See the true margin of every task, not just the project
What this feature does
Don't wait for a project to end to find out you lost money. Task economics gives you real-time visibility into the profitability of every individual deliverable, so you can make course corrections early.
Watch profitability update as hours are logged, and catch a task slipping early before it drags down the entire project.
How task money is worked out
Put an estimate on the task
The estimate is the number everything else is measured against, so it is worth agreeing on.
Track against that task
Hours logged to the task roll up, so tracked time can be compared with the estimate as you go.
Let the rate resolve
Each entry carries the rate that applied when it was saved, which is what makes the value stable.
Read the margin
Billable value less cost is the margin, shown as an amount and as a share of the billable total.
What admins and owners see
See tracked against estimate
A percentage shows how much of the estimate is used, and it keeps counting past 100%.
See cost beside value
Owners and admins see the internal cost next to the billable value, which is what makes margin real.
Catch the drift early
A task moves from healthy to at estimate to over estimate, so the warning comes before the invoice.
What your team sees day to day
You see the estimate
The estimate and the hours tracked are visible, so you know where a task stands as you work.
Money stays hidden
Cost and margin are not shown to you. Only the time side of a task is yours to see.
Popular features
Employee time tracking your team will actually use
One click starts a timer, or people type hours in by hand. Every entry ties to a client, project, and task, so the record stays clean.
Explore Time Tracking→Bill for every hour you earn
Mark each entry billable or non-billable while you work. Approved hours roll straight into reports you can bill from.
Explore Billing→See where the time really goes
Break hours down by client, project, and team member. Find the work that pays off and the projects that run over.
Explore Reports & Dashboards→Expense management software built for client work
Log a cost against the project it belongs to, attach the receipt, and send it for approval. Approved expenses go on the client invoice.
Explore Expenses→Invoicing software that bills from tracked hours
Approved time turns into itemised invoice lines with tax and multiple currencies handled for you. Check it over, then send it.
Explore Invoicing→
Keep projects on track and in budget
Define project phases, set budget caps, and track work progress in real-time. See margins and utilization without building reports manually.
Explore Project Management→Configure custom rates for every agreement
Manage complex billing agreements with ease. Set client rates, assign member role pricing, and handle multi-currency projects with zero confusion.
Explore Rates→Timesheets your team submits on time
Hours build into a timecard as people work. Send the week for approval, lock it once it is signed off, and bill from a number that cannot quietly change.
Explore Timesheets→A worked example
One task, 24 hours in
Design homepage hero is estimated at 40h. With 24h tracked, that is 60% of the estimate used. At the $150 person rate the work is worth $3,600 billable against $1,900 cost, so the margin is $1,700, or 47%. The task still reads as healthy.
Limits and edge cases
- A task with no estimate is never flagged as over estimate, because there is nothing to compare with.
- The task cap is there for information. It does not stop anyone logging more time.
- Cost and margin need owner or admin permission to see at all.
- Changing a rate later does not change what a finished task was worth.
Frequently asked questions
- What are task economics?
- Task economics is the practice of tracking revenue, costs, and margins at the individual task level, rather than just the project level.
- Why track margins at the task level?
- It allows you to pinpoint exactly which parts of a project are profitable and which are losing money, enabling better estimating for future projects.
- How is the task margin calculated?
- It takes the billable value of the time logged to the task and subtracts the internal labor cost of the employees who did the work.
- Can I set budgets per task?
- Yes, you can assign an estimated hours or dollar budget to every task and track progress against it in real-time.
- Will I get alerted if a task goes over budget?
- Yes, you can configure alerts to notify you when a task reaches a specific percentage of its allocated budget.
- Can I see which roles are most profitable?
- By analyzing task economics across multiple projects, you can see which types of work and which roles consistently generate the highest margins.
- How do expenses factor into task economics?
- Expenses can be tied directly to specific tasks, ensuring that all costs associated with a deliverable are accounted for.
- Does this work for non-billable tasks?
- Yes, you can track the internal cost of non-billable tasks to understand how much overhead is costing your agency.
- Can I hide task financials from my team?
- Yes, financial data is strictly permission-controlled. You can hide rates and margins from regular team members.
- How does this help with future estimates?
- By looking at historical task economics, you can see exactly how much similar tasks cost to deliver in the past, leading to more accurate proposals.
Start tracking time today
Set up TimeTracker in minutes and put task economics to work. Track hours by client, project, and task, and bill for every hour your team works.
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