As a business, when you and your team track time in FreshBooks, Billing Methods are used to determine the rate for time worked. This helps communicate the value of your time to the Client, or help you put a value on your business' productivity.
You can decide the Billing Method which determines what rate you charge for each or all entries with the below options:
Hourly Projects
Standard Rate
The Standard Rate is automatically applied to all unbilled hours for you. Steps are below:
- Click on the gear icon in the top left corner
- Then click on Settings
- Click on My Company sub-tab
- At the bottom, enter your Standard Rate
![My Company showing field for Standard Rate to be filled out.]()
- Click Save to finish.
Single Hourly Rate
The Single Hourly Rate is ideal if you want all time tracked to be consistent for a particular Project, regardless of who tracked the time or which Service was chosen.
- Go to the Projects section
- Click on any existing Project and click on the Edit button, or click on the New Project button
- Under Project Settings, ensure Project Type is set to Hourly Project and saved
- Then click on Set Hourly Rates
![Project settings button.]()
- Under Select A Billing Method, choose Single Hourly Rate
- You can also check off Save this as my standard rate (optional) for all time entries
- Add in the number in the box and click Done.
![Single hourly rate option.]()
Team Member Rates
If you have invited Team Members working with you, Team Member Rates allow you to apply a Rate unique to each Team Member on all of their time entries in your account. Team Member Rates can be accessed within a Project’s settings, or within a Team Member’s profile in the My Team section using the below steps:
Team Member Rates in Projects
- Go to the Projects section
- Click on any existing Project and click on the Edit button, or click on the New Project button
- Under Project Settings, ensure Project Type is set to Hourly Project and saved
- Then click on Set Hourly Rates
![Project settings button.]()
- Under Select A Billing Method, choose Team Member Rate
- Add a Rate for each Team Member, including yourself. Click Done to finish, the new rates will apply for the current Project only.
![Team member rates options.]()
To apply the new Rate for future Projects moving forward, use the Team Member Rates in My Team steps below to edit it in their Team Member Profile instead.
Team Member Rates in My Team
- Click on the My Team section
- Then click on the Team Member you want to review
- Under Team Member Settings, click on Set Billable Rate
![Team member profile with set billable rates selected.]()
- Add or update the rate and click Save to finish. This Rate will be applied to new Projects moving forward.
Service Rates
Service Rates allows you to bill different Rates for each Service, regardless of the Client you're billing. Service Rates are set up on a per-Project basis by creating or editing an existing Project:
- Go to the Projects section
- Click on any existing Project and click on the Edit button, or click on the New Project button
- Under Project Settings, ensure Project Type is set to Hourly Project and saved
- Then click on Set Hourly Rates
![Project hourly rate button.]()
- Select Service Rates
![Service rate option.]()
- Add a Rate for each Service and click Done to finish.
If there are no Services to add a Rate for, you'll need to add a Service (or several) to the Project first with the steps here.
Flat Rate Projects
A Flat Rate Project is useful if you want to bill for a single fixed rate regardless of how many hours are tracked towards a Project. Create a Flat Rate Project with the steps below:
- Go to the Projects section
- Click on any existing Project and click on the Edit button, or click on the New Project button
- Under Project Settings, ensure Project Type is set to Flat Rate Project and saved
![Project type button.]()
- Then click on the Flat Rate field at the bottom of the Project and type in the Rate
![Flat Rate option.]()
- Click Save to finish.
When you generate an Invoice for a Flat Rate Project, it will always display the Flat Rate as a single line item on the Invoice regardless of how many time entries you've tracked to it. All time entries are automatically marked as non-billable, and individual time entries will not appear on the Invoice. A Flat Rate Project can only be invoiced once.
FAQs
What happens if I switch my Project Type after my Project has been created?
Changing your Hourly Project to a Flat Rate Project will result in:
- All future time entries become non-billable
- Previously logged time entries will retain original Billing Method applied at time of entry
- Generating an Invoice for a Flat Rate Project will result in a mix of old time entries using the old Billing Methods and new time entries using Flat Rate Billing Method
Changing your Flat Rate Project to a Hourly Project will result in:
- All previously logged and future time entries can be either marked as billable or non-billable
- Previously logged time entries will retain original Flat Rate Billing Method