Time tracking on the work surface
Start the timer where you do the work. The timer block lives next to the deliverable, so the hours map to the right invoice line.
Use case · Agencies & freelancers
One board per client.
Including the invoice.
Brief, deliverables, billable timer, line-item invoice, retainer dashboard — on one canvas at b/client-acme. A Harvest, Toggl, FreshBooks, and shared workspace replaced with one URL the client sees, too.
The shape of the work
Three steps from kickoff to renewal.
Agency work fragments fast: brief in Notion, hours in Harvest, invoices in FreshBooks, files in Drive. One board per client puts it on one surface.
- 1
Stamp the client board
b/client-acme. Brief at the top, deliverables in the middle, time tracker on the side, invoice nodes at the bottom. Five-minute setup per client.
- 2
Track time on the same board you work from
Start the timer node when you sit down. Stop it when you stand up. The minutes flow into the invoice line items automatically.
- 3
Invoice without leaving the canvas
When the month closes, the invoice node lists hours, deliverables, and a total. Send it as a PDF link or via the client guest seat.
Client board template
b/client-acme — the eight blocks that earn their seat.
A blueprint that scales from solo freelancer to a 12-person agency. Adjust per client; ship the variant in 90 seconds.
b/client-acme
8 nodes- Engagement brief
Two-paragraph note: scope, deliverables, success measure. Pinned where the client lands.
- Deliverables kanban
Backlog → in flight → review → shipped. Drag cards to advance. Client sees status in real time.
- Live Figma frames
Design work embedded live, not as screenshots. Comments pin to the layer they are about.
- Time tracker
Billable hours per deliverable. Start/stop with one click. Feeds the invoice.
- Loom recordings
Async walkthroughs. Onboarding, weekly status, design rationale. Replaces 60% of the meetings.
- Invoice ledger
Invoice nodes for each month. Status (draft / sent / paid), line items, totals. Send a PDF link with one click.
- Retainer dashboard
Live chart of hours used vs budget. The client sees exactly where the retainer stands without asking.
- QBR / retro template
Pinned at the bottom. Filled at quarter close. Same board, longer life — renewal conversations get easier.
Why this works
Six things three SaaS subscriptions used to do.
Replace Harvest, Toggl, FreshBooks, and a shared Notion subspace with one BookSlash workspace. One vendor, one bill, one onboarding for new contractors.
Invoices with line items + status
Draft → sent → paid status, line-item totals, PDF generation. A FreshBooks alternative on the same canvas.
Live Figma + Loom embeds
Design and async walkthroughs embed live. Updates flow through automatically; clients never see a stale screenshot.
Client guest seats are free
Bring the client onto the board without burning a paid seat. They see deliverables, invoices, and the retainer dashboard in real time.
b/client-<name> is your shorthand
Project manager pings the team about Acme? "b/client-acme" lands them on the right board in 40ms.
Same board for QBRs
Quarterly reviews live on the same canvas the work happened on. Renewal conversations have receipts.
We replaced a Figma project, a Notion subspace, and a Slack channel with one b/brand board. Reviews actually finish now.
MC
Mei-Lin Cordova
Head of Design · Aperture Foundry
Frequently asked
Questions, answered.
BookSlash invoices export to PDF and CSV today. Direct QuickBooks and Xero sync are on the roadmap. Most agencies export the monthly invoice batch and import once per month — workable while the integrations land.
Guest seats are read-only by default; you can promote individual guests to comment-only or member-level access per board. Most agencies keep clients read-only on the canvas and route feedback through pinned comments.
A retainer is just a budget line in the invoice node, with a chart node showing hours used vs budgeted. When you exceed 80% of the retainer, the chart highlights — your project manager sees it before the client does.
For most agency workflows, yes. The exceptions: heavy multi-currency operations (Xero/QuickBooks still win), and large-team timesheet workflows with payroll integration (Harvest still wins). For 1–20 person studios, BookSlash usually replaces all three.
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