Time and invoicing
Two money flows stay separate on purpose:
| Flow | Who pays whom | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Client invoicing (this page) | Your hive → your clients | Time on a project, Invoices in the rail |
| Platform billing | Your hive → InHive | Organization settings → Platform plan |
They do not share screens, settings, or Stripe. You will not find a Checkout button on a client invoice.
Set up the rate card (managers)
Section titled “Set up the rate card (managers)”Organization settings → Hours & rates.
- Work type (default) — each type has a name and a rate (up to 24 types). Managers see rates; members see names only.
- Flat — one hourly rate for the hive. Work types then only classify the hour (any stored per-type rate is ignored until you switch back).
Currency is the hive default for new projects and new invoice drafts. A project can override currency. A project budget is optional and manager-visible only.
You can set a personal default work type on Account so the time composer starts on the right row.
Until a rate card exists, people can still log hours, but billing will be guesswork. Set this before the first week of real work.
Stopwatch
Section titled “Stopwatch”The clock in the top-right (left of the bell) is a live session, not a time record yet. Start it from that chip, or hit play on a task or on the project’s Time pane. Pause and resume as you go. Log this time turns the elapsed hours into a normal time entry — same date, work type, billable flag, and note as Log time. You cannot type the hours; they come from the clock.
One stopwatch per person. Starting a different task while time is already on the clock asks you to log or discard first. Keep the stopwatch running logs this session and starts a fresh one on the same work (use this if a session is heading past 24 hours — one time entry cannot be longer than that). Discard throws the session away and writes nothing.
Quitting the desktop app does not stop the clock. Manual Log time is still there for hours you already know.
Log time
Section titled “Log time”On a project, open Time, or log from the task drawer.
- Hours must be greater than 0 and at most 24 on one entry.
- In the task drawer the log reads like a diary: hours first, grouped by day. Press play to start the clock, or tap + and write how long you worked (date defaults to today).
- Pick a work type, whether the hour is billable, and an optional note.
- The rate is snapshotted onto the entry when it is created.
Billable hours in a date range are what an invoice can claim. Non-billable hours still exist for the record.
Invoices
Section titled “Invoices”Invoices in the left rail. Access is admin by default. Managers can grant other roles or specific people under Organization settings → Client invoicing. If you cannot see Invoices, you were not granted it.
- Open Invoices. Lists are Active / Recurring / Archive.
- Compose a draft for a client and a date range (or follow a deep link from a client).
- Billable time in that window is claimed by the draft. Review line items, tax, notes, and the designer.
- Issue the invoice.
- Void (draft or issued) releases the time so it can be billed again.
Export the ledger as CSV or HTML when you need it outside InHive.
Company details, tax catalog, note templates, designer, QR, and overdue reminders live under Organization settings → Client invoicing — not on the invoice screen itself.
Retainers
Section titled “Retainers”Per-client support agreements (included hours, interval, overage, optional retainer fee) live with the support desk. Billable ticket hours count for the requester’s client even when the ticket sits on the hive support project. Overage uses the same rate card as ordinary time. Managers get an alert at 80% and 100% of included hours.
On Clients, Time report is the sheet you send: pick the company first (skipped from that client’s file), then the retainer cycle when they have one — or a month, quarter, or custom window. It shows hours used versus the retainer (each cycle on its own) and the ticket names (with hours). Export the report (Print → Save as PDF) or a ticket CSV. Per-entry minutes stay on Export per-entry CSV when they ask. This is not the project Time pane.
Attention: unbilled delivery
Section titled “Attention: unbilled delivery”The dashboard can flag completed work with no time on it. That is a hint to log the hour or mark it non-billable on purpose — not an automatic invoice line.