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A time report template for freelancers who bill by the hour

The report a client reads to see what your hours were for: who it is for, the period, each session with what it was for, the hours grouped by area of work, the total and the amount. Fill it in yourself and send it with your invoice.

Download for Excel .xlsxDownload the PDF .pdf

Opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers; the PDF prints on one page. No email, no sign-up.

The template with example rows. The freelancer, client and work are made up.

Time report

Shop checkout redesign

For Example Goods Co. · From Sam Example

Oct 19 – 23, 2026

Total
10:50
Sessions
6
Rate
$60.00/h
Amount
$650.00

Areas of work

  • Checkout redesign6:15
  • Calls0:45
  • Bug fixes3:50

Sessions

  • Mon, Oct 19 · 09:00–11:30Built the new address form · Checkout redesign2:30
  • Mon, Oct 19 · 13:00–14:15Validation and error states for the address form · Checkout redesign1:15
  • Tue, Oct 20 · 10:00–10:45Weekly call: checkout review · Calls0:45
  • Tue, Oct 20 · 11:00–13:30Fixed the order email's broken characters · Bug fixes2:30
  • Thu, Oct 22 · 09:30–12:00Payment step on mobile · Checkout redesign2:30
  • Thu, Oct 22 · 14:00–15:20Cart total rounding · Bug fixes1:20
Hours are h:mm. The amount is the total at the hourly rate.

What a time report needs

A time report has one job: to let the client see what a number is made of without having to ask. Everything on it serves that, and six parts do the work.

  • Who and when. Your name, the client, the project and the period the report covers. A report without a period invites the question “is this everything?”
  • Sessions with real times. Each stretch of work with its date, start and end. Times written down as you work are the strongest part of the report: a 09:12 start reads as a record, a round “4 hours” reads as an estimate.
  • A note per session, in the client’s words. “Checkout validation” settles questions; “dev work” invites them. Write the words the client would use for the same work.
  • Hours grouped by area of work. Clients think in deliverables, not sessions. Three or four areas answer “where did the time go” at a glance.
  • The total and the amount. The hours added up and the amount at the agreed rate, so the invoice that follows holds no new number.
  • The same format, every time. Send it on the same rhythm. A client who has read four of your reports reads the fifth in seconds.

What it does not need: an activity score, a minute-by-minute log, or a paragraph defending any line. If a line needs a paragraph, the note was too vague.

How to prove hours worked to a client, the longer guide

How to use the template

  1. Fill in the header once for each client: your name, theirs, the project and your hourly rate.
  2. Log each session when you finish it, not on Friday from memory: the date, start, end, area of work and a short note. The hours fill themselves in.
  3. Type your areas of work into the Areas of work block. Their hours add up from the sessions.
  4. Delete the example rows, set the period, and send the report as the spreadsheet or exported to PDF.

The PDF is the same report as one printable page, for anyone who keeps time on paper and types it up later.

Or skip the spreadsheet

This template is the shape of the report ProofHour sends. The app records your sessions as you work, in 10-minute blocks with a screenshot and an activity level, and calls or offline work go in as manual time. The report, with the total, the areas of work and the sessions, is emailed to your client, who opens it without an account, and the invoice is built from the same record.

See a sample client report

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Questions people ask

What should a time report for a client include?

Your name and the client's, the project and the period it covers, each session with its date, start, end and a short note, the hours grouped by area of work, and the total with the amount at your rate. The template has all of these, in that order.

Can I use this template in Google Sheets?

Yes. Upload the .xlsx file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets, or import it into a blank sheet. The formulas for each session's hours, the total, the areas of work and the amount work there as they do in Excel and Numbers.

How detailed should a time report be?

Detailed enough that the client can match every hour to work they recognize, and no more. One line per stretch of work with a short note is usually right: a minute-by-minute log hides the picture, and a bare total hides the work.

How often should I send a time report?

On a rhythm the client can expect. Weekly suits most hourly work and retainers, so the invoice at the end of the month holds no surprises. A short project can do with one report at the end.