Tracking non-billable time without feeling watched
Admin, sales and learning are part of the job. Tracking them tells you what your billable rate really is.
By Owen Castellano
Habits
5 min read
Many consultants only track billable hours because tracking the rest feels like surveillance. But the rest is exactly where your real rate hides.
Use three buckets
Admin: invoicing, email, bookkeeping
Sales: proposals and first calls
Learning: courses and reading for the work
Look monthly, not daily
Daily numbers make you anxious. A monthly view shows the pattern: if sales takes twelve hours a month, price it into your rate.
Billing
6 min read
Six minute increments: when rounding is fair and when it is not
Rounding is normal in professional services. The trouble starts when the client finds out from the invoice.
Invoicing
5 min read
What to put on an invoice so it gets paid in 10 days
Most late payments are not about money. They are about an invoice that is hard to approve.
Free for your first client, no card. Bring three years of Harvest or Toggl history across in about ten minutes.