Quickstart — from sign-up to your first paid invoice
A complete, step-by-step walkthrough — create a client, a project, track an hour, build an invoice, send it, and get paid.
This guide walks the whole core workflow once, end to end. Budget about ten minutes. By the end you'll have tracked time and sent a real invoice with a payment link.
- Plan
- FreeStudioAgency
- Role
- OwnerAdminManager
You need a Hoursmith account. If you don't have one yet, create your account first. On the Free plan you can send up to 5 invoices per month.
1. Add your first client
Open Clients
In the sidebar, click Clients, then New client (or go to Clients → New).
Enter the essentials
Give the client a Name. Optionally add a contact, billing address, Currency, a Default hourly rate, and Default payment terms (e.g. Net 14). These become the defaults for this client's projects and invoices — you can change them anytime.
Save
Click Save. You'll land on the client's page.
More detail: Add a client and Client billing defaults.
2. Create a project
New project
Go to Projects → New project. Pick the client you just created.
Choose how it bills
Set the Rate type: Hourly (with an hourly rate), Fixed fee (a flat amount), or Non-billable. For this walkthrough, choose Hourly — it inherits the client's default rate if you set one.
Save
Name the project and click Save.
More detail: Create a project and Billing types & rates.
3. Track an hour
The fastest way is the live timer in the top bar.
Start the timer
Click the green play button in the top bar, search for your project, and (optionally) pick a task. The timer starts counting.
Stop it
When you're done, click stop. The entry is saved against the project, priced at its rate, and marked billable by default.
No timer handy? You can also Log time manually and type a duration like 1h30m or 1:30. See
Manual time entry.
Timers under 5 minutes are discarded, so a quick accidental start won't clutter your timesheet. Learn the timer rules in The live timer.
4. Build an invoice from your time
Start a new invoice
Go to Invoices → New invoice and choose your client. Hoursmith pulls in that client's billable, un-invoiced time.
Choose how lines are grouped
Pick a grouping — for example By project & task or Itemized. Hoursmith rounds each time entry up to the nearest quarter-hour and lays out the lines.
Review and adjust
Add a custom line, a discount, or tax if you need them. Check the totals.
Create the draft
Click Create. You now have a Draft invoice you can keep editing.
More detail: Create an invoice and Invoice grouping.
5. Send it
Open the send dialog
On the invoice, click Send. Hoursmith pre-fills the client's email and attaches the PDF.
Review and send
Add a message if you like, run an eye over the before-you-send checklist, then click Send. The invoice moves to Sent and gets a public, shareable link.
Your client receives an email from your address (once you've set up your own email domain; otherwise it sends from Hoursmith's default sender) with a link to view and pay online.
6. Get paid
- By card: if you've connected Stripe, the public invoice has a Pay button and the money goes to your own Stripe account. The invoice flips to Paid automatically.
- Offline: if a client pays by bank transfer or cash, click Record payment to log it. See Record a manual payment.
You did it
That's the full loop: Clients → Projects → Tasks → Time → Invoices → Payment. Everything else in Hoursmith builds on these six steps.
Where to go next
Set up your workspace
Brand, business details, and invoice defaults.
Invite your team
Add teammates and set their roles.
Connect Stripe
Accept card payments into your own account.
Core concepts
Understand the model behind the app.