Guide · 4-minute read
Close the billing month with one clear checklist.
For a web, design or development studio reviewing client invoices. Use this with your current tools: work through one client at a time, keep currencies separate, and stop when something does not reconcile. No account or email address needed.
Last updated September 22, 2026
1. Check the work before the money
Choose a billing period and a reviewer. Ask everyone who worked on the client to finish their time entries, including short calls and revisions. Use calendars and task history as prompts, not as permission to bill time that was not worked or agreed. Resolve unclear entries with the person who logged them.
Checkmarks stay only on this page; they are not saved or sent anywhere. Print this page or copy the checklist into your own project notes if you need a record for each client.
2. Reconcile the draft against the agreement
Use the client's agreed rates, rounding and payment terms. Compare a draft against source time, expense receipts and the fixed-fee contract balance. If work was already invoiced, reserved in another draft or disputed, resolve that before adding it. Sum amounts only in the same currency; review every currency separately.
3. Send deliberately and prepare the next cycle
Review the exact recipient, attachment and payment instructions before sending the invoice. Keep a copy of what you sent and record payments only when they are confirmed. A recurring invoice schedule is not autopay: generating or emailing an invoice does not itself collect money. Start a new schedule in draft mode until you have checked a full billing cycle.
How Hoursmith does it
Run the same review from tracked work to invoice.
Hoursmith keeps client projects, tasks, time and expenses together, then pulls eligible work into an invoice draft. The reviewer still checks the agreement, recipient and totals before sending. This checklist also works with a spreadsheet or another billing tool.
Studio is $5/month per workspace for up to 10 members, with recurring invoices, reports and online payments through your own Stripe account. One 14-day trial per workspace requires no card. Private team Payouts and team profitability require Agency; Hoursmith is not accounting or payroll software.