Everhour connects retainer work to project budgets, recurring periods, and billing workflows without losing the client detail.
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Retainer clients usually pay in advance for professional work that will be requested later. Your time record needs to show the client, project or matter, task, date, person, billable status, and notes that explain the work. That detail lets you separate client-chargeable hours from internal coordination, admin work, and non-billable support.
A practical record also shows how tracked work affects the retainer. A $5,000 monthly retainer with work billed against it needs time entries that support the invoice and the remaining balance. For an agency, that may mean strategy, design, and account management entries by client. For a law firm, it may mean matter-level time, often recorded in six-minute increments.
Retainers can use a fixed pre-negotiated fee or a variable hourly rate. They can also be paid once in advance or renewed monthly. Time tracking has to follow the agreement because the same 3 hours can mean different things: covered work inside the retainer, extra work billed separately, or non-billable time absorbed by the team.
Evergreen retainers add another decision point. After billed work draws down the retainer, the client may need to replenish it. Clean time records make that request concrete. Instead of saying the account is low, you can show the entries that earned fees, the amount applied to the retainer, and the work that remains outside the current balance.
Professional services teams often calculate utilization as billable hours divided by total recorded hours for a period. That only works when non-billable work is tracked too. If a consultant records only client-chargeable time, the rate looks cleaner than the real operating picture and hides account management, scoping, revisions, and internal review.
Some firms use fixed capacity instead, such as billable hours divided by a 40-hour week. That method can exceed 100% when billable work passes the capacity denominator. Pick one utilization method for management reporting and label it clearly. Retainer clients need the same discipline because prepaid work can make teams treat hours as covered even when they still consume capacity.
A one-off weekly total is enough when you only need to see whether a small retainer stayed within the planned hours. It breaks down when several people serve the same client, work spans multiple projects, or the agreement needs regular drawdown and replenishment support. The durable workflow is client, project, task, billable status, and budget in the same record.
Everhour Project Budgeting fits that managed workflow by tracking time and money budgets as people log time. Retainer teams can use recurring budget periods, client-level budgets across multiple projects, threshold alerts, and budget protection to keep prepaid work visible before the invoice or replenishment request is due.
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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A useful retainer time entry includes the client, project or matter, task, person, date, duration, billable status, and a short description of the work. Add the rate or fee category when the agreement uses hourly billing. Add retainer category or budget notes when the work draws down a prepaid balance.
Track the services performed, bill the client periodically, then apply the earned fees against the retainer balance. The record should show which entries were covered by the retainer and which entries require separate billing or replenishment. Evergreen retainers need extra attention because the client may need to restore the balance after drawdown.
Yes, non-billable retainer work should be recorded when you need accurate utilization, staffing, or account profitability. Billable hours are client-chargeable hours, but non-billable time shows the cost of meetings, revisions, planning, and internal review. Omitting it makes the client relationship look more efficient than it is.
Yes, a retainer fee can be a fixed pre-negotiated amount or tied to a variable hourly rate, depending on the agreement and profession. The time record should match that structure. Fixed-fee retainers still need tracked time for scope control, capacity planning, and proof of work performed.
The common mistake is recording only a total number of hours without client, task, billable status, and retainer treatment. That total cannot explain whether work was included in the retainer, drawn from an advance, billed separately, or written off. Detailed entries reduce ambiguity before the invoice reaches the client.
Everhour Project Budgeting supports time and money budgets with one-time or recurring periods, including daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly resets. Teams can set client-level budgets across multiple projects and receive threshold alerts at 75%, 90%, 100%, or custom limits as retainer work approaches its cap.
Track approved retainer hours by client, project, and budget before invoices or replenishment requests go out. Everhour gives teams recurring budgets, alerts, and budget protection for clearer client billing.
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