Time Tracking for Interior Designers
Interior designers work across concept, design development, procurement, and installation - often on flat fees where the real time cost is invisible until the project is over. Without accurate time records, fixed-fee projects erode margin quietly, scope creep goes unbilled, and the next quote is just another guess. Sandtime.io lets you log time per project and phase as you work, tracks hours against fee estimates in real time, and gives you the data to price future projects based on what work actually takes.
Interior Designers: why they choose Sandtime.io
Track time by project phase
Assign every hour to the right project and phase - concept design, design development, procurement, site visits, and client meetings - as you work. Know what each project actually costs before the final invoice goes out.
Know your real rate on fixed-fee projects
See how many hours a flat-fee project has consumed. Know your real effective rate on fixed-fee work and use actual data to price future projects - not memory and guesswork.
Check hours against the fee estimate
A report grouped by project shows the hours each project has used so far. Compare them with the hours your fee assumed, and raise scope creep while there is still time to address it.
Invoice without guessing
Pull invoice-ready time logs by project or client at the end of each phase. No reconstructing site visits and client calls from a calendar and inbox.
How an interior design studio sets up Sandtime.io
An interior design studio sets up Sandtime.io with one project per client job and names each time entry after its phase, such as concept, design development, procurement or installation. Reports grouped by project and activity then show how many hours each phase took against the fee, which is the number the next quote should start from.
- One project per job, entries named by phaseCreate a project for each client job and mark it billable. Name entries after the phase you are in, and keep pitches, portfolio photography and bookkeeping on a non-billable studio project.
- Bring in assistants and contractorsInvite junior designers, drafters and freelance stylists by email. Add each one as a User on the jobs they work on, so a contractor sees only that client’s project, and set a cost rate per person to see what their hours cost the studio.
- Log site visits from your phoneStart a timer on the iPhone or Android app when you walk into a site meeting or a supplier’s showroom. Sourcing sessions and client calls you forgot to time go in afterwards as a manual entry with a start and end time.
- Check the fee at every phaseBefore you invoice a stage, run a report grouped by project and activity to compare the hours spent with the hours the fee assumed. Export it to Excel or CSV and keep it next to the quote for the next similar job.
Step by step in the help center: invite the team with the right role, approve a week from the email, and turn on auto-locking.
Common use cases
- Log time per project and phase as design work progresses
- Track client meetings, site visits, and procurement hours separately
- Know the effective hourly rate on flat-fee and fixed-price projects
- Monitor hours against fee estimates to catch scope creep early
- Pull billing summaries per client or project at the end of each phase
- Separate billable design work from non-billable business development time
Key features
One-click timers
Start timing when a task begins and stop it when you move on. One click logs to the right project and phase without breaking your flow.
Retroactive time entry
Add a site visit, client call, or sourcing session after the fact with a note. Nothing is lost because you were on site or in a client meeting.
Multiple projects at once
Track multiple active projects simultaneously. Switch between clients without losing time on any of them.
Export and report
Pull time reports by project or date range. Export to CSV for invoicing, client reporting, or quoting future work.
Where Sandtime.io stops
Better to know before you invite the team. These are the gaps people in this line of work ask about most.
- No invoicingSandtime.io does not send invoices. The Invoices report template lists time, rate, net revenue, tax, and total per project, and you export it to Excel or CSV for your billing software.
- No project budgetsThere is no budget field or budget alert. A report grouped by project shows hours, cost, and revenue so far, and you compare them with the estimate yourself.
- Reminders are a weekly emailThe fill-timesheet reminder is one email, sent on Friday at 6 PM while auto-locking is on. It is off by default, so each member switches it on in their notification settings.
Keep exploring
Continue with the most relevant Sandtime.io pages for this topic.
Track breaks and other non-billable time
Sandtime.io has no dedicated break timer. Non-billable projects with the Billable switch off keep breaks in your timesheet and out of what you bill.
Open pageBillable Hours
Work hours that can be charged to a client or project. Essential for professional services firms to track revenue.
Open pageCost, revenue, and billable reporting
Use billable flags and rates to understand project profitability without losing the self-reported workflow.
Open pageCost
The expense associated with employee work hours. Calculated by multiplying time by cost rates for profitability analysis.
Open pageCreate a project for reported time
Create projects that people can report against, mark them billable or non-billable, and keep reporting tidy.
Open pageCustom Reports
User-defined reports with flexible groupings, metrics, and filters. Custom reports answer specific business questions.
Open pageTrack your first hour today
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