The work clock and your bills
How the clock counts time on a contract, and how you read and approve what it produces.
While a contract is running, the clock counts the time your AppHandler spends working. It runs itself, it stops itself, and it produces the bills you approve. This guide covers both halves: the time and the money.
The clock runs itself
The clock opens with the AppHandler's work and pauses by itself after a stretch with no activity. It shows one of three states:
- Working — work is happening now.
- Paused — the clock stopped after five minutes with no activity. It restarts when work resumes.
- Not running — nothing has been recorded yet.
Beside the time you see the billable minutes, the countdown while it runs, and the line Only work time is billed, in 5-minute steps. There is no start and no stop control, because the only way a clock with buttons fails is a person working unpaid.
Only work actually done is billed. Time is counted in five-minute steps and rounded up when the bill is closed, so a stretch of a few minutes costs the first step. Work you do on your own app yourself never bills the contract.
The bill
When a task is done, the AppHandler sends a bill with Send a bill. The contract's Bills section then shows it as Bill 1, with the minutes, the work amount, our fee, and its state:
- Waiting for approval — the bill is with you.
- Paid — you approved it and the money has been released.
- Disputed — you asked AppHandle to check it.
- Cancelled — the bill was withdrawn.
Nothing is paid when a bill is sent. Approval is the only thing that moves money.
What changed
A bill carries the work behind it. Under What changed you see how many changes were saved, how many files they touched, what was added and removed, and the first few saved changes with a short name and a line describing each. A line below counts the actions recorded during the same stretch.
If no saved change stands behind a period, the bill says No saved changes in this period. rather than showing an empty box.
Approve and pay
Select Approve and pay to release the money. The confirmation states exactly what happens: the AppHandler is paid, the decision cannot be undone, the money locked for the contract is used first, and anything above it comes from your balance.
If something looks wrong, Ask AppHandle to check this bill sends it to us instead, and nothing is paid while we look at it.
Pay more for work outside the timer
Some work is agreed in the conversation and never runs through the clock. For that, use Pay more. Enter the hours and select Add payment; the amount is paid at the rate this contract agreed, from your balance.
This payment is separate from the locked money: Paid from your balance. The money locked for the estimate is left for the timer. It does not use the clock, and it appears in the bills as a payment Added by the owner, with the note that no measured work stands behind it.
Where to go next
The estimate and the agreement explains the held money, and Hire an AppHandler covers finding someone in the first place.