Hours or credits
Model retained work as time or credit value depending on how you sell the agreement.
All features
Retainers
Retainer management
Manage client retainers as hours or credits, activate them manually or from paid invoices, and burn down balances from scheduled work and time entries.
Steady feature
Hours and credit retainers
Retainer types
Hours or credits
Activation
Manual or paid invoice
Usage
Burn-down tracking
Without a system
Where service work leaks.
- Retainer balances live in spreadsheets that nobody fully trusts.
- Client work is delivered without seeing whether it is retained, billable, or over-served.
- Teams accidentally treat retained work like extra free capacity.
- Invoices and retainers are disconnected, so activation is manual and easy to forget.
With Steady
What becomes clear.
- Create client retainers as hours or credits.
- Activate retainers manually or when a related invoice is marked paid.
- Burn retainers down from schedule blocks and time entries.
- See remaining usage clearly on the retainer view.
What it includes
Built around the details that normally fall through the cracks.
Client-based retainers
Retainers are attached to clients so retained capacity is visible in the context of client delivery.
Invoice-triggered activation
Draft retainers can activate when the associated invoice is marked paid.
Schedule burn-down
Schedule blocks can burn against the retainer so the calendar shows retained commitments before the work is complete.
Time entry burn-down
Time entries can also consume retained hours or credits once work is recorded.
Usage visibility
Retainer views show usage and remaining hours or credits so over-serving is easier to spot.
Workflow
Designed for the way client work actually moves.
Steady keeps the commercial context attached as work moves from planning to delivery, client approval, invoicing, and payment.
01
Create the retainer
Set up the retainer against the client as hours or credits, optionally from the service catalogue.
02
Activate it
Activate manually or let Steady activate it when the related invoice is marked paid.
03
Schedule retained work
Attach calendar blocks to the retainer so retained commitments are visible before delivery.
04
Track usage
Burn down usage from blocks and time entries, then review remaining balance on the retainer view.
Why it matters
Retainers should protect capacity, not hide it.
Steady makes retained work part of the same calendar and invoicing workflow as the rest of the business.
- Prevents retained work from disappearing into notes
- Shows retained commitments on the calendar
- Keeps retained work out of duplicate hourly billing
- Supports hours and credit balances
- Connects retainers to invoices and catalogue items
- Makes remaining usage easier to discuss with clients
Questions
Common questions
Ready to see it live?
Run your client work from the calendar outward.
Plan the work, protect capacity, manage retainers, keep margin visible, and invoice from records you can trust.