How to Bill Clients with Custom Rates, Factors, and Per-Hour Extras

Most freelancers and consultants don't have one hourly rate. They have a base rate that bends for the client, the type of work, the time of day, the urgency, and the contract they signed two quarters ago and half-forgot. Trying to do that math in your head at invoice time is how rates drift down and money gets left behind.

Timesheet lets you bake the rate logic into the project once, then forget about it. Every tracked task carries the right earnings forward. This post walks through the four levers: per-project rates, Factor multipliers, Extra/h adjustments, and the billable, billed, and paid statuses.

All of this is on the free Basic plan.

#Per-Project Hourly Rates

Each project carries its own rate. That's the foundation. When a task starts inside that project, the rate is already applied.

#Setup

1. Open the project
2. Open project settings
3. Find Hourly Rate
4. Enter the rate
5. Save

From here on, every entry in this project calculates earnings as hours × rate.

#Why Project-Level Rates Are the Right Default

• Client A pays €100 an hour for consulting
• Client B pays €75 for development
• Internal projects don't bill at all

Mapping the rate to the project means you don't think about it again. The rate follows the work.

#Where the Earnings Show Up

Once rates are set, calculated earnings appear in:

• Task detail view
• Daily and weekly summaries
• Statistics and reports
• CSV and Excel exports

#Factor: Percentage Multipliers

Factor multiplies the base rate for a specific entry. Useful for time-and-a-half, double time, discounted blocks, premium work.

#Setup on a Task

1. Open the task
2. Find Factor in the rate section
3. Enter the multiplier (e.g. 1.5)
4. Save

The earnings become hours × rate × factor.

#Where Factor Earns Its Keep

Overtime billing

• Standard hours: factor 1.0
• After 8 hours: factor 1.5
• Weekends: factor 2.0

Negotiated rate variations

• Standard: factor 1.0
• Discounted block: factor 0.8
• Rush job: factor 1.25

Work-type pricing inside the same project

• Design: factor 1.0
• Development: factor 1.2
• Emergency support: factor 2.0

#Extra/h: Fixed Per-Hour Adjustments

When the adjustment isn't a percentage but a flat amount per hour, that's Extra/h.

#Setup on a Task

1. Open the task
2. Find Extra/h in the rate section
3. Enter the flat amount (positive or negative)
4. Save

The earnings become hours × (rate + extra/h).

#Factor vs. Extra/h: Which to Use

#Both Together

You can use both on the same entry. The formula is hours × (rate × factor + extra/h).

Example:

• Base rate: €100/h
• Factor: 1.5 (overtime)
• Extra/h: €20 (tool fee)
• Per-hour rate: €100 × 1.5 + €20 = €170
• For 3 hours: €510

#Billable vs. Non-Billable

Not every tracked entry should land on a client invoice. Each entry can be marked billable or non-billable.

#Setting the Status

• Billable: included in earnings calculations and invoices
• Non-billable: tracked for your records but excluded from billing

#Project Default

Set the default on the project so new entries inherit it:

1. Open project settings
2. Find Default Billable
3. Choose Yes or No
4. New entries inherit; you can override per entry

#What Usually Ends Up Non-Billable

• Internal meetings
• Learning and training
• Admin and inbox
• Pro bono work
• Untracked rework on a fixed-fee deal
• Travel time (unless billed separately)

Tracking non-billable time still matters. It's the only way to see your real effective rate.

#Billed and Paid Status

After billable comes the lifecycle: invoiced and paid.

#The Three States

1. Billable: ready to invoice
2. Billed: on an invoice that's been sent
3. Paid: payment received

#Marking as Billed

After sending the invoice:

1. Filter entries by project and date range
2. Select the entries you billed
3. Mark them Billed
4. Optionally add the invoice number for traceability

#Marking as Paid

When payment arrives:

1. Filter by Billed
2. Find the entries that match the invoice
3. Mark them Paid

#Status Filters That Earn Their Keep

• All billable for the next invoice
• All billed that are still unpaid, your receivables
• Paid by date range, for your accountant

#Two Realistic Billing Workflows

#Weekly Client Billing

1. Filter entries by project and the past week
2. Scan for missing notes, wrong rates, wrong factors
3. Generate PDF invoice (Pro plan; 30-day free trial, no credit card), or export to CSV and put it through your existing invoicing tool
4. Mark the included entries Billed

#End-of-Project Billing

1. Filter all entries for the project
2. Review the billable/non-billable split
3. Confirm Factor and Extra/h on any special entries
4. Generate the final invoice
5. Archive the project (or keep it for repeat work)

#Things That Save Money

Set rates when you create the project, not at invoice time. Retroactive math is where the leaks happen.

Decide your Factor rules once and write them down. "After 18:00 → 1.25. Weekends → 1.5. Same-day rush → 1.5." Otherwise every Factor decision becomes a separate negotiation with yourself.

Review entries before invoicing. Five minutes catches the entries with no rate, the misclassified billable status, the half-hour timer that's actually three hours.

Track non-billable too. You can't lift your effective rate if you can't see the admin gravity dragging it down.

Communicate rate changes by creating a new project, or at least a clearly dated transition. The audit trail later is worth the few minutes now.

#Summary

The four levers:

• Project rates: the foundation, hours × rate
• Factor: percentage adjustments, mostly for overtime and discounts
• Extra/h: flat per-hour adjustments, mostly for tools and travel
• Billable / Billed / Paid: the lifecycle from work to paid invoice

All on the free Basic plan. Get them set right, and invoice time stops being a math problem.

#Where to Go Next

• Generate PDF invoices from tracked entries (Pro plan, 30-day trial)
• Export to Excel or CSV if you bill through another tool
• Read the statistics report to spot which clients pay best