Time and projects
Running the work once it's sold: tracking billable hours so nothing goes unbilled, timesheets clients accept, onboarding steps, project boards and the follow-ups worth automating. The billable hours guide and the onboarding checklist are the two places to start.
Start here
- How to track billable hours and turn them into an invoiceHow to track billable hours by project as a freelancer, check them once a week and turn them into an invoice without rebuilding timesheets.
- Client onboarding checklist for freelancersA client onboarding checklist for freelancers: intake, discovery call, signed contract, deposit, billing details, kickoff and a welcome email to copy.
Articles
- A 30-minute weekly review for freelancers (template)A copyable 30-minute weekly review checklist for freelancers: unbilled hours, overdue invoices, open proposals, next week's calendar and three priorities.
- Billable vs non-billable hours: what counts and how to price it inWhat counts as billable time, the non-billable tasks freelancers forget, and how to recover them through your hourly rate instead of the invoice.
- Client offboarding checklist: how to close a project properlyClose a client project properly: final invoice, file and password handoff, access removal, records to keep, a closing email and the review ask.
- How to build a client project timeline, counting business daysBuild a client project timeline in business days with review time as its own step. Worked example: a 6-week project around the 2026 holidays.
- How to estimate how long a project will takeEstimate project hours with task breakdowns and three-point (PERT) estimates. Worked example: a website estimated at 52 hours, checked against past jobs.
- A Kanban board for client projects: columns that workSix Kanban columns for freelance client work, why Waiting on client matters, how to set a WIP limit, and when to use one board per client.
- What is a good utilization rate for a freelancer?The utilization rate formula, how many billable hours a week freelancers can expect, and a table of the hourly rate you need at 50% to 80% utilization.
- Why track time on fixed-price projects (and what to do with the data)Track hours on fixed-price work to find your effective hourly rate. Worked example: a $3,000 project that took 43 hours, and how to price the next one.
- 7 automations every freelancer should set up (exact triggers and emails)Seven freelance automations with the exact trigger, wait, action and email text, plus the time each one saves per month in a worked example.
- Billing in 6-minute increments: rounding rules for billable timeA minutes-to-tenths conversion table, 6- vs 15-minute rounding compared on a real day of entries, and contract wording for your rounding rule.
Templates
Free calculators
Comparisons
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