Use case
You sell blocks of hours, for example 10 hours of development every month, or a one-time 5-hour audit. A time-based service gives the client a balance of hours, your team logs time on their requests, and the hours are deducted as you work.
Before you start: hours are deducted from time your team logs, so turn on Request time tracking in Settings > Modules and extensions > Requests. See How to use time tracking.
How to create a time-based service
Go to Services > All services and click Create service.
Choose One-off (a single block of hours) or Recurring (hours every billing period), then click Next.
Enter the service details (name, description and image) and click Next.
On Pricing details, choose Time based.
Set the Price and the Hours included. For a recurring service, also pick the Recurring period; the hours are added every period. Use Add recurring period to offer the same service monthly and yearly, each with its own price and hours.
For a recurring service, decide what happens to unused hours (see Rollover below).
Click Next, set up the request form, and click Save. See How to customize service request forms.
Your service is ready to sell. On the service page, under Share your service, copy the Service URL to send to clients, or turn on Show in catalog? so clients find it in your catalog.
All other pricing options (trials, setup fees, requests allocation, upgrade paths) are explained in Service pricing configurations.
Rollover
By default, hours left at the end of a billing period expire. Turn on Allow unused hours to roll over to carry them over, then choose under Rollover settings:
Hours roll over indefinitely: unused hours never expire.
Hours roll over for a limited number of months: unused hours expire after the Number of months you set, counted from the end of the period they were added for.
Hours from a one-off time-based service don't expire.
How hours are deducted
When the client pays, the hours are added to their organization's balance.
Each time entry your team logs on the organization's requests is deducted, if it's marked Billable. Non-billable time isn't deducted.
If you use Time rounding, the rounded time is deducted. See How to set up time rounding.
If you require approval for team time, an entry is only deducted once it's approved.
If you edit an entry later, the balance is corrected.
See and adjust a client's hours
Open the client organization (Users > Clients, then the Organizations tab) and go to Time entries. You'll see the balance and remaining hours, the Used hours with filters and Export CSV, and the Purchased hours with when each block expires.
Click Add hours to give hours manually (for example as a goodwill gesture), or Remove hours to take some off.
What clients see
While a client has hours left, a balance card at the bottom of their sidebar shows the hours remaining. If you offer hour top-ups, the card has a Top-up button so they can buy more. See How to create top-up options.
When Client access to time tracking is also on in Settings > Modules and extensions > Requests:
Clients get an Hours page in their sidebar with their hours summary, the time used on their requests and the hours they bought.
Clients with the Access timesheet reports permission can also open Reports > Timesheets. See How to generate timesheet reports.
Frequently asked questions
Can I charge an hourly rate?
No. A time-based service is a price for a bundle of hours, for example 10 hours for $1,500. To sell extra hours, create hour top-ups.
What happens when a client runs out of hours?
The sidebar card disappears. Time your team logs after that is still recorded, and the balance can go below zero. The next hours the client gets (a top-up, the next billing period or hours you add from the organization's Time entries tab) cover that time first.