Editing Billing type of Time Entries
I’m finding it difficult to manage my invoices because time entries automatically inherit the Billing Type from the Task. What I really need is the ability to manage, at the time entry level, which hours go to the invoice and which should not—based on their Billing Type.
I’ve tried handling this in multiple ways, but none of the current options give me the flexibility I need. It’s especially hard to reassign time entries logged by different users to another task just to make them non-billable. As a result, it’s nearly impossible to separate client-billable work from other categories, such as Goodwill Hours.
It would be a major improvement if time entries themselves could be marked as Billable or Non-Billable, independent of the parent Task’s setting. This would not only simplify invoicing but also enable more accurate reporting, instead of using categories to mark non-billable time.
Right now, my key challenges are:
- Creating a dedicated Non-Billable task requires manual effort, and I cannot easily move time entries between tasks.
- Using time categories limits my ability to use the standard classification, hence reporting takes a hit to understand where time is actually spent because I am using categories to mark "Non-billable" time instead.
- Leveraging Wrike Analyze allows for reporting, but it requires complex configurations, consumes hours of administrative effort, and adds ongoing maintenance for multiple stakeholders.
Because of these limitations, it is very hard to distinguish and account for hours that were intentionally not billed to the client as a gesture of goodwill. In real-world scenarios, teams often choose not to charge for certain activities—whether it’s extra troubleshooting, post-support follow-up, or training beyond scope—because we want to maintain a positive client relationship. These “Goodwill Hours” are strategically important: they reflect the investment we make to strengthen trust and retain long-term partnerships.
However, without the ability to flag a time entry explicitly as Goodwill (Non-Billable), I cannot track how much effort is actually being absorbed by the team versus what is invoiced. Standard reports and KPIs are skewed because they treat all time under a task as either billable or non-billable, with no room for nuance. As a result, I lose critical visibility into:
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How much additional value my team provides to clients outside the scope of billing.
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The true cost of projects once goodwill is factored in.
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Strategic insights on client relationships and where goodwill investment is being directed.
If time entries could carry their own billing type—separate from the task—and include an explicit category for Goodwill Hours, it would solve both the operational issue (flexible invoicing) and the strategic one (transparent reporting). This small adjustment would bring a disproportionately large improvement in how we measure, manage, and communicate value to clients.
Hi Mercina Jobin, thank you for posting. May I ask if you've tried to change time entries from the timesheet? The manager role needs to be assigned to a user for them to make changes in time entry management and the financial data in the account.
I can change time entries in the Timesheet. I want to be able to set certain entries for the same task as non-billable. For example in the below screenshot, in the Timelog view – I cannot mark the time entry of 13h as non-billable under the task of ‘Getting ready for training’. There are several times when I deem the time spent on a certain task to be not necessary to be billed to the client.
Hi Mercina Jobin, indeed, at the moment the time entries’ billing type is always inherited from the task. The idea here is that a single task represents a single type of action and the time spent on its completion should be billed (not billed) consistently. If there is a case when you or your team members spend time working on something but this time should not be billed, as a workaround, I suggest creating a non-billable subtask and adding your time entries there.
I agree that the ability to customize billing type for time entries would be a great enhancement and I am sure other Community members will upvote your idea. After the post reaches 60 votes, we will add a development status to it. You can check how the upvote system works here: https://help.wrike.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360014354593--Read-Me-Product-Feedback-forum-Guidelines-and-Statuses 😉
Lisa K. Community Team at Wrike Wrike Product Manager Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover
Lisa K. Wrike Team member Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover
Great idea! Upvoted!
Thanks Anders Kilbrandt!
Lisa Community Team at Wrike Wrike Product Manager Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover
Lisa Wrike Team member Become a Wrike expert with Wrike Discover
Upvoted please fix now!