Time Tracking for Photographers & Videographers
Photographers and videographers quote day rates and project fees, but the real time cost - shooting, culling, editing, color grading, client revisions, and delivery - is invisible until the project is over. Without accurate time records, flat-rate projects erode margin quietly, revision rounds go unbilled, and the next quote is another gut-feel number. 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 work based on what production actually takes.
Photographers & Videographers: why they choose Sandtime.io
Track time by project phase
Assign every hour to the right project and phase - shoot, cull, edit, color grade, client review, revisions, and delivery - as you work. Know exactly what each project costs in time before the final invoice goes out.
Know your real rate on day-rate work
See how many hours a day-rate or flat-fee project actually consumed from first contact to final delivery. Know your real effective rate and use that data to price future projects - not gut feel from the last shoot.
Catch revision rounds before they cost you
Log every revision round as it happens. Know exactly how many hours revisions added beyond the original scope, and have the data to support a conversation about additional fees.
Invoice without rebuilding the shoot
Pull invoice-ready time logs by project or client at the end of each job. No reconstructing shoot days, editing sessions, and client calls from a camera roll and inbox.
How a photographer sets up Sandtime.io
A photographer or videographer sets up Sandtime.io with one project per shoot or client job and names each entry after the stage of work: shoot, cull, edit, revisions or delivery. Comparing the hours in a finished job with its day rate or flat fee gives the effective hourly rate, and the next quote should be based on that.
- One project per shoot, stages in the entry nameTreat every booking, such as a wedding or a brand campaign, as its own billable project and put the stage in the entry name. Portfolio shoots, gear maintenance and marketing live on a non-billable studio project.
- Add second shooters and editorsInvite a second shooter or a freelance editor by email and assign them as Users to the jobs they work on. Set a cost rate for each, so their hours carry a cost you can weigh against the fee.
- Time the shoot on your phone, the edit on your computerStart the timer on your iPhone or Android phone when you arrive on location, and switch to the macOS or Windows app for culling and editing. Each revision round gets its own entry, so you can see exactly what it added.
- Review the job after deliveryOnce the gallery or final cut is delivered, run a report for the project grouped by activity. It shows the hours each stage took, and the Excel export gives you the numbers behind a revision fee or the next quote.
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 shoot, editing, and post-production hours per project
- Know the effective hourly rate on day-rate and flat-fee projects
- Track revision rounds separately from the original project scope
- Pull billing summaries per client at the end of each month
- Separate billable creative work from non-billable pitching and admin
- Export time data by project and date range for quoting future work
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 creative flow.
Retroactive time entry
Add shoot time, editing sessions, or client calls after the fact with a note. Nothing is lost because you were on location or deep in post.
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.
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Open pageCost, revenue, and billable reporting
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Open pageCost
The expense associated with employee work hours. Calculated by multiplying time by cost rates for profitability analysis.
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Open pageCustom Reports
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Open pageTrack your first hour today
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