Consulting firm · Finance
Monthly time and expense billing
Invoice every time and materials engagement each month with hours the client has already confirmed, so invoices get paid instead of questioned. Consultants confirm their time, an AI agent drafts the invoice narrative, the partner approves the amount and the client checks the hours through a shared link.
- Duration: 5 to 7 days
- How often: Every month, for every time and materials engagement
- Steps: 7 steps
- AI agents: 1 AI agent
- Approvals: 1 approval
Free plan, no credit card needed.
What changes with this template
Without it
Invoices go out late because timesheets are incomplete at month end.
The client questions the hours after the invoice arrives.
Write-offs are decided by whoever raises the invoice.
Nobody knows how much budget is left until the client asks.
With it
Every consultant confirms their hours in step 1, before the invoice is prepared.
The client confirms the hours summary through a shared link before the invoice is sent.
The engagement manager proposes write-offs, and the partner decides them.
Each run records the budget remaining after the invoice.
The template, step by step
Each step says who does it: someone on your team, an AI agent, or the client through a shared link. An approval keeps every later step locked until it is given.
- Done by your team
- Done by an AI agent
- Done by the client, through a shared link
Starts when
The month ends for an engagement billed on time and materials. The engagement manager starts a run with the client name and the billing month.
- 1
Confirm your time and expenses
Days 1 to 2Consultant · Team
Check that every hour and expense for this engagement is booked to the right phase in the time and expense system, with receipts where the system needs them.
Checklist
- All hours booked
- Hours on the right phase
- Expenses booked with receipts
Fields to fill in
- Hours booked this month (required)
- 2
Review hours against the budget
Hidden from the shared linkDay 3Engagement manager · Team
Compare the hours and expenses with the budget and the work done, propose write-offs for anything that should not be billed, and describe the work delivered this month.
Checklist
- Hours match the work done
- Budget remaining checked
Fields to fill in
- Billable hours (required)
- Billable expenses
- Work delivered this month (required)
- Proposed write-offs and reason
- 3
Draft the invoice narrative
Day 3Invoice narrative writer · AI agent
The invoice narrative writer turns the work delivered and the billable hours into a short description of the work per phase, for the invoice and the hours summary.
Fields to fill in
- Draft invoice narrative (required)
Checked by: The engagement partner checks the narrative against the work and approves the invoice in step 4.
- 4
Approve the invoice
Hidden from the shared linkDay 4Engagement partner · Team
Check the narrative against the work, decide the write-offs and approve the amount to invoice.
Checklist
- Narrative matches the work
- Write-offs decided
- Rates match the contract
Fields to fill in
- Amount to invoice (required)
Approval: Nothing goes to the client until the engagement partner approves the amount.
- 5
Send the hours summary to the client
Day 4Billing coordinator · Team
Prepare the hours summary with the approved narrative and send it, with the shared link, to the client contact who confirms hours.
Checklist
- Hours summary matches the approved amount
- Shared link sent to the client contact
Fields to fill in
- Link to the hours summary (required)
- 6
Confirm the hours
Days 4 to 6Client contact · Shared link
Through the shared link, the client contact checks the month's hours summary, confirms it or notes questions, and adds the purchase order number for the invoice.
Fields to fill in
- Hours confirmed (required)
- Purchase order number
- Questions about the hours
- 7
Raise and send the invoice
Day 7Billing coordinator · Team
Raise the invoice with the confirmed hours, the narrative and the purchase order number, send it to the client's billing contact, and record the budget remaining.
Checklist
- Purchase order number on the invoice
- Invoice sent to the billing contact
Fields to fill in
- Invoice number (required)
- Invoice date (required)
- Budget remaining after this invoice
Done when
The invoice is sent with hours and expenses the client has confirmed, and the engagement budget shows what is left.
Make it yours. Rename steps, change owners and add checklist items, fields or approvals. The template is a starting point for the way your team works.
The AI agents in this template
An agent only works on its own steps, and a person on your team checks what it did. Anything an agent writes to a connected app waits for approval unless you allow it.
Invoice narrative writer
Turns the month's work and billable hours into the description on the invoice and the hours summary.
What it does
- Reads the work delivered and the billable hours from step 2
- Writes a short narrative per phase in the format from its step instructions
- Records the draft narrative in its step
- Completes its step, so the partner can review it
Checked by: The engagement partner checks the narrative against the work and approves the invoice in step 4.
Questions this template answers
Have the client confirm the hours and the description of the work before the invoice is raised. In step 6 the client contact confirms the month's hours summary through the shared link, and step 7 invoices only the confirmed hours.
Make time confirmation the first step of billing, with a checklist each consultant ticks. Step 1 asks every consultant on the engagement to confirm their hours and expenses are booked to the right phase.
Compare hours and expenses with the budget and the work delivered, and decide write-offs before anything is billed. Step 2 records billable hours, proposed write-offs and the work delivered, and step 7 records the budget remaining after the invoice.
Let AI turn the month's work and hours into a clear narrative, and have the partner check it. In step 3 the invoice narrative writer drafts the description from step 2, and in step 4 the engagement partner checks it before approving the invoice.
The partner responsible for the engagement should, because they know the work and the client relationship. Step 4 is an approval gate: nothing goes to the client until the engagement partner approves the amount.
Ask for it in the same step where the client confirms the hours, so the invoice is right the first time. In step 6 the client contact records the purchase order number through the shared link, and step 7 puts it on the invoice.
Run this workflow in OKiDO
Set up the steps, owners and approvals once, then start a run for every new case.