Time Tracking
Every project is billable, non-billable or not set. That one choice decides what each hour tracked on the project counts as in utilization, timesheets and exports. This page explains the three states, where to set them, how tracked time is classified, and who can change it.
A project is in exactly one of them. Two are choices; the third is the absence of one.
Time on this project is billed to a client.
Every hour tracked on the project's tasks counts as billable: it goes into the billable total on the Insights card, the Billable filter on timesheets and the Billable column of exports.
Internal work, sales, training or coordination.
Hours count as non-billable and are reported as such: never hidden, never mixed into the billable figure. You can add a kind of work so a capacity review can tell internal tooling from sales effort from training.
Nobody has decided yet.
Every project created before billing types existed starts here, and a project can be put back here from its edit dialog. Its time is reported as “not set”: it is never counted as billable, and never counted as non-billable either, because a missing decision must not look like a zero.
Billing is a field on the project, in the same form as its name and members.
New project
Projects → Create project → Billing. The form asks for Billable or Non-billable; a non-billable project can also take a kind of work.
Existing project
Open the project → Edit → Billing. The same choices, plus Not set for a project you want to leave undecided.
What a change does
It is written to the audit log with the old and new type, and tracked time on the project is reclassified: recent days at once, older ranges when they are next viewed.
One rule, applied to every tracked entry by the same code everywhere.
billing type of an entry = the task's own type, if it has one
= otherwise the project's type
= otherwise Not set
billable utilization = billable hours ÷ available hours × 100Available hours are the member's schedule less holidays and leave, explained in Capacity, holidays and leave. Hours on projects that are Not set are reported on their own line and never added to either side.
| Line | Hours | Share of available |
|---|---|---|
| Billable | 24 | 60% |
| Non-billable | 8 | 20% |
| Not set | 4 | 10% |
| Tracked in total | 36 | 90% |
Billable utilization here is 60%. The 4 not-set hours are neither billable nor non-billable; the card points at the project so a manager can decide. The non-billable categories guide explains why those hours should stay visible rather than disappear into either side.
Every screen uses the same three names, so Billable on a project means Billable on a timesheet and in an export.
Insights → Workload Utilization
A Billable utilization section: billable hours divided by available hours, with the split of tracked time into billable, non-billable and not set. It is shown as an allocation ratio, without a health label, because a low billable share can be deliberate internal work.
Insights → Team performance
A Billable tile for the team and a billable utilization figure per member, sortable, with the same not-set rule: time on projects without a billing type counts as neither.
Timesheets
A Billing filter (All work, Billable, Non-billable, Billing not set) and the billing type on each entry. The Excel export names each entry's billing type and totals the billable hours.
Reports → Time and activities
The CSV has a Billable column for every row.
Project page
The project's billing type and kind of work are shown in its header. A project still on Not set says so, with a hint to set it.
Colabio for Claude
The utilization tool returns the billable, non-billable and not-set split and billable utilization on both capacity bases.
The billing type follows project administration: whoever may edit the project may set it.
| What | Org. manager | Product manager | Team leader | Employee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Set a project's billing type and kind of work | Yes | Own projects | No | No |
| See a project's billing type | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Filter and export their own time by billing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| See another member's billable utilization | Yes | Own projects | Own projects | No |
“Own projects” means the projects the person belongs to or leads. Seeing other people's time needs the Starter plan or higher, as explained in Roles and permissions.
It is reclassified. Nothing is edited or lost: each tracked entry keeps its project and task, and the daily totals are recalculated. The most recent days are recomputed straight away; older ranges are refreshed in the background the next time someone opens them, and the Insights card says so while that happens.
Because nobody decided. Treating every old project as billable would make a billable utilization figure look certain when it is not. Not set keeps the hours visible as their own line until a manager chooses, which is what the utilization guide asks for.
The member had no available time in that range: no schedule, or holidays and leave covered every working day. The billable hours are still shown; only the ratio has no denominator.
Internal work for your own product, tooling or documentation; Coordination for planning, reviews and meetings that span clients; Business development for sales and proposals; Training for learning and onboarding; Other when none fits. The kind of work changes nothing in the numbers; it is there so a capacity review can explain non-billable hours.
Yes through the API: a task carries its own billing type that overrides the project's, and timesheets show the effective type. The task dialog in the dashboard does not offer the override yet.
No. Pay invoices are built from each member's hourly rate and tracked time, whatever the billing type. The billing type is a classification for utilization, timesheets and exports. Client invoices built from billable time are planned, not available yet.
Organization managers for any project, and product managers for the projects they belong to. Every change writes a Project billing changed entry to the audit log with the old and new type.
Still have a question about billable time? Email support@colabio.org.