How balances work
A balance is a block of hours a client has paid for. Time on their retainer work draws it down, hour for hour, whoever tracked it.
Where hours come from
Each of these adds a separate balance, with its own expiry:
- a plan renewal, once the payment clears
- a top-up bundle, once it's paid
- the extra hours from a plan upgrade
- Add hours on the client page
On the client page, the Hours card lists each retainer with Hours from this agreement under it, and Hours not from any agreement for top-ups and hours added by hand. Each balance shows what's left, what it started with, and when it expires. Hours left at the top of the page is everything the client can use today.
Which time draws down
Only billable time on a project set to Draws down a retainer draws down. Billable time filed to the client with no project draws down too, if the client has hours.
Time on a Billed directly project never touches a balance; it's invoiced at its rate. Internal — never billed and non-billable time never draw down either. A new project starts as Draws down a retainer when its client has an active retainer, and as Billed directly otherwise (always, for an Hourly only client). You can change it on the project page. See Create and manage projects.
Hours are taken when the entry is finished: when the timer stops, or when you save a manual entry. A running timer takes nothing. The amount taken is the entry's billed hours, after rounding. Writing billed hours down gives the difference back (see Billed hours and write-downs).
Which hours go first
If the project's Draws from names one retainer, only that retainer's hours are used. Top-up hours and hours added by hand without a retainer aren't tied to one, so such a project can't use them. If it's left on Any of this client's hours, the hours expiring soonest go first, and hours that never expire go last.
Work dated outside a retainer's Starts and Ends dates can't use that retainer's hours.
When hours run out
A balance never goes below zero, and tracking is never blocked. When an entry needs more hours than are left, what's left is used and the rest is overage. The entry's badge changes from Retainer to Overage.
Overage is billed on the client's next invoice, like any directly billed time. It's priced at the client's Hourly rate (in Edit details). If they have none, it's priced at the retainer's own rate: its price divided by its hours. A retainer typed in with no price has no rate of its own, so the time is priced like the client's other time (see Set your rates).
Time fully covered by hours isn't invoiced again; the client paid for it when they bought the hours.
Hours bought later don't cover overage already recorded, unless that entry is edited before it's invoiced.
When hours expire
When a balance expires, whatever is left on it is removed and shows Expired. Hours added by hand stay usable all day on their expiry date. Plan hours expire according to the plan's rollover (see Set up plans, bundles and tiers).
If a plan's renewal payment fails, no new hours arrive. The old ones still expire on schedule, and time after that bills as overage.
Editing time later
Editing or deleting an entry that isn't invoiced yet puts its hours back and takes them again. If the balance it came from has expired in the meantime, those hours are lost and the entry may become overage. Invoiced entries are never re-checked.
Correct a balance
Click Add hours to add a new balance: enter Hours, choose a Retainer or Not tied to one, set Expires (leave it empty for hours that never expire) and add a Note.
To fix an existing balance, click its adjust button (Adjust this balance) and enter a negative or positive number of hours. A balance can't go below zero, and an expired one can't be added to; use Add hours instead.
Statements of hours
To send each retainer client a regular record of their hours, opening balance to closing balance with every entry by project, turn on statements. See Send clients a statement of their hours. A statement already sent never changes: editing time from that period later shows up on the next statement as an adjustment.
Work at a different rate
For one-off or out-of-scope work that shouldn't use the client's hours, track it on a separate project set to Billed directly, with its own Rate. See Set your rates.
