How to Set Up a New Client in Time-Trak From Scratch Before the Project Starts

Do the Setup Before the First Timer Starts

Every new client relationship starts with a burst of momentum. The agreement is signed, the kickoff is scheduled, and the instinct is to get right to work. Setup feels like a delay.

It is not. Five minutes of setup now prevents two hours of cleanup at invoice time. This is the order that actually protects your billing.

Step One: Create the Client Profile

Open Time-Trak and create a new client entry. Use the client's actual business name, not a nickname or abbreviation. You want the name to be right from day one because it will appear on reports and invoices. Changing it later means cleaning up historical data.

Add contact details while you are in here. Not because Time-Trak needs them to run, but because having everything in one place means you are not hunting through emails when you are ready to send an invoice.

Step Two: Create the First Project

Clients contain projects in Time-Trak. Even if this feels like a single engagement, give it a project name that is specific enough to distinguish it later.

"Website Redesign Q3" is better than "Website." "Monthly Retainer Starting June" is better than "Retainer." When you have been working with a client for two years, vague project names become a problem.

If the engagement has phases, consider whether each phase should be its own project or whether you will handle that with task categories inside one project. Either can work. Just decide now so your time entries land in the right place from the start.

Step Three: Set the Billing Rate

This is the step that matters most for invoice accuracy. In the project settings, enter the billing rate you agreed to with this client.

If you have one rate for all work, enter it here. If you have different rates for different service types on this client account, either create separate projects for each service type or set up task categories with individual rates.

Do not leave this blank with the intention of filling it in later. Later means invoice day, and invoice day is the wrong time to be making rate decisions.

Step Four: Set a Budget If You Have One

If you quoted the client a fixed number of hours or a project budget, enter it in Time-Trak now. The app will track your progress against that budget as hours are logged.

This is how you catch a scope problem before it becomes a billing conversation. If you are at 80 percent of a budget with 60 percent of the work done, you need to know that while there is still time to address it, not when you are writing the invoice.

Step Five: Set Up Any Recurring Structure

If this is a retainer or a recurring weekly engagement, set that up now. Time-Trak handles repeating client structures so you are not recreating the same project setup every billing cycle.

A few minutes here saves the friction of starting over every month. It also keeps your historical data intact across billing periods, which matters when you want to show a client a summary of everything you have done over the past six months.

Before You Invite Team Members

If anyone else will be logging time against this client, make sure their access and billing rates are configured before they start. A team member logging hours at the wrong rate, or without a rate at all, is a cleanup problem.

Set it up clean from the start. Everyone logs from day one with the right rate attached.

The Payoff Is at Invoice Time

When you have done this setup correctly, generating an invoice in Time-Trak takes minutes. The hours are there. The rates are attached. The project name is clear. You review, you approve, you send.

When you skipped the setup, invoice day is an archaeology project. Do the five minutes now.

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.

Free during beta.

macOS + Windows · Floating widget · Auto screenshots