For agencies

Agency time tracking software for small teams that invoice in Wave

Small design, development and marketing agencies bill hours across many clients and several people. Swell gives the team one place to track time by client and project, applies each person's rate, and creates the invoice draft in Wave for the owner to review and send.

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What should agency time tracking software do?

It should make tracking quick enough that the whole team does it daily, record every entry against a client and project, and apply the right rate for each person and project automatically. It should show hours against each project's budget before the month ends, and turn approved time into invoices in the accounting system the agency already uses.

Where agency hours leak

In a small agency, billable time is spread across people, projects and tools, and the owner reconciles it at the end of the month.

Timesheets filled in on Friday afternoon

When people reconstruct the week from memory, the short tasks vanish: a quick revision, a client call, a bug fix between projects. Each is small, and together they are often the margin on a project.

Different rates for different people

A senior developer and a junior designer bill at different rates, and some clients have negotiated rates of their own. Keeping that right in a spreadsheet works until a formula breaks, and the mistake only shows on the client's invoice.

Budgets discovered after they are gone

A project quoted at 40 hours quietly reaches 60. Without hours tracked against a budget during the month, the overrun shows up when the invoice is being built, too late to talk to the client about scope.

The owner's month-end invoice evening

Hours come from several people and tools while invoices go out of Wave. Someone has to collect the totals, apply the rates and retype the lines for every client, and it is usually the person with the least spare time.

How Swell fits a small agency

Swell covers the stretch from a team member's timer to a reviewed invoice draft in Wave. It sits beside your project management tool rather than replacing it.

Quick tracking for the whole team

Everyone starts a timer from the browser or a phone, or logs a date and duration afterwards, against a client, project and task. Saved timer shortcuts restart recurring work in one click, and Swell emails anyone who leaves a timer running.

Rates per person and project

Set rates per project, per team member, or for a person on a specific project; the most specific rate always wins. Account-wide rounding, nearest or up to 6, 15 or 30 minutes, applies the same way on reports, exports and invoices.

Budgets and team reports

Give a project a budget in hours and watch how much is used as the team tracks. Owners and admins see account-wide reports by client, project or team member, with CSV export. Members see and manage their own time.

Wave drafts the owner reviews

Pick a client and date range to see every outgoing line with the hours, rate and notes behind it, grouped or in detail. Create the draft in Wave, then approve and send it there. Invoiced entries are locked so they cannot be edited or billed twice.

A month of agency billing in Swell

1

Connect Wave and set up clients

Connect your agency's Wave business once. Swell brings in your Wave customers during setup, and you match each one to a client or add it as a new one.
2

Invite the team and set rates

Invite people by email as members or admins, then set rates per person, per project, or both.
3

Track and watch budgets

The team tracks time daily. Check project budgets during the month, while there is still time to raise scope with a client.
4

Review each client's lines

At month-end, open the invoice review for each client, check the lines and rates, and fix entries missing a project or note.
5

Create drafts and send from Wave

Create the drafts in Wave, then approve and send them there. The entries behind them are linked and locked in Swell.

What to look for in agency time tracking software

Whatever tool you choose, these decide whether the team's hours turn into accurate invoices:

Fast enough for daily use: A timer and quick manual entry that people actually use, so time is captured the same day instead of reconstructed on Friday.
Rates by person and project: Rates applied automatically for each person and project, including client-specific rates, without a rate sheet to maintain.
Budgets visible during the month: Hours tracked against a project budget as they happen, not only when the invoice is built.
Roles and permissions: Team members track their own time while owners and admins see every client's numbers and create invoices.
A direct path to invoices: Invoice drafts created from tracked time in the accounting system you already use, without export and re-entry.
Locked invoiced time: Entries tied to the invoice they were billed on, so a late edit cannot change what a client was charged.

When Swell is not the right fit

Swell is deliberately narrow. Look elsewhere if any of these apply:

You invoice from QuickBooks, Xero or another system instead of Wave. Swell only creates invoices in Wave.
You need resource scheduling, capacity planning or project management in the same tool.
Your team must submit weekly timesheets for approval before invoicing. Swell does not have an approval workflow yet.
You need native mobile or desktop apps, or offline tracking. Swell is a web app that works in a phone browser.
You bill in a currency other than US dollars. Swell's rates are in USD and it will not create a Wave invoice for a business in another currency.

Questions from agencies

How much does Swell cost for an agency?

Team is $29 a month including three users, then $7 for each additional user. An agency of eight people pays $64 a month. The Team plan includes budget tracking, team reports and role-based permissions, and there is a 14-day trial. There is no free plan.

Can different people bill at different rates?

Yes. Set a rate per team member, per project, or for a person on a particular project, with an account default underneath. The most specific rate always applies, so a client-specific rate for one designer overrides that designer's usual rate.

Can team members see each other's hours?

Members see and manage their own time. Owners and admins see account-wide reports and create Wave invoices. Invite each person by email with the role they need.

Does Swell replace our project management tool?

No. Swell has clients, projects and tasks for organizing time, but no task boards, deadlines or file sharing. Most agencies keep their project tool and use Swell for time, budgets in hours and invoicing through Wave.

Do we need Wave Pro?

Yes. Wave lets third-party apps connect only to businesses on Wave Pro or with a Wave Advisors subscription, so the agency's Wave business needs one of those to create invoice drafts from Swell.

Track your agency's hours in Swell

Connect Wave, invite the team and create your first invoice draft during the 14-day trial.