How to Create a Client-Specific Rate Without Confusing Your Records
When you offer a different rate to one client, here's how to set it up so your reporting stays clean and your invoices stay accurate.
At some point you will charge different rates to different clients. A legacy client at your old rate. A new client at your current rate. A high-complexity client at a premium rate. This is normal and fine.
What is not fine is when your reporting mixes all of those rates together and you can no longer tell what you actually earned per hour per client.
Setting up client-specific rates correctly from the start keeps your records honest.
The problem with tracking it all under one rate
If you have one billing rate in your system and manually adjust invoices later, you lose the data. Your time log says 20 hours. Your invoice says $1,600. But your standard rate would have been $2,000. Now your reporting is off. You cannot easily see that this client gets a discounted rate, or by how much, or what that costs you annually.
Multiply this across a few clients over a year and your revenue data becomes almost meaningless.
Set the rate at the project or client level
In Time-Trak, you can set billing rates at the project level. Use this. When you create a new project for a client with a custom rate, set their rate there. Do not rely on remembering to adjust it later.
If the client has multiple projects at the same rate, set it consistently for each one. A few seconds per project setup saves a lot of invoice confusion later.
Name it clearly in your records
Give the project or rate a label that tells you something. "Legacy rate" or "Retainer rate" or "Premium rate" is better than just a number. When you are reviewing your books six months from now, you will want to know why this client has a different rate without having to dig through emails.
Notes fields exist for this reason. Use them.
Keep a simple reference outside your tracker
Maintain a one-page document, a note, a spreadsheet row, something that lists each client and their current rate. Not for billing purposes. For your own awareness.
This helps when a client asks for more work or you are considering raising rates. You can see at a glance where everyone stands. You do not have to open five different projects to piece it together.
Review client-specific rates quarterly
Set a reminder every three months to look at who is on a non-standard rate and why. Ask yourself whether the reason still applies.
A client who got a lower rate two years ago because they were a referral from your best client might now be a stable, predictable client who could absorb a rate adjustment. But you will never notice this if you never look.
Your time log shows you how many hours you put into each client per quarter. Compare that against revenue. The ones with the worst effective hourly rates are the ones to evaluate first.
What to do when a client rate changes mid-project
If you agree to a different rate partway through a project, do not retroactively change the rate on old entries. Create a new task or phase in the project tagged with the new rate. Note the date the new rate took effect.
This protects you if a client ever questions why earlier invoices show a different number. You can show clearly when the change happened and that prior entries were logged correctly at the time.
Time-Trak timestamps every entry. That record is your protection.
The goal is clarity, not complexity
You are not trying to build a billing system that looks like an accountant's nightmare. You are trying to make sure that when you look at your numbers, they reflect reality.
Different rates for different clients is not complicated. Losing track of those rates is. A few minutes of setup per client keeps everything clean, your invoices accurate, and your reporting actually useful.
Track your time, bill every minute.
Time-Trak is a native Mac and Windows time tracker with a floating timer, automatic screenshots, and one-click invoicing.
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