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 uses the first rate it finds:
Task-specific rate on the Project
Task-specific rate on the Contact
Task — User rate, then Role rate, then the Task rate
Project — User rate, then Role rate, then the Project rate
Contact — User rate, then Role rate, then the Contact rate
Defaults — User, then Role, then Account
A User rate only wins at its own level. See the full 14-tier order
So an unbillable Task keeps time at $0.00 everywhere — unless the Contact or Project has a Task-specific rate for it, or the Task has a User or Role rate. If an unbillable Task is billing unexpectedly, check both.
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.