Track Time and Bill It: Timer to Invoice Walkthrough for Freelancers (Free, No Sign-Up)

This guide walks through the full path from starting a timer on a piece of work to sending the client a PDF invoice for it, using two separate TidyPapers tools: the Billable Session Timer (/billable-timer/) and the invoice generator (the TidyPapers homepage, /). The two tools are connected: a finished session can be sent straight to the invoice generator with one click, and it shows up there as a ready-made line item, with a small banner confirming it arrived. This guide is explicit about exactly where that handoff happens, so you know what to expect at each step.

Before you start

You'll need:

• The client name and what you're billing them for
• Your hourly rate and currency
• (Optional) your business details, if you haven't set them up before — see the next step, since the timer and invoice generator now share one profile

Part 1 — Time the work with the Billable Session Timer

Step 1 — Open the timer and set up the session

1. Go to https://tidypapers.com/billable-timer/.
2. If this is your first TidyPapers tool, fill in the "Your business profile" panel (currency and default hourly rate) — it's shared with the invoice generator, so you won't need to re-type your rate there later.
3. Fill in Client / project and Task description.
4. Enter your Hourly rate and choose the Currency selector value (€ Euro (EUR), $ US Dollar (USD), or £ British Pound (GBP)).
5. Optionally set a Planned duration (you'll get a nudge at 80% and 100% of it) and a Break reminder every (minutes, 0 = off).

Step 2 — Run the session

1. Click "⏱️ Start" and do the work.
2. Use "⏸️ Pause" / "▶️ Resume" for interruptions.
3. If you're using Pomodoro focus mode instead of one continuous session, see the separate Billable & Pomodoro Timer guide — break time is automatically excluded from what gets billed either way.
4. When you're done, click "⏹️ Stop & log session". This saves the session — client, task, duration, and money earned at your rate — to your session log.

Step 3 — Send the session to the invoice generator

In your session log, find the finished session. It has two ways to move it toward an invoice:

• "Add to invoice" — the automatic route. One click queues the session (task, client, duration, and rate) for the invoice generator. The next time you open or reload the invoice generator, that session is already there as a new line item, and a banner across the top reads something like "1 line item received from Timer."
• "Copy as invoice line" (and "📋 Copy all for client" for several sessions at once) — still available for pasting the session into a document other than TidyPapers' own invoice generator, or if you'd rather review the text before it lands anywhere.

For this walkthrough, use "Add to invoice."

Part 2 — Build the invoice

Step 4 — Open the invoice generator

1. Go to https://tidypapers.com/ (the TidyPapers homepage) — this is where the invoice generator lives.
2. A banner at the top reads "1 line item received from Timer" (or more, if you sent several sessions), and the session is already sitting in the line items table below — you don't need to add or paste it yourself.
3. If you filled in your business profile on the timer, your currency should already match; your business name, address, VAT/tax ID, and logo carry over too if you'd already saved them anywhere on TidyPapers before.
4. Fill in the client's name.

Step 5 — Check the received line item

1. Confirm the line item's Description matches the task you timed.
2. It arrives already switched to time-based billing (the Qty/Time toggle set to Time), with the session length in the Hours field.
3. Confirm the Rate matches the hourly rate you used in the timer — it's carried over from the session, but it's worth a glance before you send anything to a client.

Step 6 — Set the invoice currency and any tax summary

1. Confirm the invoice's Currency selector matches what you billed in on the timer (it should already match if you'd set up your shared profile).
2. If you want the invoice to show your tax set-aside information, tick "Show my-tax summary on invoice (informational)". This pulls from figures you've set up separately in the Freelancer Tax Dashboard — it does not calculate your taxes on this page itself.

Step 7 — Generate and send the PDF

1. Click "📄 Download PDF →" to generate the invoice as a PDF.
2. Send the PDF to your client however you normally would (email, client portal, etc.) — TidyPapers doesn't send it for you.
3. If you want to start fresh for the next invoice, use "🗑️ Clear all →".

What is and isn't automatic in this workflow

Frequently asked practical questions