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# How Consultancies Can Track Billable Work
- URL: https://blog.jestor.com/consultancies-track-billable-work/
- Published: 2026-09-17T22:31:22.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-17T22:31:22.000Z
- Author: Bruno Bannach

**Consultancy billable work tracking** has one requirement everything else depends on: knowing how many contracted hours remain on each engagement, continuously rather than at invoicing.

## Why consultancies overrun

Scope expands conversationally, and the cost appears in a spreadsheet weeks later.

- Work continuing past the contracted hours unnoticed
- Time logged in one system and projects tracked in another
- Retainer consumption unknown until month end
- Project value recalculated by hand whenever scope changes

## What the engagement record needs

| Field                 | Purpose                              |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| **Contracted hours**  | What the client bought               |
| **Worked hours**      | What has been consumed               |
| **Available balance** | Contracted minus worked, calculated  |
| **Hourly rate**       | Drives the project value calculation |
| **Usage percentage**  | Shown as a chart inside the card     |

## How to set it up in Jestor

1. Create the project in **Jestor** with the client, contracted hours, and hourly rate.
2. Let the project value calculate from hours multiplied by rate.
3. Track engagements on a **Kanban** across proposal, execution, delivered, and cancelled.
4. Use conditional fields so a cancellation reason appears only when a proposal is refused.
5. Watch the hour balance and usage percentage update inside the card as work is logged.

## Why choose Jestor for professional services?

**Jestor** calculates the balance from the records the team already works in, so nobody maintains a parallel timesheet — the most common reason hour tracking fails.

One client can hold several projects, each with its own contracted hours, which matches how retainer and project work are sold in practice.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How is the balance calculated?

Contracted hours minus hours worked and logged. See [jestor.com](https://jestor.com/?ref=blog.jestor.com).

### Can one client have several engagements?

Yes, each with its own balance.

### Is the project value calculated automatically?

Yes, from hours and the hourly rate.

## Video Tutorial: Step by Step

Check out other practical tutorials on the Jestor YouTube channel.

## Get to know Jestor

With **Jestor**, you can automate workflows, connect teams, and build internal systems your way — all without code and powered by **AI**. Discover Jestor at [jestor.com](https://jestor.com/?ref=blog.jestor.com) and see how to take your company's operations to a new level of efficiency and control.