Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsXero handles time tracking and billing through Xero Projects, a project workflow connected to Xero accounting. Staff log time and expenses against a project, that record feeds quotes and invoices, and the same data shows whether the job made money. Whether it covers your team depends on three things: whether your plan and country include Projects, whether your billing rules map to task rates and invoice types Xero supports, and whether any outside timesheet app you use syncs the fields you need.
How the Xero Projects workflow is organised
Xero’s own description of Projects is that it “enables you to track time and expenses against your work, simplifying quoting for work, getting paid, and monitoring project profitability” (Xero Central, About Xero Projects (US)). In practice, the workflow runs in this order:
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- Create the project and link it to the customer contact.
- Assign the staff who will work on it.
- Break the work into tasks, and set a time estimate and charge rate for each task.
- Estimate the expenses the project will need.
- Create a quote from those estimates.
- Record actual time and enter actual expenses as the work happens.
- Invoice from the chargeable time and expenses.
- Compare actual activity with the budget and review profitability.
Menu labels and locations can differ by region and release, so check each step against the current help article before you train staff on it.
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Xero’s US track-time page describes two ways to record time, and its UK mobile page adds a third. Confirm which of these appear in the version your team uses.
#1 Best Overall
Start-stop timer
A timer runs while someone works on a task and stops when they finish, so the entry reflects elapsed work rather than a figure typed in at the end of the day. This suits staff who bill by the hour and want a time record built as the work happens (Xero US, Track time).
Manual entry
Staff can enter time directly against a project and task. This is the practical route for work done away from the app, or for correcting a timer that was left running. Entries are only as useful as the task they are logged to, so make sure the task has the right charge rate before the time is invoiced.
Rank #2
Copying an existing entry on mobile
The Projects mobile app described on Xero’s UK page lets a user copy an existing time entry. This helps with recurring work, such as the same task on consecutive days (Xero UK, Track time on mobile).
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Tracked time only becomes billable once task rates, chargeability and invoice review are set correctly. Xero’s main workflow page describes creating invoices from chargeable time and expenses, and its Canadian Projects page also describes fixed-price and time-and-materials invoices. The table shows what each cited page documents and what it leaves open.
| Billing model | What Xero documents | Source | What the cited page does not state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | Task charge rates applied to chargeable time and expenses, then invoiced | Xero Central, About Xero Projects (US) | Rounding rules and minimum billing increments |
| Fixed price | Fixed-price invoices, described on the Canadian Projects page | Xero Canada, Projects | How the fixed amount is set, and how time is compared with it |
| Time and materials | Time-and-materials invoices, described on the Canadian Projects page | Xero Canada, Projects | Whether materials and expenses are marked up, and by how much |
Before relying on any row, run one sample project from quote to invoice and check the invoice line by line against your own billing policy. The pages describe what the system can produce, not how your rates should be configured.
Budgets and profitability
Xero states that users can compare task and expense activity with project budgets and review profitability (Xero Central, About Xero Projects (US)). That keeps the budget, the time and the invoice in one place, so a project running over its estimate shows up before the final bill, not after it.
Xero’s US job-costing page includes a customer testimonial from Yvonne Randolph of Yvonne Randolph Interior Design: “Having a system where it’s all automatically tracked so it takes less time is extremely important.” This is one business’s view, not an independent study or a guaranteed result (Xero US, Job costing).
Check plan, price and region before you commit
Projects availability and pricing are specific to each country and change over time. The sources below were accessed in early October 2026. They are Xero’s own product and help pages, not independent comparisons.
Best Value
- Plan eligibility is local. Xero’s UK mobile page names the plans that include Projects in the UK. Check that list in your country before assuming Projects is included (Xero UK, Track time).
- US prices change from 1 October 2026. Xero’s US pricing page states that subscription prices increase from that date. Read the current figures for your plan on the page itself (Xero US, Pricing plans).
- Do not carry plan names or prices across borders. A plan name or amount from one country’s page does not apply to another’s.
Connecting outside timesheet and project apps
Xero’s App Store has a job and project management category that includes apps for workflows such as timesheets and invoicing (Xero App Store, Job and project management apps). Listing in that category shows that an app connects to Xero. It does not show that two apps synchronise the same fields, and Xero notes that each integration can differ.
Before moving timesheets into an external tool, check the app’s own listing for:
Quick Recap
- Which objects sync: contacts, projects or jobs, tasks, time entries, expenses, and invoices.
- Which direction each object syncs, and whether changes flow back into Xero.
- How rates and tax are mapped, and whether the app sends one invoice per project or per time entry.
- Whether the app’s approval or rounding rules match yours.
Deciding whether built-in Projects is enough
- Projects alone is a reasonable fit when your staff can use the timer, manual entry or mobile copy method, your work is billed hourly, at fixed price or time-and-materials, and you want budgets and invoices in the same file.
- Look at an integration when you need timesheet features the Xero pages do not describe, or when an existing timesheet tool must stay in use. Test the specific fields listed above, not the category name.
- Stop and verify if your country or plan is not confirmed as including Projects, or if a price or plan name came from a page for a different country.
The Bottom Line
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