This guide covers the mechanics of turning tracked hours into a client invoice using your time-tracking software — connecting the tracker, setting a rate, and generating the invoice itself. It describes app workflow only; for how to categorize income or handle taxes on that revenue, consult a licensed accountant or tax professional, not this guide.
What You Need Before You Start
- A time tracker with either native invoicing (Harvest) or an integration path (Toggl/Clockify plus Zapier or a dedicated invoicing tool)
- An agreed hourly rate per client, ideally documented in your contract
- Time entries already logged for the billing period
Step 1: Set Your Billable Rate in the Tool
In Harvest, billable rates are set per project or per team member under project settings — this requires a paid plan, since Harvest’s free tier doesn’t include billable rates. In Toggl or Clockify, billable rates live under each project’s settings, also a paid-plan feature on both. Set the rate once per client relationship rather than re-entering it each billing cycle.
Step 2: Confirm Your Time Entries Are Complete
Before generating anything, review the billing period’s entries for gaps or vague descriptions — this is much faster to fix before an invoice exists than after a client has already seen it. See our guide to tracking billable hours for the habits that prevent this step from taking long.
Step 3: Generate the Invoice
In Harvest: select the client and date range, and Harvest compiles all tracked, unbilled time into a draft invoice automatically, with line items already itemized by task description.
In Toggl or Clockify: neither generates invoices natively. Export a detailed report (CSV or PDF) for the billing period, then either import it into a dedicated invoicing tool or use a Zapier/Make automation that creates an invoice line item per tracked entry in a connected invoicing app.
Step 4: Review the Draft Before Sending
Check the total hours and rate calculation against your own records before sending — automated totals are only as accurate as the underlying tracked entries, and this is your last checkpoint to catch a missing or duplicated entry.
Step 5: Send and Track Payment Status
Send directly from your invoicing tool if it supports it (Harvest does natively), which also lets you track whether the client has viewed or paid it. If you’re exporting to a separate invoicing tool, see our related guides for tools that pair well with this workflow.
Which Tools Support This Natively
| Tool | Native Invoicing? | Workaround if Not |
|---|---|---|
| Harvest | Yes, built in (paid plan) | N/A |
| Toggl Track | No | Export report + Zapier to invoicing app |
| Clockify | Paid add-on only | Export report + connected invoicing tool |
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Setting the rate at invoice time instead of upfront: increases the chance of billing the wrong rate under time pressure.
- Skipping the review step: an automated total is only as good as the entries behind it.
- Mixing billable and non-billable entries in the same export: double-check the report is filtered correctly before generating anything.
- Not confirming payment terms are reflected on the invoice: due dates and late-fee terms should match your contract, not just the tool’s default.
For the invoice document itself once you’re ready to send it manually or need a template, see our guide to creating a freelance invoice, or our full invoicing software comparison if you’re considering a dedicated tool like Wave or FreshBooks instead of your time tracker’s built-in option.
FAQ
Can Toggl generate invoices directly?
No — Toggl requires exporting a report and either manually creating an invoice elsewhere or connecting to a dedicated invoicing tool via Zapier or Make.
Do I need a paid plan to invoice from tracked time?
Generally yes — billable rates and invoicing are paid-plan features on Harvest, Toggl, and Clockify alike; none of the three include them free.
Should I round hours up when invoicing?
This is a business policy decision, not something this guide advises on — some freelancers bill exact tracked time, others round to the nearest quarter hour by contract agreement. Whatever you choose, apply it consistently and disclose it to clients upfront.
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