Book a demoTrack time by client, bill monthly retainers and hourly work through Stripe, and give each client a portal with their hours, balance and invoices.
Many bookkeeping clients pay a monthly fee that includes a set number of hours, and also need work billed by the hour, such as a clean-up or a catch-up. Someone at your firm has to keep the two apart, notice when the included hours run out, bill the extra time, and answer the client who asks how many hours are left. How to bill clients for hours compares the three ways to charge for time.
Timebun is for firms that bill by the hour or on a retainer with included hours, such as accounting firms, legal support firms and consultants. Its client portal shows hours, balances, invoices and payments. It does not handle tax documents or e-signatures.
Add each client, then a project for each kind of work, such as monthly bookkeeping, payroll or a year-end close. Start a timer or type a duration. Billable time can round up to 0.1 or 0.25 hours; the tracked time is kept.
Set up a plan once: hours per month, quarter or year, at a fixed price. Stripe charges the client each period, and the hours are added when the payment clears. See how to price bookkeeping packages.
Choose for each plan what happens to unused hours: they expire at the end of the period, roll over for 3 or 12 months, or never expire. Each block of hours shows its own expiry date.
When the included hours run out, your team keeps tracking. Time past the balance is billed on the next invoice at the client's hourly rate. How balances work.
| Project | Date | Person | Work | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ProjectMonthly bookkeeping | Date2026-09-30 | Elena Ruiz | Reconciled September bank and card accounts | Hours2h 30m |
| ProjectMonthly bookkeeping | Date2026-09-21 | Elena Ruiz | Prepared the August management accounts | Hours2h 30m |
| ProjectMonthly bookkeeping | Date2026-09-15 | Sam Patel | Coded August receipts and supplier bills | Hours5h 15m |
| ProjectPayroll | Date2026-09-18 | Sam Patel | Ran payroll for 13 staff, including a new barista | Hours2h |
| ProjectYear-end close | Date2026-09-24 | Elena Ruiz | Merged duplicate vendors and fixed misposted bills | Hours1h 15m |
| ProjectYear-end close | Date2026-09-17 | Elena Ruiz | Reconciled the closed savings account back to January | Hours1h 30m |
| ProjectTotal | — | Hours15h |
Put clean-up work on its own project, billed directly at its own rate. It never uses the client's included hours. Retainer work draws them down, whoever on your team tracked it.
Pick the projects and dates, and Timebun drafts the invoice from unbilled time: the clean-up hours and any overage. Hours the retainer already paid for are left off. The hours left on the retainer, if any, print at the top.
The client gets the invoice by email with a Pay invoice button and a PDF. They pay it in one payment on Stripe's page, by card or bank debit, whichever your Stripe account offers. The money goes to your own Stripe account.
One reminder before the due date and several after it, on your schedule. Timebun checks Stripe before each one, so a client who just paid is not reminded. Reminders, step by step.
| Description | Qty | Unit price | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09/08/2026 - Year-end close - Sam Patel: Recategorized transactions from the old POS account | 1.75 | $95.00 | $166.25 |
| 09/17/2026 - Year-end close - Elena Ruiz: Reconciled the closed savings account back to January | 1.50 | $95.00 | $142.50 |
| 09/24/2026 - Year-end close - Elena Ruiz: Merged duplicate vendors and fixed misposted bills | 1.25 | $95.00 | $118.75 |
Each client signs in to see hours remaining, each block of hours with its expiry date, a timesheet by project with a CSV export, and every invoice to pay or download. Rates, costs and non-billable time stay hidden. See the client portal.
Clients can buy a block of hours or subscribe to a plan in the portal without asking you. Each purchase raises an invoice, and the hours are added when the payment clears.
Turn on statements and each retainer client gets one monthly or twice a month: opening balance, hours added, hours used by project, closing balance and any hours billed directly. It is emailed with a CSV. Statements, step by step.
When a client's hours fall to the level you set (5 by default, adjustable per client), Timebun emails the client with a Buy hours button that opens the portal, and tells your team. How the alert works.
| Date | What | Invoice | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sep 2026 | September allocation | LEDGR-0038 | 20.00 h |
| 22 Sep 2026 | Top-up — 10 hours | LEDGR-0041 | 10.00 h |
| Date | Person | Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Sep 2026 | Elena Ruiz | Reconciled August bank and card accounts | 4.50 h |
| 15 Sep 2026 | Sam Patel | Coded August receipts and supplier bills | 5.25 h |
| 21 Sep 2026 | Elena Ruiz | Prepared the August management accounts | 2.50 h |
| 30 Sep 2026 | Elena Ruiz | Reconciled September bank and card accounts | 2.50 h |
| Subtotal | 14.75 h | ||
| Date | Person | Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Sep 2026 | Sam Patel | Ran payroll for 12 staff | 1.50 h |
| 18 Sep 2026 | Sam Patel | Ran payroll for 13 staff, including a new barista | 2.00 h |
| Subtotal | 3.50 h | ||
Work billed on an invoice at its own rate, not taken from the balance.
| Date | Person | What | Invoice | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Sep 2026 | Sam Patel | Year-end closeRecategorized transactions from the old POS account | Billed on invoice LEDGR-0042 | 1.75 h |
How to build bookkeeping packages for small business clients on monthly hours: hours included, the rate, unused hours, overage, cleanup and what clients see.
Client experienceClients on retainer ask how many hours are left because they budget them. Answer with six facts in a monthly statement, and a page they can check in between.
No. Timebun has no QuickBooks connection of its own. Every invoice and payment is in your own Stripe account. Stripe lists a QuickBooks Online app in its App Marketplace, built by another company, that copies Stripe invoices, payments and payouts into QuickBooks. We have not tested it with Timebun. You can also export your invoice list as a CSV.
No. There is no e-signature, no tax organizer and no document request list. The portal is for hours, balances, invoices, payments and messages. On Unlimited, you can share files with a client, and the client can upload files to you.
Yes. Each client has a Billing setting. A client set to Retainer or hourly can buy plans and blocks of hours, and any time the hours do not cover is billed hourly. A client set to Hourly only is billed for every hour at their rate and is not offered hours to buy.
Your team keeps tracking. Time past the balance is billed as overage on the next invoice, at the client's hourly rate. The client gets a low-hours alert before that, at the level you set.
Yes. On Stripe's payment page, clients pay by card or bank debit, whichever your Stripe account offers. For a check, ACH transfer, wire or cash, record the payment on the invoice. Once it is paid in full, reminders stop.
No. Clients never take a seat, however many people you invite. You invite each person; clients cannot sign themselves up.
Starter is $15 a seat a month. Unlimited is $199 a month flat, however many people you add, with your logo and colors on the portal. The trial includes everything in Unlimited and needs no credit card.