Getting started
Set up BillByTime and get your first timesheet approved.
Setup takes a few minutes. Add your client, your workers, and the person who approves their time, then link them with a contract. The dashboard checklist walks you through the same steps in order.
The video opens on YouTube.
Setup, step by step
- 1
Create your account and organisation
Sign up, choose the Free Forever plan, and name your organisation. You become its administrator. Free Forever includes one worker and one client, with no time limit.
- 2
Add your client
Add the client organisation you bill for time. Contracts, approvers, and purchase orders all hang off the client.
- 3
Add your workers
Add each person who will log time, with their charge rate. They receive an email invitation and log in to submit timesheets. Working solo? Add yourself, using your own email address.
- 4
Add a client manager
Add the person at the client who approves hours. They receive an email invitation and approve or reject timesheets in BillByTime rather than by email. Invitations expire after seven days and can be resent from the Invites page.
- 5
Create a purchase order (optional)
If the client has issued a purchase order, add it so approved hours are tracked against the funds available.
- 6
Create a contract
Link a worker to the client with the rate, dates, and the client manager who approves their time. Timesheets are always logged against a contract.
- 7
Log and submit timesheets
Workers open My Timesheets, create a weekly timesheet against their contract, enter hours per day, and submit it for approval.
- 8
Approve and invoice
The client manager approves or rejects each submission, with a reason if rejected. Approved hours roll up against the contract and purchase order, ready to invoice.
Working solo?
If you run a one-person consultancy, you are both the administrator and the worker. You do not need a second account. Add yourself as the worker using the email address you signed up with, and your account is linked automatically.
A My Timesheets link then appears in your navigation next to the admin pages, and the dashboard checklist adds a step to log your first timesheet. Name a person at your client as the approver, not yourself, so their sign-off carries weight when you invoice.
Guide for one-person companies
Why client sign-off still matters when you do the work yourself, how to set it up, and a weekly routine that keeps invoices moving.
Read the guideNeed a hand?
If something in your setup does not look right, get in touch and we will help you get your first timesheet through approval.