See a Retainer Burn Rate Before the Month Ends — Free
Paste the retainer, the hours logged and the rate, and read how much scope is left before the fee runs out mid-month.
The proof surface
Scope creep is invisible in a monthly total. Weekly bars against the fee rule show the crossing while there is still a month to fix it.
Why the flat version breaks
Monthly totals
A total of 40 hours tells you nothing about which week consumed a $4,500 retainer at $180 an hour; the crossing point is what changes behaviour.
Absorbing the first overrun
Absorbing week three sets the scope for the rest of the relationship and quietly converts the retainer into a discount.
Billing in arrears
By invoice time the extra hours are already delivered, and the conversation becomes a discount negotiation rather than a scope decision.
How to work the burn register
Retainer and rate on their own lines; one line per week with the hours logged.
Say on the line when hours were admin or meetings, so the reading shows what the fee actually funds.
The chart marks the week the consumed fee passes the retainer; that week is the one to name in the note.
One paragraph and the crossing week; ask whether to stop, re-price or extend before more hours are delivered.
What the register replaces
| Question | Before | On the register |
|---|---|---|
| Will the retainer last | estimate from memory | weekly consumption against the fee |
| Which request tipped it | reconstruct at invoicing | crossing week marked on the chart |
| What to tell the client | 'we've gone over' | the crossing week and the remaining figure |
Unbillable admin is counted only as you mark it on the line, which is usually the honest way to see what the retainer is really funding.
Run it on the samples, right here
FIRST-LOAD
Data note: Everything runs in this browser tab on the burn register: your time entries and retainer terms stays on this device, nothing is uploaded, and the reading is rebuilt only when you press run.
Go deeper: the companion app files the same reading as a plotted bar chart sheet
The article demo above runs without limits. The companion app keeps a local history, exports the rows as CSV, prints the ready-to-mail packet, and holds your drafts on this device — one free run, then $ 9 one-time for the layer that keeps filing.
The register and the burn line are free. The paid layer keeps three retainers and prints the overrun note for the client.
Open the retainer burn register companionBoundary
This burn register works only on the time entries and retainer terms you paste you paste. It does not value your services, does not draft a contract or a rate increase, and does not access your practice-management system. The figures describe what you supplied, not what is true in the world. Confirm anything you plan to act on with the client, in one short scope note before you rely on it.
What this is built on
- Every figure comes from the time entries and retainer terms you paste you paste; nothing is looked up, scraped or asserted as verified.
- Method: burn = logged hours × rate, plotted against the retainer fee, with the crossing week marked on the chart
- Sample values are labelled samples — illustrative by design, not your data and not a quotation of any organisation's policy.
Before: the reader found out the retainer was gone when the invoice was written. After: they can see the fee line crossed in week three.