How Consultancies Can Track Billable Work

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

Create the project in Jestor with the client, contracted hours, and hourly rate.
Let the project value calculate from hours multiplied by rate.
Track engagements on a Kanban across proposal, execution, delivered, and cancelled.
Use conditional fields so a cancellation reason appears only when a proposal is refused.
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.

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 and see how to take your company's operations to a new level of efficiency and control.

How do you choose an AI tool for professional services operations teams in SMBs?

To choose an AI tool for professional services operations teams in SMBs, look for a platform that combines no-code tables for clients, engagements, and documents with AI features that answer messages, read documents, and summarize data, while keeping professionals in control of advice. In Jestor, these pieces work together,

How do you build a business continuity plan for a services firm?

To build a business continuity plan for a services firm, list critical processes and deadlines, identify risks such as system outages or key person absence, define backup options, assign roles, and test the plan. In Jestor, processes, risks, and actions are connected, so the firm keeps serving clients during disruptions.

What is the best way to run IT security awareness training for staff in a services firm?

A practical way to run IT security awareness training for staff in a services firm is to define short training modules, assign them to all staff, track completion, run simulated phishing tests, and schedule refreshers. In Jestor, staff, modules, and results are connected, so security habits become part of the

How do you route website lead forms to the right team in a services firm?

To route website lead forms to the right team in a services firm, ask for the service and company size in the form, route leads automatically to the right team, set response time targets, record follow-ups, and track conversion by source. In Jestor, forms, leads, and teams are connected,