Choosing the right project type

Harvest has two types of billable projects: Time & Materials and Fixed Fee.

Fixed Fee projects bill a fixed amount, no matter how much time is tracked. Enter the fee for your project and you can invoice part or all of your fee whenever you're ready.

The amount billed for Time & Materials projects depends on the time you track and the rates you set—the more hours tracked, the more you bill.

We have another article describing the differences between project types in more detail.

Setting billable rates for Time & Materials projects

When you create or edit a Time & Materials project, you'll choose a Billable rates option and then enter the rates you want to charge your clients. This tells Harvest what rates to apply to your tracked time. 

There are three types of Billable rates you can choose from:

• Task billable rate allows you to enter a different rate for each task. For example, you can have a project that charges $100/hour for writing and $150/hour for development. Scroll down to the Tasks section of the project form to edit your task rates.

• Person billable rate allows you to enter a different rate for each person. For example, Jane may charge $125/hour, and Joe may charge $100/hour. Scroll down to the Team section of the project form to choose between using a person’s default rate or a project-specific custom rate.

• Project billable rate tracks one rate for the entire project. For example, no matter who works on what, you’ll charge $100/hour.

Once your project is set up for billing and you're ready to invoice, head over to our article on Should I set up a standard, recurring, or retainer invoice?