From time entry to reliable post-calculation
If you bill services on a time-and-materials basis or apply for grant funding, you need more than a clock-in terminal: times have to be assigned to a project, an activity and an hourly rate.
Here you will find the fundamentals of project time tracking – from the structure of project, task and assignment, through post-calculation, all the way to the evidence requirements for R&D tax relief.
Fixed price vs time and materials (T&M) billing under UK commercial law: risk allocation, deliverable vs services contracts, hybrid capped models, and time tracking best practice.
7 min readIntermediateBillable Utilisation: Calculation and definition pitfalls, realistic target benchmarks by role, interaction with Realisation Rate and Contribution Margin, common management missteps.
5 min readIntermediateTime tracking in agencies: project structure, billable and non-billable hours, making goodwill hours visible, retainers, utilisation, and the path to invoicing.
5 min readBeginnerTime tracking for UK trades and construction: statutory recording duties, travel time, CIS, subcontractor compliance, HSE/HMRC audits, and bad-weather downtime.
7 min readIntermediateTime tracking for UK engineering consultancies: Project stages, time-based billing, variation claims, hourly rate calculations, HMRC R&D tax relief, grant compliance, and capacity planning.
7 min readExpertTimesheet documentation in grant projects: Requirements for Innovate UK, UKRI, and Horizon Europe, productive annual hours, prohibition of double funding, typical audit objections, and UK record retention.
7 min readExpertCalculate overhead absorption rates: distinguishing direct vs. indirect costs, selecting cost allocation bases, multi-stage cost centre accounting, internal charge-out rates, and cost remanence.
4 min readIntermediateCapacity planning in project-based business: determine available capacity, derive demand from pipeline and active projects, identify bottlenecks by skill, and adjust estimates using actual data.
5 min readIntermediatePost-costing in projects: data foundation, structuring the planned vs. actual comparison, typical root causes of variances, contribution margin per hour, and feedback loops into preliminary costing.
5 min readIntermediateMonitoring project budgets: Degree of completion instead of consumption, earned value as an early indicator, sensible thresholds, escalation levels, and the role of daily time tracking data.
5 min readIntermediateCalculating hourly rates: determine fully loaded employment costs, accurately assess productive hours, apply overhead surcharges and profit margins — with UK calculation examples and pitfalls.
6 min readBeginnerProof of Activity / Timesheet: Distinction from statutory working time records, mandatory details, robust activity descriptions, client sign-off, grant funding compliance, and UK record retention periods.
6 min readIntermediateFrom time entry to invoice: recording, approval, proof of activity, invoicing, and accounting export — with typical bottlenecks and UK VAT/e-invoicing rules.
6 min readIntermediateTime tracking in agencies and consultancies: project structure, billable vs non-billable hours, booking discipline, retainer models, and invoicing integration.
5 min readBeginnerTime tracking in the skilled trades: Mandatory recording under the UK National Minimum Wage Act, Working Time Regulations, travel time rules, mobile offline tracking, job costing, and HMRC enforcement.
7 min readFrom full personnel cost rate to quote price
EXCELDownloadBilling basis with countersignature
EXCEL · PDFCapacity planning reconciles the staffing requirements of upcoming projects with available working hours to identify bottlenecks and idle time at an early stage.
The contribution margin is the amount remaining from revenue after deducting variable costs, which contributes towards covering fixed costs. In project-based businesses, it is usually determined per project or per hour.
Under a fixed-price model, a set fee is agreed for a clearly defined scope of work. The contractor assumes the commercial risk of cost overruns, while retaining the upside if delivery is achieved more efficiently.
The hourly rate is the price of one working hour. A distinction is made between the internal cost rate, which covers actual costs, and the external billing rate, which additionally includes profit.
A milestone is a distinct event in the project lifecycle with a defined, verifiable deliverable. It has zero duration and serves as a checkpoint, formal sign-off gate, or payment trigger.
The overhead absorption rate allocates indirect costs that cannot be directly attributed to a specific project as a percentage of an allocation base — typically direct labour costs.
Post-calculation compares actual incurred costs against the initial pre-costing estimate after a project is completed. It evaluates whether the original commercial and operational assumptions held true.
A proof of activity (or detailed timesheet) records precisely what services were carried out on each day and for what duration for a client. It serves as the foundation for billing and formal proof of service delivery.
In time and materials billing, actual hours worked are invoiced at agreed rates. The risk regarding the required effort rests with the client.
The utilisation rate indicates what proportion of available working time is spent on billable or productive activities. It is the core KPI in project-based business.
