Time tracking that fits Design Studios
Hours captured as work happens, mapped to the concepts, revision rounds and final deliverables you already plan around.
Manual timesheets are reconstructions, and reconstructions lose money. Worktivity records hours automatically in the background, lets designers, art directors and producers correct them, and turns the result into timesheets, invoices and payouts data without a second round of data entry.
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Why design studios need time tracking
Time is the unit design studios sell, plan and pay against, yet in most organisations it is entered from memory on a Friday afternoon. The gap between what happened and what was recorded is where margin quietly disappears.
A studio's costliest work happens after the concept is approved. Revision rounds are open-ended by nature, contracts rarely cap them precisely, and the hours spent on version seven stay invisible until the project closes and the margin has already gone.
Studio margin is decided in revision rounds. The concept phase is estimated reasonably well, but rounds four through eight are open-ended, rarely capped in language that survives contact with a client, and completely uncosted until the project closes.
Worktivity's time tracking for design studios separates concept development from iteration and production, so the true shape of a project is visible while it is still running. Hours in design and prototyping tools sit next to hours in client correspondence, and the ratio between them is often the reason a profitable-looking project was not.
Tracking hours by revision round rather than by project as a whole changes the negotiation. You can show that rounds one to three cost what was quoted and rounds four onward cost as much again, which is the evidence needed to write a genuine round cap into the next contract, or to bill the overage without it being a surprise.
Worktivity closes that gap by capturing hours as they are worked, attaching them to the right project or client, and leaving a clear trail from raw activity to approved timesheet. What you bill and what you paid for finally describe the same day.
How tracked time reaches the invoice
Four steps, none of which involve a blank timesheet grid.
Hours captured, not remembered
The agent records working time in the background and separates idle stretches, so a timesheet starts from evidence instead of an empty form.
Everything mapped to work
Time attaches to the projects, clients and tasks that mirror your concepts, revision rounds and final deliverables, which makes reporting a filter rather than a rebuild.
Approvals without chasing
Employees review and adjust, managers approve in bulk, and locked periods stop retroactive edits from reopening a closed month.
Billing and payouts in one pass
Approved hours flow into invoices and payouts exports with the breakdown clients ask for already attached.
Time tracking capabilities for Design Studios
Seven capabilities, two of them specific to how design studios work.
Revision round accounting
Track each round of amends as a distinct block of effort, so the contractual allowance and the actual number of rounds can finally be compared.
Creative versus administrative time
Separate hours in design tools from hours in email, calls and file wrangling. Studios are routinely surprised by how little of the week reaches the canvas.
Automatic background tracking
Start once and the desktop agent handles the rest across Windows, macOS and Linux. designers, art directors and producers do not stop work in order to record work, which is the only way tracking survives a busy month.
Project, client and task mapping
Structure time the way you already structure delivery, so hours roll up to the concepts, revision rounds and final deliverables your reporting is built on without manual re-tagging.
Timesheets and approvals
Generated timesheets arrive pre-filled. Employees correct, managers approve, and every change is logged with who altered what and when.
Idle, break and offline handling
Idle thresholds, break rules and manual entry for offline work keep the recorded day honest, including the hours that happen away from a keyboard.
Billable rates and invoicing
Set rates by person, role or project, mark hours billable or internal, and export invoice-ready breakdowns into your accounting stack.
What accurate hours are worth to design studios
The return shows up in six places.
Recovered billable time
Teams that move from memory-based entry to captured time routinely find hours that were previously written off, simply because nobody recorded them.
Estimates that improve
Every completed piece of work becomes historical data, so the next quote rests on what the work actually cost rather than on optimism.
Faster billing cycles
Closing a period stops being a week of chasing and becomes a review of data that is already sitting there.
Fewer client disputes
Itemised, timestamped breakdowns answer “what did we pay for” before the question turns into a credit note.
Cleaner payouts
Approved hours, overtime and leave arrive in a single export, which removes the spreadsheet stage entirely.
Audit-ready records
A complete trail from captured activity to approved timesheet stands up to internal review and external audit alike.
Where design studios rely on tracked time
Five places design studios put this to work in the first quarter.
Enforcing the revision clause
The contract allows three rounds; the project runs to six. A timestamped record of each round makes the fourth an invoiceable conversation rather than an awkward one.
Quoting new work realistically
Historical hours per deliverable type, covering identity, packaging, digital and motion, turn quoting from instinct into a lookup with a margin applied.
Protecting designers from silent overload
Sustained long hours and falling focus time appear in the data well before they appear in a resignation letter. Studios use it as a workload safety net.
Fixed-price work that must not overrun
Watch consumed hours against the budget on every engagement and intervene while there is still room to act.
Distributed and shift-based teams
Track across time zones, devices and locations under one set of rules, then reconcile the lot in a single view.
Frequently asked questions
Answers to the questions design studios ask most often about time tracking.
Can we track time per revision round rather than per project?
Yes, and for studios it is the recommended structure: make each round a task under the project. The per-round breakdown is what turns an unenforceable round limit in a contract into a defensible one, because you can show the client precisely what the additional rounds cost the last time.
Do screenshots capture unreleased client work?
They can, which is why they are optional and configurable. Screenshots can be disabled entirely, limited to specific teams, or set to a low frequency, and named applications can be excluded from capture altogether. Many studios run time tracking with screenshots off.
How granular does task tracking need to be?
Less granular than most studios assume. Project plus deliverable plus phase is usually enough to answer the commercial questions. Tracking at individual-file level produces data nobody reviews and resentment everybody feels.
Does time tracking require manual timers?
No. Tracking runs automatically once the agent is installed. Manual entry exists only for work that happens away from the computer: meetings, site visits, travel and calls.
Can employees correct their own hours?
Yes, and they should. Employees review and adjust their day before submitting it, managers approve, and every edit is recorded. That combination is what makes the data trustworthy rather than merely automatic.
Does it work offline?
Yes. The agent buffers activity locally and syncs when the connection returns, so travel, site work and outages do not leave gaps in the record.
Can we export to our accounting or payouts system?
Approved timesheets export as CSV or XLSX, and the API lets you push hours into your existing finance stack on a schedule.
Other Worktivity solutions for Design Studios
The same platform, pointed at a different question.
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How time tracking works in other sectors
The mechanics are shared; the reporting, policy and vocabulary are not. Compare with a neighbouring industry.
Engineering Companies
Engineering firms requiring time tracking for engineering projects, billable hours, and technical team productivity optimization.
Learn moreAccounting Firms
Accounting and CPA firms needing accurate time tracking for client work, billable hours, and compliance reporting.
Learn moreHealthcare Organizations
Healthcare facilities and medical practices requiring time tracking for administrative staff, billing, and operational efficiency.
Learn moreE-commerce Companies
Online retail businesses needing time tracking for customer service teams, fulfillment operations, and remote workforce management.
Learn moreReal Estate Agencies
Real estate firms requiring time tracking for agents, property management, and administrative staff productivity monitoring.
Learn moreManufacturing Companies
Manufacturing firms needing time tracking for office staff, project management, and administrative productivity optimization.
Learn more
Ready to see where your hours actually go?
Set Worktivity up for your team this afternoon. The configuration that design studios need is already mapped out. Fourteen days free, no card, and the data is yours either way.
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