Not all work gets billed to clients, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be tracked. Whether you're doing pro bono work, internal admin tasks, training, or offering complimentary services, tracking unbillable time helps you maintain complete records and show clients the full value you're providing.
When you track unbillable time in MinuteDock, you can still include these Time Entries on invoices at $0.00, letting clients see the work you've done while clearly marking it as complimentary.
Setting up unbillable rates
You can mark any Contact, Project, or Task as unbillable by editing their settings. The approach you choose depends on how you want to organise your unbillable work.
Understanding rate priority
MinuteDock applies billing rates in this order of priority:
Task-specific rates set on a Contact or Project (highest priority)
Rates set for a specific User
Task rates
Project rates
Contact rates
User default rates
Account rates (lowest priority)
This means an unbillable Task keeps time at $0.00 across every Contact and Project — unless that Contact or Project has a Task-specific rate set for it, which takes priority.
Making Tasks, Projects, or Contacts unbillable
Tasks work particularly well for unbillable time because they can be used across any Contact or Project. This is perfect for activities like pro bono work, internal admin, or training that you might do for various clients.
To set up unbillable rates:
Go to the Contacts or Projects screen in MinuteDock. (Tasks is a sub-tab under the Projects screen.)
Hover over the relevant Task, Project, or Contact and click the edit button
Either:
Set the Default hourly rate to
$0.00, orUncheck the Billable option
Save your changes
Once configured, any Time Entries using that Task, Project, or Contact will automatically be marked as unbillable, unless another assignment overrides the rate settings - see rate priorities above.
For example, create a Task with the Short Code #probono and set it as unbillable. Now whenever you use #probono in your Time Entry, that time will automatically be recorded at $0.00.
Make a Task unbillable for one client only
If a Task is billable for most clients but included in the fee for one, set a Task-specific rate of $0.00 on that Contact.
Go to the Contacts screen, hover over the Contact and click the edit button.
In Task-specific Rates, select the Task and enter
0.00.Click Save.
Time logged with that Task against that Contact now records at $0.00, while the same Task keeps its normal rate everywhere else. This works on a Project too, if you only want it applied to one job.
💡 Tip: A $0.00 rate wins any tie. If a Time Entry has two Tasks and both have a Task-specific rate on the same Contact, the $0.00 one applies.
Including unbillable time in invoices and Reports
When creating invoices, unbillable Time Entries won't appear by default since they have a $0.00 rate.
You can choose to include unbillable time when creating invoices via the Options filter in custom invoice creation. Learn more about creating invoices
ℹ️ Note: You can report on unbillable time using the Options filter in Reports. Run reports for only unbillable time, only billable time, or include both.