> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.timetracker.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is TimeTracker?

> TimeTracker is a client-work platform for service businesses – time tracking, projects, timesheets, budgets and invoicing in one system that shows project profitability.

TimeTracker is one system for running client work. It combines the four tools most
service businesses juggle separately:

* A **project tool** for planning the work
* A **time tracker** for recording the hours
* A **budget spreadsheet** for watching the money
* An **invoicing app** for getting paid

Putting them together is not just tidier. It means every hour you record already
knows what it is worth, what it cost, and which budget it just consumed.

## Who it is for

Service businesses that bill for their people's time:

* Digital and creative agencies
* Consultancies
* Software studios
* Architecture, legal, accounting and other professional-service firms

It is built for teams of roughly **2 to 50 people**. Small enough that you do not
need enterprise resource planning, big enough that a spreadsheet has stopped working.

## The problem it solves

Most agencies find out a project lost money **after** they invoice it.

The hours are in one tool, the budget is in a spreadsheet somebody updates on
Fridays, and the cost of each person is in a payroll system nobody looks at. By the
time those three meet, the project is finished and the margin is whatever it is.

TimeTracker puts the financial context **on the task**, as the work happens.

> Sarah records 3 hours on Bluebird Coffee's homepage. Her billable rate is $100 an
> hour, so the project just earned **$300\*\*. Her cost rate is $45 an hour, so it cost **$135\*\*. The margin is \*\*$165**, and the project budget moved from $0 to \$300
> used – all from one timer stopping.

Nobody re-entered anything. Nobody waited for Friday.

## What you get

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Projects and tasks" icon="folder" href="/projects/overview">
    Clients, projects, sections, boards and lists.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Time tracking" icon="stopwatch" href="/time-tracking/overview">
    A timer, manual entry and a calendar view.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Timesheets" icon="table" href="/timesheets/overview">
    Everyone's week in one grid, submitted and approved.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Approvals" icon="thumbs-up" href="/approvals/overview">
    Timesheets, timecards, expenses and leave in one inbox.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Budgets" icon="chart-pie" href="/budgets/overview">
    Hours or money, one-time or monthly retainers.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Profitability" icon="percent" href="/budgets/profitability-and-margin">
    Revenue, cost and margin per project, live.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Invoicing" icon="file-invoice" href="/invoicing/overview">
    Approved billable time becomes a bill.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Reports" icon="chart-line" href="/reports/overview">
    Ask anything, save it, schedule it, export it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Time off" icon="umbrella-beach" href="/time-off/overview">
    Requests, balances, policies and holidays.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Schedules" icon="calendar-days" href="/schedules/overview">
    Expected hours, so timesheets have a baseline.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Client portal" icon="handshake" href="/portal/overview">
    A read-only window for your clients.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Planner" icon="chart-gantt" href="/planner/overview">
    Plan who works on what, before it happens.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## What makes it different

**Every hour carries two numbers.** A billable rate and a cost rate. Most time
trackers only know the first, which tells you revenue but never margin. See
[rates explained](/concepts/rates-explained).

**Nothing is entered twice.** Recording time fills in your timesheet, moves the
budget, feeds the report and queues the invoice line, all at once.

**You only see the parts you use.** The product is 15 [apps](/concepts/apps-and-modules)
you switch on or off. If you invoice elsewhere, switch Invoices off and it is gone.

**History does not rewrite itself.** When you change a rate, last quarter's numbers
stay as they were, because each hour keeps the rate it was recorded at. See
[rate snapshots](/rates/rate-snapshots).

**Clients see only their own work.** A portal contact never sees your costs, your
margin or another client. See [what clients can see](/portal/what-clients-can-see).

## What it is not

Being clear about this saves you evaluating the wrong thing:

* **Not a payroll system.** It records what people cost you per hour so you can see
  margin. It does not pay them.
* **Not accounting software.** It raises invoices and records payments. Your
  accountant still needs their own ledger.
* **Not employee surveillance.** There are no screenshots and no keystroke logging.
  [Location rules](/location-rules/overview) restrict where someone can clock in, and
  that is the extent of it.
* **Not a general project tool.** It is built around billable client work. If you
  are not billing for time, most of the value is missing.

## What it costs

Two plans, and the line between them is simple:

**Recording work is free. Resolving it is paid.**

Anyone can track time, fill in a timesheet, submit an expense, request leave and
clock in. Only a paying workspace can approve any of it, invoice it, or export it.

Free holds up to **3 people**. See [Free vs Pro](/billing/free-vs-pro) and the
[pricing page](https://timetracker.in/pricing).

## Ready to start?

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/getting-started/quickstart">
    Workspace to first tracked hour in about ten minutes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="How TimeTracker works" icon="diagram-project" href="/concepts/how-timetracker-works">
    The model, in one page.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Related guides

* [Track work for a client](/guides/track-work-for-a-client) – the full journey, end to end
* [Set up for an agency](/guides/setup-for-an-agency) – a shape that fits most agencies
* [Glossary](/concepts/glossary) – every term, defined once
* [FAQ](/reference/faq) – short answers to common questions