Retainers with hours included and overage
Bill a client a fixed fee each month or quarter that covers a number of hours. Hours above it are billed at an overage rate, and unused hours can roll over to the next period.
PLANSFrom Growth
The problem it solves
- A support client pays a monthly fee, and nobody checks whether the hours used went over.
- Extra hours are billed late, or forgotten, because they sit in a separate sheet.
- The contract says unused hours carry over, and the balance is tracked by hand.
- The client asks how many hours were used, and the answer takes a day to put together.
How it works
- On the client project, open the Billing tab and choose Retainer as the Billing Method.
- Fill in the Retainer Fee, the Retainer Period (Every Month or Every Quarter), the Hours Included and, if agreed, an Overage Rate an Hour.
- Turn on Unused Hours Roll Over if the contract carries hours forward, and set Retainer From for the first period.
- Your team keeps time on the project as usual. Approved billable hours count against the retainer.
- At the period end, press New Billing Run. The run has the fee, the hours within the retainer at no charge, and the hours over it at the overage rate.
- Once approved, the draft invoice is made with the fee and the overage. Unused hours are carried into the next period if the project rolls them over.
Everything it does
Retainer terms on the project
- Retainer Fee: billed on every run
- Retainer Period: Every Month (the default) or Every Quarter
- Hours Included: the hours each period the fee covers
- Overage Rate an Hour: empty means each person's bill rate from the rate card, averaged over the period's hours
- Unused Hours Roll Over: off to start with
- Retainer From: the start of the first period; empty: the project's start date, else the first of this month
On each run
- Retainer Fee line for the period, for example 1 Oct to 31 Oct
- Hours within the retainer: a line at no charge, so you see the hours used
- Hours Over the Retainer: the hours above the included and carried hours, at the overage rate
- The latest hours of the period are the ones counted as over
- Only approved billable hours count; non-billable hours do not use the retainer
- Approved expenses marked Bill the Client are added too, and lines can be added by hand
Hours carried over
- Hours to Carry Over shows on the run; it becomes the project's Hours Carried Over when the run is approved
- Carried hours add to the next period's included hours
- With roll over off, unused hours are dropped at each approval
- The project's Billing tab shows Hours Carried Over and Approved Hours Not Billed
Approval and invoice
- The run goes through the Billing Run approval chain like any other run
- The draft invoice has the fee and the overage; the hours at no charge stay on the run
- Taxes: the entity's default sales taxes, such as GST or VAT
Who uses it
Projects ManagerSets the retainer terms, makes the run each period and checks the hours.
ApproverApproves the run in the Billing Run chain before the invoice is made.
AccountantPosts the draft invoice and follows the payment.
Where you use it
- Web: the project's Billing tab; Projects > Money > Billing > Billing Runs
- Not on the client portal: clients see the invoice, not the hours balance
What you control
Settings
- Per project: fee, period (month to start with), hours included, overage rate, roll over (off), retainer from
- Invoice on approval: on (entity setting)
Approvals
- Billing Run: the same chain as every billing run
Notifications
- Request Waits for Your Approval: to the approvers of the run, with a to-do showing its amount
Questions
Is there a limit on hours carried over?
No. Unused hours keep adding up while roll over is on. To start again, turn roll over off for one run, or agree a new contract.Can we bill the retainer in advance and the overage later?
Each run covers one period and carries the fee with that period's overage. Billing the fee ahead of the period is not built.What if the team used fewer hours than included?
The fee is billed in full. With roll over on, the unused hours are added to the next period.Does the client see the hours used?
Not on the portal. The run shows the hours within the retainer and over it, and you can send that to the client.Which plan has it?
Growth and Scale, as part of billing runs.Related features
MONEYBilling runs from approved hoursEach period, a billing run gathers what a project bills. That is approved hours at their rates, fixed-price instalments that are due, the retainer fee and overage, and expenses to pass on. Once approved, it becomes a draft invoice in accounting with the entity's GST or VAT.MONEYRate cards by person, role and projectSet what an hour of each person or role is billed at, in a currency, on a rate card you reuse across projects. A project can carry its own rate for a person, and every billing run prices the hours from these rates.TIMEWeekly timesheets with approvalEach person's time for the week sits on one sheet, sent on Friday. The project manager or your approval chain approves it as a whole. Approved hours become the project's cost and what you bill.TIMETime entries with a timer and a weekly gridYour team keeps time on projects and tasks in the way that suits the work. Use a timer on the task, a weekly grid of projects and days, or a line in the list. Each entry is billable or not and lands on that person's weekly timesheet by itself.MONEYProfitability per projectOne row per project with revenue, cost, margin and budget used, read from the project's budget ledger. Time is costed at each person's cost per hour, and filters show the projects losing money or over budget.
See your next project on it.
Tell us how many people keep time, how you bill your clients today (hours, fixed price, retainers) and what you use now. We will set up one of your real projects with you.