TimelyBooks.com

Time tracking that automatically becomes invoices and books

Score: 8.1/10Saudi ArabiaMedium BuildReady to Spawn
Brand Colors

The Opportunity

Problem

Solopreneurs waste 10+ hours per week on manual bookkeeping, invoicing, and expense tracking instead of building products and growing revenue.

Solution

TimelyBooks lets you track time with one click, attach project expenses, and turn logged time directly into polished invoices. Every hour and dollar flows automatically into accurate bookkeeping and profitability reports without duplicate data entry.

Target Audience

Solopreneurs and small business owners handling their own finances

Differentiator

The only all-in-one tool that closes the loop between time, project expenses, invoicing, and bookkeeping specifically for service-based solopreneurs.

Brand Voice

professional and efficient

Features

Smart Time Tracker

must-have30h

Desktop timer, mobile app, and calendar import

Project & Client Hub

must-have25h

Organize work by client and project with budgets

Auto-Invoice from Time

must-have25h

One-click invoice generation from logged hours

Project Expense Tracking

must-have20h

Attach receipts and costs to specific projects

Profitability Dashboard

must-have30h

Real-time margin per project and client

Bank Reconciliation

must-have25h

Match income and expenses to projects

Calendar Integration

nice-to-have18h

Auto-log meetings from Google/Outlook

Client Portal

nice-to-have22h

Clients view and approve invoices online

Utilization Reports

nice-to-have15h

Weekly time and revenue analytics

Proposal Builder

future30h

Create quotes that convert to projects

Total Build Time: 240 hours

Database Schema

profiles

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
user_iduuidNo
business_nametextYes
hourly_rateintYes
created_attimestampNo

Relationships:

  • user_id references auth.users(id)

projects

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
profile_iduuidNo
client_iduuidNo
nametextNo
budgetintYes
is_activeboolNo

Relationships:

  • profile_id references profiles(id)
  • client_id references clients(id)

time_entries

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
project_iduuidNo
duration_minutesintNo
descriptiontextYes
datetimestampNo

Relationships:

  • project_id references projects(id)

invoices

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
profile_iduuidNo
project_iduuidYes
amountintNo
statustextNo
created_attimestampNo

Relationships:

  • profile_id references profiles(id)

API Endpoints

POST
/api/timer/start

Start a new time tracking session

🔒 Auth Required
GET
/api/time-entries

Fetch time logs with project filter

🔒 Auth Required
POST
/api/invoices/generate

Create invoice from selected time entries

🔒 Auth Required
POST
/api/projects

Create new client project

🔒 Auth Required
GET
/api/dashboard/profitability

Get profitability metrics

🔒 Auth Required

Tech Stack

Frontend
Next.js 14, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui, Recharts
Backend
Next.js 14 API Routes
Database
Supabase Postgres
Auth
Supabase Auth
Payments
Stripe
Hosting
Vercel
Additional Tools
OpenAI for smart descriptionsResendGoogle Calendar API

Build Timeline

Week 1: Core auth and projects

35h
  • Auth, profiles, clients and projects system
  • Basic timer UI

Week 2: Time tracking engine

40h
  • Time entry CRUD and timer logic
  • Project dashboard

Week 3: Invoicing and expenses

50h
  • Invoice generator from time
  • Expense attachment to projects
  • Stripe integration

Week 4: Bookkeeping and reports

45h
  • Auto bookkeeping from time/expenses
  • Profitability dashboard
  • PDF export

Week 5: Polish and integrations

40h
  • Calendar sync
  • Client portal
  • Mobile responsiveness

Week 6: Launch readiness

30h
  • Landing page and SEO
  • Onboarding improvements
  • Beta testing
Total Timeline: 6 weeks • 240 hours

Pricing Tiers

Starter

$0/mo

Limited projects

  • Basic timer
  • 3 projects
  • Manual invoices

Pro

$29/mo

None

  • Unlimited projects
  • Auto-invoicing
  • Expense tracking
  • Profitability dashboard
  • Bank sync

Growth

$59/mo

None

  • Everything in Pro
  • Client portal
  • Calendar sync
  • Advanced analytics
  • Priority support

Revenue Projections

MonthUsersConversionMRRARR
Month 19012%$313$3,756
Month 695017%$4,687$56,244

Unit Economics

$40
CAC
$680
LTV
4.5%
Churn
80%
Margin
LTV:CAC Ratio: 17.0xExcellent!

Landing Page Copy

Stop losing money between time and invoices

Track time, attach expenses, and send perfect invoices automatically. See true project profitability in real time.

Feature Highlights

One-click time tracking
Time becomes invoices instantly
Project profitability at a glance
No double data entry
Built for consultants and freelancers

Social Proof (Placeholders)

"'I went from losing 6 hours a month on admin to zero.' – James Okoye, Consultant"
"'My effective hourly rate finally makes sense.' – Lena Müller, Designer"
"'The profitability dashboard is a game changer.' – Aisha Khan, Coach"

First Three Customers

1. Post detailed value screenshots in r/freelance and r/consulting offering free year-one access for case studies. 2. Engage with time-tracking Twitter threads and offer personalized demos. 3. Partner with popular freelance newsletters for a co-branded webinar.

Launch Channels

ProductHuntr/freelanceIndieHackersTwitterLinkedIn

SEO Keywords

time tracking invoicingautomatic invoicing from timeproject profitability trackerfreelance time billing softwareconsultant bookkeeping tool

Competitive Analysis

$12/user/mo
Strength

Excellent time tracking

Weakness

Requires separate bookkeeping tool

Our Advantage

Native bookkeeping and automatic invoice-to-books flow

$9/user/mo
Strength

Beautiful timer

Weakness

No built-in invoicing or bookkeeping

Our Advantage

Complete time-to-cash pipeline in one place

$19+/mo
Strength

Strong invoicing

Weakness

Weak time tracking integration

Our Advantage

Deeper time-to-invoice automation

🏰 Moat Strategy

Rich dataset connecting time logs to actual collected revenue, enabling unique profitability intelligence that improves with every user.

⏰ Why Now?

Remote work has made accurate project profitability critical, while modern APIs allow seamless calendar and banking connections.

Risks & Mitigation

marketmedium severity

Competition from established time trackers

Mitigation

Heavily emphasize the complete time-to-books workflow in all marketing

technicallow severity

Accurate calendar parsing complexity

Mitigation

Start with manual entry and add calendar sync after v1

executionmedium severity

Scope creep on mobile apps

Mitigation

Use React Native Web first and validate demand before native apps

Validation Roadmap

pre-build7 days

Validate with 30 service-based solopreneurs via Typeform and interviews

Success: 70% say current tools require too much switching and they would switch for $29 tool

mvp21 days

Beta with 12 freelancers for 3 weeks

Success: At least 9 users generate 80% of invoices from the tool

launch10 days

Launch on ProductHunt with live demo video

Success: Top 10 ranking and 200 signups first week

Pivot Options

  • Add resource planning for small agencies
  • Create template library for common service businesses
  • White-label for bookkeeping professionals

Quick Stats

Build Time
240h
Target MRR (6 mo)
$5,000
Market Size
$1850.0M
Features
10
Database Tables
4
API Endpoints
5