Monthly retainers

Charge a fixed monthly fee for ongoing work, see this month's hours against the hours included, and invoice each month in one step.

Steps

  1. 1

    Press “New project” in Projects, or open a project and choose “Edit” under “⋯”. Under “How this project is charged”, choose “Monthly retainer”.

  2. 2

    Enter the “Monthly fee”, the “Hours included a month” if you agreed on a number, the “Start date”, and the “Billing day” (1 to 28). The hourly rate is optional and is used for hours above the included hours.

  3. 3

    Press “Create project” or “Save”. On the project page, “Monthly retainer” at the side shows the fee, this month's tracked hours against the hours included, and the next billing date.

  4. 4

    From the billing day, the next step is “Invoice this month”. It opens the invoice filled and unsaved: one line for the fee and, if the hours went over, one line for the extra hours at the hourly rate. Check it, then save or send.

Good to know

  • The bar turns amber above 80% of the included hours and red above 100%. Each month is invoiced once; a second invoice for the same month is refused.
  • A retainer's hours are not counted as unbilled time, because the monthly fee covers them. “Invoice this month” also shows on Home under “Needs you” and on the project's row in Projects, and the billing date shows in “Coming up”.
  • To offer a retainer in a quote, choose “Monthly retainer” in “Start from a template”; a contract has the “Monthly retainer” clause pack.

If something goes wrong

“This month is already invoiced for this retainer.”
Open the month's invoice from the project's documents. Declined or archived invoices do not count.
“Enter the monthly fee.”
A retainer needs a monthly fee above zero. Type it and save again.

Last updated 6 Oct 2026

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