Add a client and a project

Create your first client, then a billable project for them with a name, budget and team. It takes about two minutes.

Clients and projects are on every plan, including Freelancer. All the steps take place in the desktop dashboard, which you open with the Dashboard button on the timer bar.

1. 1In the sidebar, open Clients and click New Client. Only Company Name is required. You can add the legal name, industry, website, address and notes later.
2. 2You can also add a Primary Contact. If you enter their email, the contact gets access to the client portal: TimerOS sends them an invitation with a link to set their own password. Click Create Client.
3. 3Open Projects and click New Project. The wizard asks what you are creating. Choose Client Project for billable client work. The other options are Internal Project and Proposal.
4. 4On the Basics step, enter a Project Name and choose your new client in the Client field (you can search for it). Priority, start and end dates and a project lead are optional. The project code is created from the name.
5. 5Choose a budget structure. Fixed Budget is the simplest: one total with payment terms. Use Team Allocation (hourly rates by role) or Project Phases when you need them. Enter the Total Budget. The currency and payment terms are filled in from the client’s details.
6. 6On the Structure step, add at least one milestone. Client projects need one, and your client sees the milestones in their portal.
7. 7Check the summary and click Create Project. If you work with a team, open the project’s Team tab and click Add member to project to add people. If you work alone, skip this step.

Tracked time, tasks, files and invoices can now all be linked to the project. See projects and tasks for milestones and day-to-day work, and billing for turning the budget into invoices.