How to Set Up Billing Rates Before You Start Mixing Service Types on One Client
When one client needs strategy, execution, and support all at once, here is how to configure rates in Time-Trak before the hours get tangled.
The rate problem usually starts when a client expands. They hired you for one thing, then asked for something else, then something else again. Now you are doing three different kinds of work for the same person and charging them a single rate that was only right for the first one.
This is fixable, but only if you set it up correctly before the hours pile up.
Identify the Service Types Before You Touch the Tracker
Sit down and list every type of work you are doing or expect to do for this client. Be specific. "Consulting" is not a service type. "Strategy sessions," "written deliverables," "implementation work," and "client support" are service types. They bill differently because they take different skill levels, different energy, and different amounts of your time to deliver.
If you cannot name them before you start, you will not be able to separate them in the invoice later.
Create a Task Category for Each Service Type
In Time-Trak, go into the project for this client and create a separate task category for each service type you identified. Name them clearly. Short names that you will recognize when you are in the middle of work and need to assign a session quickly.
Do not create one category called "General" and tell yourself you will sort it out later. You will not sort it out later.
Set the Rate at the Task Level
Time-Trak lets you set billing rates at the task level, which means different task categories can carry different hourly rates even within the same project. This is the feature that makes mixed-rate client work manageable.
For each task category you created, enter the correct rate. Strategy at your consulting rate. Implementation at your execution rate. Support at whatever you charge for that. Lock it in now.
When you start a timer and assign it to a task, the rate populates automatically. You do not have to remember it mid-session. You do not have to correct it at invoice time.
Agree on the Rate Structure With the Client First
Before you run a single mixed-rate session, make sure the client knows the structure. Send a short note or update your project agreement. "Strategy sessions bill at X, implementation work bills at Y, support requests bill at Z."
This is not a negotiation. It is a confirmation. You are not asking for approval. You are making sure there are no surprises on the invoice.
Clients who understand the structure upfront are clients who do not dispute it later.
Watch for Task Bleed During Sessions
Mixed-rate work has one consistent problem: tasks bleed into each other during a session. You start a strategy call, it turns into a working session, and an hour later you are deep in implementation without having stopped the timer.
Get in the habit of pausing the timer when the work type changes. In Time-Trak, stop the current session and start a new one under the correct task category. It takes ten seconds. It keeps your records accurate.
If you forget and realize at the end of a session that it covered multiple types, split it manually before you close the day. Your memory is much better at the end of a session than it is at the end of the week.
Review the Rate Mix Before You Invoice
When the billing period ends, open the project report in Time-Trak before you generate the invoice. Look at the total hours per task category and confirm that the distribution looks right. If you logged forty hours of implementation and two hours of strategy, that should feel accurate for the work you actually did.
If the distribution looks wrong, investigate before you send. A session in the wrong category means a session at the wrong rate, which means either lost revenue or an invoice that will not match the client's expectations.
Fix it before they see it. The invoice should never be the place where a rate error gets discovered.
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