Operations & finance
Retainer tracker template
Over-burn is money given away; under-burn is a renewal quietly being lost. This tracks both, per client, per month.
Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice — no conversion needed.
Preview of the actual columns — green cells are formulas
What is in the file
These are the actual columns in the download, with a filled sample row so you can see the expected shape. Cells beginning with an equals sign are formulas and compute when the file opens.
| Column | Sample value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Client | Acme Corp | |
| Month | 2026-08 | |
| Hours purchased | 40 | |
| Hours consumed | 47.5 | |
| Hours remaining | =C2-D2 | Negative means over-burn |
| Burn % | =ROUND(D2/C2*100,1) | |
| Rate | 1800 | |
| Overage value | =IF(E2<0,-E2*G2,0) | |
| Rollover allowed | No | |
| Action | Raise overage with client |
How to use it
- →Update consumed hours weekly, not monthly — the whole point is catching burn while the month is still running.
- →Treat sustained under-burn as seriously as over-burn: a client using 20 of 40 hours will eventually renegotiate or leave.
- →State the rollover policy in the retainer contract, and keep this column honest to it.
When the spreadsheet stops scaling
A template is the right answer until the reconciliation between sheets costs more than the sheets save. Workclave records the same data as work happens, applies your policy automatically, and produces the register, the payroll input and the client hours statement from one source. Free for up to 3 users.
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Rejoignez les équipes qui suivent des sessions, pas seulement des heures. Gratuit jusqu’à 3 utilisateurs — sans carte bancaire, sans minimum, sans engagement.