A retainer tracker built for independent consultants.
Most retainer tracking tools are built for agencies with ops teams. You’re a freelance consultant with 3, 5, or 8 clients — each with different hours per cycle, different reset dates, and different expectations about visibility. HourTab gives each client their own live tracker at a URL they bookmark. You import from your time tool. They stop emailing you about hours. No portal setup. No recurring admin. Just accurate numbers available when they need them.
Free forever for your first retainer · no credit card.
Why freelance consultants need a dedicated retainer tracker
-
One spreadsheet for four clients breaks by the third month.
You add a tab per client, then a tab for the current month, then a summary tab. By month three, something is out of sync and you spend 20 minutes reconciling before a client call. HourTab replaces the spreadsheet with per-client trackers that update from your CSV automatically — nothing to reconcile, nothing to maintain manually.
-
Clients on retainer expect visibility as part of the relationship.
A client paying a monthly retainer is different from a project client. They’re paying for ongoing access to your time, and they want to know where that time is going. A live tracker that shows what you worked on, when, and how many hours remain is the professional standard — not a nice-to-have. It also reduces scope creep anxiety: when clients can see the hours ticking down, they prioritize better.
-
The “how many hours do I have left?” question comes from every client.
If you have five clients, this question arrives five times a cycle, at different times, from different channels. Each one takes 3-5 minutes to answer properly. Over a year that’s hours of unpaid admin. One URL per client that’s always current eliminates the question entirely — for all of them.
How to track multiple retainer clients with HourTab
-
1
Create one retainer per client. Each retainer has its own hours cap, reset date, and unique URL. Takes under a minute per client. Your dashboard lists all active retainers with their current usage at a glance.
-
2
Import per-client CSV exports. Filter by client or project in Toggl, Harvest, Clockify, FreshBooks, or Hubstaff, export, and paste. HourTab imports the entries, calculates hours, and updates each client’s tracker immediately.
-
3
Send each client their URL once. Drop it in your first invoice or onboarding email. They bookmark it. From then on, they self-serve the answer whenever they want it — no ping required from you.
Each client only sees their own tracker. URLs are randomized — no client can guess another’s link. When cycles reset, new CSV in = tracker resets automatically. Same URLs, same workflow, every month.
“Managing five retainers means five different conversations about hours. Anything that reduces that to zero is worth its price in the first week.”
— Independent strategy consultant, 5 retainer clients
One tracker per client. One URL per client. One import per billing cycle. That’s the whole system.
Common questions
How does HourTab handle multiple retainer clients?
Each client gets a separate retainer with its own hours cap, reset date, and public URL. You import time entries per client from your CSV. Each client only ever sees their own page — they can’t see other clients’ data.
Can I use HourTab with any time tracker?
Yes. HourTab imports CSV exports from Toggl Track, Harvest, Clockify, FreshBooks, and Hubstaff. Filter by client or project tag before exporting and the import maps cleanly. You can also log hours manually per retainer.
Do my clients need accounts to see their tracker?
No. Each retainer gets a unique public URL. Your client bookmarks it and checks it whenever they want. No login, no password, no portal to maintain. You can revoke access at any time from your dashboard.
How many clients can I track?
Free: 1 active retainer. Solo ($9/mo): up to 10. Studio ($19/mo): unlimited — right for consultants with a growing roster or small agencies managing multiple clients.