Retainers & Hours Banks
Sell a block of hours, and let Fee-Lion keep the count.
A retainer is a fee each period that covers a bank of hours. Fee-Lion bills the fee on schedule, draws the bank down as your team logs time, rolls unused hours over by your rules, and bills overage at your rate. Clients see their usage in the portal.
Everything inside
Every facet, function & convenience.
Fee plus hours
Set the fee, the hours it covers each period and the client it belongs to, optionally tied to one project.
Rollover your way
No rollover, rollover up to a cap, or unused hours that expire after a set number of periods.
Overage billing
Hours past the bank are billed at your overage rate, as a line on the next retainer invoice or as a separate draft.
Billed on schedule
The retainer fee rides Fee-Lion's recurring invoices, so drafts arrive for review before they go out.
Time draws it down
Billable time on the retainer's project, or any of the client's projects for a company-wide retainer, counts against the bank.
No double billing
Time covered by a retainer is skipped by "bill unbilled time", so it never lands on a second invoice.
Usage alerts
Owners and admins are emailed at 80% and 100% of the bank; you can choose to email the client too.
Client portal card
Clients see this period's hours, rollover and what is left, plus their period history.
Period history
Every period's hours, rollover, usage and overage, with links to the invoice that billed it.
The hours bank, at a glance
Every active retainer shows how much of this period's bank is used, what rolled over and what is left. The list tells you which clients are close to their limit before they ask.
Rollover and overage, handled
Unused hours roll forward by your rule. Go over and the overage is billed at your rate on the next retainer invoice. The period history keeps the whole record, month by month.
Clients can check their own balance
The client portal shows the same usage bar: hours used, rolled over and remaining this period. Fewer "how many hours do we have left?" emails.
Questions
The short answers.
How is a retainer different from a recurring invoice?
A recurring invoice bills a fixed amount. A retainer bills a fixed amount and tracks the hours it covers: it draws down as time is logged, rolls over unused hours and bills overage.
Can unused hours roll over?
Yes. Choose no rollover, rollover up to a cap, or rollover that expires after a number of periods.
How is overage billed?
At your overage rate, either added to the next retainer invoice or as its own draft invoice, once per period.
Will retainer time show up as unbilled?
No. Time drawn from a retainer is marked as covered, so it is left out of unbilled time and "bill unbilled time".
Your first client is two minutes away.
Name your workspace, add a client, send the estimate. We'll handle the part where it turns into money.