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If you are one person, most of TimeTracker is machinery you do not need yet. Set up four things: your rate, your clients, your projects, and a way to bill. Skip everything else until a real problem asks for it.
The example: a solo consultant working with three clients – Bluebird Coffee, Harbor Logistics and Fenwick Legal.

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Start on Free

Free covers up to 3 people. For a solo consultant that is enough for a long time. The line is simple. Free lets you record your work. Pro lets you resolve it – approve it, bill it, or take it out as a file.
If you invoice from TimeTracker, you need Pro. Invoicing and payments are both Pro features. See Free vs Pro.

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Set it up in twenty minutes

1

Create the workspace

Name it after your practice. Set the base currency and your timezone.→ Create a workspace · General settings
2

Turn off what you will not use

As one person you can switch most of it off and switch it back on later. Nothing is deleted by turning an app off.Keep on: Projects & tasks, Time tracking, Timesheets, Reports, Invoices.Turn off: Work schedules, Time off, Time Clock, Location rules, Resource planner, Expenses, Client portal, Webhooks.You do not need schedules to compare against when there is nobody to compare. You do not need a planner to allocate one person.→ Apps settings · Apps and modules
Keep Budgets on if you quote fixed prices. It is the one Pro feature worth turning on early, because it is the only thing that tells you a fixed price job has gone underwater.
3

Set your own billable rate

Set your default billable rate once at the workspace or person level, and every hour you track picks it up.If clients pay different prices, set the rate on the client instead. A client rate beats the workspace default, and a project rate beats both.→ Set a person rate · Client rates · How rates are chosen
A cost rate for yourself is optional. Some consultants set one at their own notional salary rate so margin means something. Setting a cost rate is a Pro feature. See Cost rates.
4

Create a client for each company you bill

Even if a client only ever has one project, create the client. Invoices attach to clients, not projects, and it takes ten seconds.→ Create a client
5

Create one project per engagement

Not one project per client. One per engagement.Bluebird Coffee might be a $40,000 website redesign and a 40 hour monthly retainer. Those are two different deals with two different shapes, and merging them means you can never tell which one pays.→ Create a project · Client projects
6

Track time, with or without tasks

You can track time straight against a project. Tasks are optional.Add tasks when you want to know where the hours went inside a job, or when you are quoting from estimates. Skip them for open-ended advisory work.→ How to track time · Using the timer · Add time manually
7

Set up invoicing before the first month ends

Fill in your business name, address and tax details once. Check the invoice numbering so your first invoice starts where your records expect.→ Invoice sender details · Invoice numbering · Taxes and currency

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Skip these until you actually need them

As a solo Owner, you already hold every capability. There is nothing to configure about permissions until a second person joins.

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Your monthly routine

Fifteen minutes, once a month.
1

Check every day of the month has hours on it

Open the timesheet or the calendar view and look for gaps. Missing hours are missing money.→ Calendar view · Fill in a timesheet
2

Invoice each client

Build the invoice from tracked time. It pulls in your billable hours for that client.→ Invoice from tracked time · Send an invoice
If you have no approvals set up, approve your own weeks first so the hours are eligible to bill. Approvals are Pro.
3

Record payments as they arrive

Keeps the overdue list honest.→ Record a payment · Invoice statuses
4

Read one report

Hours by client. Billable percentage. If you set cost rates, margin.→ Build a report · Saved reports

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When you outgrow this

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Common questions

Only if you want to invoice from tracked time, because an invoice built from time pulls approved entries. If you invoice manually with your own lines, you can skip approvals entirely.
Yes, up to 3 people, and nothing expires. You can track, submit and record everything. You cannot approve, invoice or export. See Free vs Pro.
Add them as a Contractor. It is the narrowest staff role – they track time and work tasks but cannot see your client list or build reports. Remember they count as a seat. See Manage contractors.
No. Time can be tracked straight against a project. Add tasks when you want to know where the hours went inside a job. See How to track time.
Yes. An Owner can export the whole workspace in open formats. See Export your data.

Track work for a client

The full chain, if you want the whole picture.

Set up a new workspace

The full setup, for when you grow.

Quote to invoice

Pricing a fixed price job properly.

Run a monthly retainer

Recurring work instead of one-offs.

Manage contractors

Bringing in help for one project.