting, per-word drafting, and flat-fee editing.
Everhour Timesheets collect weekly project and working hours by person, so writing time can be reviewed before invoices, payroll, or internal reports use it. Managers can approve, reject, partially approve, and lock submitted entries when corrections are needed.
Everhour can add time tracking inside tools such as Asana, ClickUp, GitHub, Linear, Jira, Monday, Notion, Trello, and Basecamp. Writers can log time against the task or project where the brief, draft, or revision request already lives.
Track approved writing time by client, assignment, and deliverable. Everhour Timesheets give editors, agencies, and writing teams reviewable hours for cleaner billing and payroll review.
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