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Agreements and allowances

Route: /agreements · Roles to edit: finance, admin (everyone can read)

An agreement defines the commercial terms for a customer: its currency, billing timezone, term, and — for retainers — a monthly allowance of hours. Time within the allowance is covered; time beyond it is billed as overage.

Create an agreement​

  1. Open Agreements and rates.
  2. Click New agreement.
  3. Choose the Customer, then set Name, Start, optional End, Currency, and Billing timezone.
  4. Click Create agreement.

The agreement is listed with its customer, currency, timezone, status, and term.

Add a monthly allowance​

For retainer customers only:

  1. On the agreement, click Add allowance.
  2. Set the Period start (the first of the month, YYYY-MM-01) and the Allowance hours.
  3. Click Add allowance.

Periods run to the end of the start month and are keyed per customer + month, so adding the same period twice is harmless.

The agreement's allowance table then shows, per period: allowance, used (approved billable hours), remaining, and a usage bar that turns amber at 100%.

How time is billed against an allowance​

Within a billing month, approved billable hours consume the allowance first. Only the overage above the allowance is billed at the applicable rate. See Billing for the resulting segments.

Time and materials vs retainer​

  • No allowance rows → pure time and materials, billed at the rate.
  • Allowance rows → retainer; overage billed at the rate.

Rules and side effects​

  • Allowances are matched to the customer and month, and only count approved billable time.
  • The Overview panel surfaces retainer usage so customers nearing their cap are visible early.
  • Agreements, allowances, and their changes are audited.