Billable vs. non-billable time

Understanding the difference between billable and non-billable time entries and how each affects your invoicing.

Written By Gemma DeMasi

Last updated About 1 month ago

Every time entry in the system is marked as either billable or non-billable. This determines whether the entry can be added to a client invoice and whether it counts toward your billable percentage in the KPI tiles.


Billable time

Billable time is work you charge to a client. When you add time entries to an invoice, only billable entries are available to pull in. Examples include:

  • Design work

  • Drafting and detailing

  • Site visits

  • Consultations

  • Project management


Non-billable time

Non-billable time is work you track internally but do not charge to a client. It still appears in your Timelogs and counts toward your total hours tracked, but it is excluded from invoicing. Examples include:

  • Internal team meetings

  • Admin and reporting

  • Follow-up calls

  • Business development


How billable status is set

The billable or non-billable status on a time entry is determined in one of two ways:

  • Automatically -- when you select a service and activity type, the system sets the billable status based on how that type is configured in Settings. If the activity type is set to non-billable, the entry will be marked non-billable automatically.

  • Manually -- you can override the status on any entry when logging time or editing an existing entry.


Tracking your billable percentage

The KPI tiles at the top of the Timelogs page show your billable percentage across all tracked time. Use this to understand how much of your studio's time is generating revenue vs. going uncompensated.

Setting up your service and activity types correctly is the fastest way to make sure entries are marked billable or non-billable accurately without having to set it manually every time. Learn more about service and activity types.