Free hourly rate invoice template
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INVOICE
| Description | Qty | Price | Amount |
|---|
Show the working
Hourly invoices get queried more than any other kind, and almost always for the same reason: the client cannot see what they are paying for. A line reading “Consultancy — 34 hours — £2,380” invites a conversation. The same total broken into five described tasks does not.
List each block of work with its date or week, a short description, the hours and the rate. It takes two extra minutes and removes most of the reasons anyone has to come back to you.
Rounding conventions
- Six-minute units (0.1 hour) — the legal profession’s convention, and the fairest to the client.
- Quarter hours — the most common in the trades and consultancy. Easy arithmetic, easy to check.
- Half hours — acceptable for longer engagements, but rounding a nine-minute call up to thirty is where trust goes.
Whichever you use, agree it in writing before you start, and apply it consistently. Rounding differently on different lines of the same invoice is the fastest way to make a client examine all of it.
Minimum charges and call-outs
A minimum charge is entirely reasonable — travelling to a job for twenty minutes of work costs you the same half day as anything else. It just has to be stated before the work, not discovered on the invoice. The same goes for out-of-hours rates and travel time.
Never invoice for time the client did not know was accruing. Research, admin and travel are all legitimately billable, but only if you said so beforehand. An unexpected line item costs more in goodwill than it earns in fees.
When to stop billing hourly
Hourly billing punishes you for getting faster. As you get better at something, the same job takes fewer hours and earns you less — which is an odd way to reward experience.
Once you can estimate a type of work within about 20%, a fixed fee is usually better for both sides: the client knows the number in advance, and you keep the upside of your own efficiency. Keep hourly for genuinely open-ended work where neither of you can scope it.
Common questions
How should I record hours on an invoice?
List each block of work with its date, a short description, the hours and the rate. Undescribed lump sums are the main cause of queried invoices.
What rounding should I use for hourly billing?
Six-minute or quarter-hour units are both defensible. Agree it in writing before starting and apply it consistently across the invoice.
Can I charge a minimum call-out fee?
Yes, provided you state it before the work rather than introducing it on the invoice.
Should I charge hourly or a fixed fee?
Fixed fees are usually better once you can estimate the work within about 20%, because hourly billing penalises you for working faster.