Billing & Time Tracking

As a solo practitioner, every billable hour counts. AtlasOS provides simple, effective time tracking and billing that lets you focus on client work rather than administrative overhead.

Time Tracking

Configuring Your Rates

Before logging time, set up your rate structure:

1. Navigate to Administration > Billing Settings.
2. Define your hourly rates:
   • Default rate — your standard hourly rate applied to all clients unless overridden.
   • Service-specific rates — different rates for different service types (e.g. tax preparation vs. bookkeeping vs. advisory).
   • Client-specific rates — override rates for specific clients with negotiated terms.

Logging Time

Log time directly against clients and tasks:

• Timer — start a running timer when you begin work. Stop it when you finish. The entry is created automatically.
• Manual entry — enter time after the fact with date, duration, service type, and description.
• Task-linked entries — log time from within a task view. The client and service context are pre-filled.

Time Entry Fields

Field	Description
Client	The client the work relates to
Service type	The type of work (tax preparation, bookkeeping, advisory, etc.)
Date	When the work was performed
Duration	Hours and minutes
Description	Brief note of what was done (appears on invoices)
Billable	Whether the entry is billable or non-billable

Invoice Generation

Creating an Invoice

1. Navigate to Revenue > Invoices.
2. Click New Invoice and select the client.
3. AtlasOS pre-fills the invoice with unbilled time entries for that client.
4. Review and adjust line items:
   • Add fixed-fee items (e.g. annual return preparation — flat fee).
   • Remove or defer time entries you do not wish to bill yet.
   • Add disbursements (e.g. CIPC filing fees, courier costs).
5. Preview the invoice, then finalise and send.

Invoice Delivery

Invoices can be:

• Emailed directly to the client.
• Published to the Client Portal for the client to view and download.
• Exported as PDF for manual distribution.

WIP Monitoring

Track your work-in-progress (unbilled time) across all clients:

• WIP dashboard — total unbilled value, broken down by client.
• Ageing analysis — how long time entries have been sitting unbilled.
• Alerts — configurable notifications when WIP exceeds a threshold per client.

Regular WIP review ensures you are billing promptly and not leaving revenue on the table.

Payment Tracking

Record payments against invoices:

• Full payment — mark an invoice as paid with the payment date and reference.
• Partial payment — record a partial payment with the outstanding balance tracked automatically.
• Payment methods — EFT, cash, card, or other.

The Revenue dashboard shows your outstanding debtors and payment history.

Quotes and Proposals

For new clients or additional services:

1. Create a Quote from the Revenue section.
2. Add line items — service descriptions, estimated hours, fixed fees.
3. Send the quote via email or the Client Portal.
4. Upon acceptance, convert the quote to an engagement with associated billing terms.