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Commerce > Usage collects the work you bill by the hour or by the unit: time and usage you log by hand, and hours your team logs on project tasks. Everything waits there as unbilled until you pick it and turn it into an invoice. This guide bills Theo Nakamura at Lanternwick Café for three hours of barista training, an espresso machine service visit, and an hour and a half spent dialing in their new grinder, logged on a project. It turns all three into one draft invoice, which is not sent.

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Log time or usage by hand

1

Open Usage

Click Commerce in the left rail, then Usage, then Log usage.
The Usage and time tracking page with Start timer, the Log usage button outlined, and the Unbilled and Billed tabs

Usage and time tracking

2

Log billable hours

Pick the Client and type a Description: it becomes the line on the invoice. Type the Quantity, keep hours as the Unit, and type the hourly Rate. Click Log.
The Log usage dialog with Client Theo Nakamura, Description Barista training for your new staff, and Quantity 3, Unit hours, Rate 85.00 outlined, and the Log button outlined

Three hours of barista training

3

Log usage in any unit

For anything else you bill by the unit, type your own Unit: visits, kegs, pages. Northwind logs one espresso machine service visit at $65.
The Log usage dialog for Theo Nakamura with Description Espresso machine service visit outlined, and Quantity 1, Unit visit, Rate 65.00 outlined

One service visit

Each entry is listed on the Unbilled tab, under Other usage, with who logged it and the client.

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Or time it as you work

Click Start timer, pick the Client, say What are you working on? and set the Hourly rate. Click Start.
The Start timer dialog with Client Theo Nakamura, What are you working on? Holiday drink menu tasting, Hourly rate 85.00, and the Start button, each outlined

Start timer

The button counts the time. When you finish, click it to Stop, and the time is logged on Unbilled.
The Usage page with the timer button reading 0:00:12, Stop, outlined, next to Log usage

The timer running

Northwind’s timer ran for only a few seconds and was never stopped, so nothing from it was logged or billed.
Keep the Usage page open while the timer runs. If you go to another page, the timer stops and its time is not logged.

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Bill a project’s hours

Hours your team logs on a project’s tasks reach Usage once the project knows who to bill. Northwind’s “Lanternwick Café bar setup” project is billed to Theo.
1

Choose who to bill

Open the project in PM Projects, click … at the top and then Project settings, and open the Billing tab.Pick the client under Bill to. Tick Default hourly rate for this project and type the rate: a person’s own bill rate is used first, and this rate covers everyone without one. Click Save billing.
Project Settings for Lanternwick Café bar setup with the Billing tab outlined, Bill to Theo Nakamura outlined, Default hourly rate for this project ticked with 85.00 outlined, and the Save billing button outlined

Billed to Theo Nakamura at $85 an hour

2

Log time on a task

Open a task and its Time tab. Under Manual, type the Hours and Minutes, check the Date, and say what you did. Leave Billable ticked and click Log Time. The Timer tab times it instead.
The task Dial in the new grinder with the Time tab outlined, Hours 1, Minutes 30 and Date 10/21/2026 outlined, the note Set the grind and recipe for the house espresso, Billable ticked and outlined, and the Log Time button outlined

An hour and a half on the grinder

On Unbilled, the hours are listed under the project and the task, at the project’s rate.

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Turn it into an invoice

1

Pick what to bill

On Unbilled, tick what to bill. Ticking a project ticks all its hours. The bar at the top counts what you picked and its total. Click Create invoice from selection.An invoice is for one client, so pick one client’s entries at a time.
The Unbilled tab with the project Lanternwick Café bar setup and its task's 1.5 hours ticked, and both Other usage entries ticked; 3 records selected, $447.50, outlined, and the Create invoice from selection button outlined

Three entries, $447.50

2

Find the draft

Hiveku creates a draft invoice and moves the entries to the Billed tab, each with the number of its invoice. Click the number to open it.
The Billed tab outlined, listing the three entries for Theo Nakamura, with the invoice number NW-2026-001003 beside each outlined

Billed on NW-2026-001003

3

Read the draft invoice

The invoice is a Draft, with one line for each task’s hours (named after the project and the task) and one for each kind of usage. It is dated today and due by your default payment terms: Net 30 for Northwind.Click Edit to change the lines or add notes, and Send when it is ready. Northwind keeps it as a draft.
Invoice NW-2026-001003 with the Draft badge outlined, the Edit button outlined, Bill to Theo Nakamura, $447.50 due Nov 20, 2026, and the three lines outlined: Lanternwick Café bar setup, Dial in the new grinder (hours) 1.5 at $85.00; Barista training for your new staff (hours) 3 at $85.00; Espresso machine service visit (visit) 1 at $65.00

NW-2026-001003, a draft for $447.50

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Good to know

  • Hours logged before the project had a client are not on Usage yet. The Unbilled tab says how many, with Choose who to bill; once the project has a client, Add hours brings them in.
  • Hours with no rate are logged as not billable and marked for review on Unbilled. Click the badge to set a rate and bill them.
  • Each entry is billed once. After it is on an invoice, it stays on Billed with that invoice’s number.
  • More: to send the invoice, see Create and Send an Invoice. Project Management covers projects and their settings.