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A billable rate is what you charge a client for one hour of a person’s time.

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A simple example

Sarah Lin’s billable rate is $100 per hour. She tracks 3 hours on “Homepage wireframes”. 3 × $100 = $300 That entry is worth $300 to the client.

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A business example

Northwind Studio is running the Website Redesign project for Bluebird Coffee. Two people work on it in one week: That $2,160 is what Priya sees against the project budget, what Daniel puts on the invoice, and what the client eventually pays. One number, produced once, used everywhere.

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What it is

A billable rate is a price per hour, attached to a person, a project, a client or a task. It has three parts:

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Why it exists

Without a billable rate, tracked time is only hours. With one, every hour carries a money value the moment it is saved – so a budget can be consumed, an invoice can be raised, and a report can show revenue.

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When to use it

  • Person rate – the normal case. Each person has a standard hourly charge.
  • Project rate – you agreed a special price for one engagement.
  • Client rate – you charge one flat hourly figure for everyone on that account.
See /rates/project-and-client-rates for the last two.

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How it works

  1. Someone saves a time entry.
  2. TimeTracker looks for a billable rate that applies to that person, on that project, on that date.
  3. The most specific rate wins: task → project → person → client.
  4. The rate and its currency are copied onto the entry and never change again.
  5. Billable value is hours × rate.
Only billable hours produce a charge. An hour marked non-billable is still tracked and still counts on a timesheet, but it never reaches an invoice. See /concepts/billable-vs-non-billable.

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How to set a billable rate

1

Open Settings → Rates

In the sidebar go to Settings, then Rates under Billing & rates. You see one row per member with their Billing rate in force today.
2

Open the person

Click the three-dot action at the end of their row and choose Manage. A dialog opens on the Billing tab.
3

Read the current rate

The top of the tab states the rate in force and the date it started, for example “100.00 USD – per hour, since 1 Jan 2026”. If nothing is set you see “No billing rate set yet.”
4

Enter the new rate

Fill in Rate / hour, pick the Currency, and choose an Effective from date.
5

Click Add rate

You see “Billing rate saved.” The new row appears in Rate history.
Full detail, including scheduling a future rate: /rates/set-a-person-rate.

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Example

Maya Ellis sets up rates for Northwind Studio at the start of the year: In March, Sarah is promoted. Maya adds a second row: 125.00 USD, effective 1 April 2026.
  • Work Sarah records in March is priced at $100/hour.
  • Work she records from 1 April is priced at $125/hour.
  • The March work is untouched. Nothing is restated.

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Edge cases

The entry is saved with no billable value. It is not priced at zero – it is unpriced. It will not add anything to a money budget and it cannot produce a meaningful invoice line. Set the rate, then re-record or re-enter the affected time if you need it priced.
0 is a real rate, and it is different from having no rate. Use it deliberately when work is genuinely charged at nothing but should still show as billable, for example a goodwill hour you want visible on the invoice.
The newest effective date that is not in the future wins. If you add two rows with the same Effective from date, remove the wrong one from Rate history rather than leaving both.
A row dated ahead of today is shown with a Scheduled badge and is ignored until its date arrives. This is the safe way to announce a price rise in advance.
Each rate carries its own currency. If Ana’s rate is in EUR and the invoice is in USD, you enter an exchange rate when you build the invoice. See /rates/currencies-and-exchange-rates.
That is the design. Entries snapshot the rate they were recorded at. See /rates/rate-snapshots.
Rejected. You see “That rate won’t work. Enter an amount that isn’t negative, like 120 or 120.50.”

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Options and settings

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Permissions

Finance holds neither. Daniel can raise invoices from time that is already priced, but he cannot open the Rates page. See /rates/rate-permissions and /concepts/roles-and-capabilities.

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Plans

Billable rates are available on every plan, including Free. See /concepts/plans-and-features.

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What happens next

  1. New time entries for that person are priced at the new rate.
  2. Project budgets consume the new billable value – see /budgets/profitability-and-margin.
  3. Approved billable time becomes available to invoice – see /invoicing/invoice-from-tracked-time.
  4. Reports pick the new figure up on the next run.

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Troubleshooting

Cost rates

The other half of the margin.

How rates are chosen

Which rate wins, exactly.

Set a person rate

Step by step.

Project and client rates

Overrides above the person rate.

Rate snapshots

Why history is safe.

Invoice from tracked time

Turning billable value into an invoice.