How to Track Billable Hours on Your iPhone (The Simple Way)

You bill by the hour. So every minute you work should be a minute you get paid for. Simple in theory. In practice, most people wing it — a note in their phone, a rough guess at the end of the day, a mental tally that’s always a little off.

The problem isn’t discipline. It’s friction.

Why most tools don’t work

Most time tracking software was designed for teams. There’s a web dashboard, a login screen, a project hierarchy, a manager who needs reports. None of that helps if you’re a consultant opening a client call or a contractor starting a task.

By the time you’ve logged in and found the right project, the moment has passed. So you guess later. And guessing costs you money.

What actually works on an iPhone

The bar is low: start tracking before you start working. Stop when you stop. That’s it.

To hit that bar consistently, your timer needs to be:

One tap away
Already assigned to the right client
Not asking you any questions

That’s the design principle behind Clocked. You set up your clients once — each with a color and an hourly rate. From then on, starting a timer is one tap. The app does the math in real time, showing your estimated earnings as the seconds tick.

Setting up in under two minutes

Open Clocked and create a client — give it a name, a color, and your hourly rate.
When you start work, tap the client. The timer starts.
Tap again to stop.
At the end of the week or month, export your entries as CSV to send to your client or accountant.

That’s the whole workflow. No web dashboard. No login. No sync with a third-party calendar.

For anyone who bills by the hour

You don’t have to be a freelancer for this to matter. Lawyers, accountants, consultants, contractors, tradespeople, coaches — anyone who charges for their time benefits from knowing exactly how much time they’re spending.

Beyond billing, the data is useful for you too. You’ll quickly see which clients take more time than they pay for. Which projects run long. Where your rate is too low.

The CSV export

When it’s time to invoice, Clocked lets you export your time log as a CSV file. You can share it directly from your iPhone — to your accountant, your client, or your own spreadsheet for review. The free plan covers the last 7 days. Pro gives you the full history.

One more thing

Clocked has a Live Activity for the Dynamic Island — available free. While a timer is running, you can see the elapsed time without opening the app. It’s a small thing that makes a big difference when you’re mid-task.

Download Clocked — free on the App Store