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Features · Retainers

Support retainer hours tracking for agencies.

Track monthly hours without spreadsheets. Contract hours, remaining time, and out-of-contract flags stay tied to service desk tickets and work logs.

  • Contract hours ledger, not a guess.
  • Remaining time stays visible.
  • Out-of-contract work is explicit.
  • Designed for daily use.
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Retainers need boundaries.

If the boundary is fuzzy, the relationship gets tense. Make it legible.

Spreadsheet reality
  • – Time logs live somewhere else.
  • – Remaining hours become a debate.
  • – Out-of-contract work is discovered late.
  • – The “source of truth” changes each week.
Ticket-first retainer tracking
  • ✓ Contract hours tied to work logs.
  • ✓ Remaining time stays visible on tickets.
  • ✓ Out-of-contract is explicit, with a reason.
  • ✓ Numbers stay traceable as reality changes.

Retainer numbers that hold shape

Built to stay auditable as reality changes.

Ledger-based

A running record of accruals and consumption, not a single mutable balance.

Remaining time

Service desk tickets can track remaining time as work is logged.

Rollover rules

Carryover and expiry rules keep agreements enforceable.

Rounding

Round minutes the way your contracts do, without manual cleanup.

Thresholds

Know when you’re running low before you’re already out.

Out of contract

Keep out-of-contract work explicit so billing stays grounded.

How agencies actually use it

Clear boundaries. Clear numbers. Fewer surprise conversations.

  1. 1
    Set the contract

    Define monthly hours and the rollover rules. Keep the agreement readable.

  2. 2
    Log the work

    Track time on tickets with notes. Keep remaining time visible as you go.

  3. 3
    Handle exceptions

    Mark out-of-contract work when needed. Keep the audit trail clean.

Templates for retainer boundaries

Retainers work when the boundary is explicit early.

Retainer hours policy template
Retainers
Monthly hours, rollover, remaining time, and out-of-contract handling.
Out-of-contract email template
Out of contract
Clear boundary, clear options, no awkward tone.
Retainer renewal email template
Renewal
Recap outcomes and usage without sounding salesy.

Related docs

How retainers, time logs, and service desk boundaries fit together.

Retainers and contract hours
Docs
Contract hours, remaining time, and out-of-contract handling tied to tickets.
Service desk (inside projects)
Docs
Queue + triage + SLA visibility inside the same project workflow as delivery.
Time tracking
Docs
Ticket-first work logs with notes so numbers stay auditable.

FAQ

Answers to common questions. Keyboard-friendly and accessible by default.

Is this only for support teams? +
It’s for agencies. Retainer tracking sits in the same ticket workflow as delivery and triage.
Do we still need spreadsheets? +
You shouldn’t. Contract hours and work logs stay tied to tickets so the numbers are traceable.
Can we mark work out of contract? +
Yes. Out-of-contract is a first-class flag, with a reason, so the boundary is clear.
Does this work with SLAs? +
Yes. SLAs and contract hours both live on service desk tickets.
Do you have a retainer policy template? +
Yes. A retainer hours and out-of-contract policy template is available in Resources: https://timelint.com/resources/retainer-hours-and-out-of-contract-policy-template

Protect margins without adding admin

Retainer hours tracking for agencies, tied to service desk tickets.

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