“How many hours do I have left?”
Your client emails you this question once a month, usually mid-cycle, always at a bad time. The answer lives in your Toggl dashboard, or a spreadsheet you update when you remember, or the last invoice you sent three weeks ago. HourTab replaces all of that with one URL your client can check themselves — live, no login, bookmarked once.
Free forever for your first retainer · no credit card.
Why this email keeps coming back
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The information exists, just nowhere the client can reach.
You know how many hours are left. It’s in Toggl, in your spreadsheet, in the invoice you drafted. But none of those are visible to the client without an email chain or a portal with a password they forgot. So they ask. Every month.
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Mid-cycle emails cost more than you think.
A retainer with three or four active clients means 3–4 of these emails every month. Each one takes 5–10 minutes to answer properly — dig up the hours, format a reply, send it, wait for the follow-up question. That’s an hour of unbilled admin every cycle, at your hourly rate.
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The question signals trust, not friction.
Clients asking about hours are engaged clients who care about the value they’re getting. The problem isn’t that they ask — it’s that the answer requires you to interrupt your work to send it. The fix is a self-serve link, not a better email template.
What the client page shows
Acme Design Retainer
Resets July 1 · 20 hrs/month
12 of 20 hours used · 8 remain
Work this cycle:
Jun 3 — API sync debug 3h
Jun 7 — onboarding call 1h
Jun 12 — landing copy revisions 2h
Jun 18 — dashboard redesign review 4h
Jun 22 — Q3 strategy call 2h
Your client sees this. No login. The page live-updates when you import a new CSV.
Three steps to stop the email
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1
Create the retainer in HourTab. Enter hours per cycle, rate, reset date. 60 seconds.
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2
Import your CSV. Export from Toggl, Harvest, Clockify, FreshBooks, or Hubstaff. Paste it in. Entries land on the live page.
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3
Share the URL once. Drop it in your next invoice or onboarding email. “Bookmark this for hours remaining.” That’s it. The email stops.
Common questions
How do clients check how many retainer hours they have left?
You share a unique URL with your client once. They bookmark it and open it any time to see a live progress bar: hours used, hours remaining, and the reset date. No login, no email update from you.
What happens when a client runs out of retainer hours?
The HourTab page continues counting past the cap, showing the overage: “22 of 20 hours used · 2 over.” Clients who can see the overage self-correct faster — the conversation happens in the dashboard, not in a tense invoice email.
Can I show retainer hours remaining without sending a report every month?
Yes. Import your CSV whenever you log hours and the live page updates. Your client checks it on their own schedule. No “here’s your hours update” email to send.
Which time trackers does HourTab import from?
HourTab accepts CSV exports from Toggl, Harvest, Clockify, FreshBooks, and Hubstaff. You can also log hours manually if you track time elsewhere.