Before you start tracking time

What to configure before logging your first time entry to make sure billing is accurate from day one.

Written By Gemma DeMasi

Last updated About 1 month ago

Before anyone on your team logs a single minute, take a few minutes to configure your service and activity types. Getting this right upfront means every time entry will be categorized, billed, and reported correctly -- without having to go back and fix things later.

Why this matters

Service and activity types control three things:

  • What type of work is being logged (design, drafting, site visit, etc.)

  • Whether that work is billable or non-billable

  • The hourly rate that applies -- globally, per project, or per employee

If you start logging time before these are configured, entries may default to the wrong billing status or rate. That creates cleanup work and potential billing errors.

What to set up first

  1. Go to Settings > Service & Activity Types

  2. Create an activity type for each kind of work your studio bills for -- for example, Design, Drafting, Site Visit, Project Management, Consultation

  3. For each type, set it as Billable or Non-Billable

  4. Set the hourly rate -- choose between a global rate, per-project rates, or per-employee rates depending on how your studio bills

  5. If rates vary by employee or project, configure those overrides before your team starts logging

Per-project rates

If different projects bill at different rates for the same type of work, set up per-project rates for each project before time logging begins on that project. Any project without a specific rate will fall back to the global rate.

Per-employee rates

If team members bill at different rates, assign per-employee rates to each person. Once you add any employee to an activity type, all employees who need a rate for that activity must be listed -- there is no partial override.

If you add one employee override and leave others unlisted, those unlisted employees will lose access to that activity type entirely. Set all employee rates at the same time.

You can update service and activity types at any time, but changes will only apply to new time entries going forward. Existing entries keep the rate and billing status they were logged with. Learn more about service and activity types.