Guides / Getting started

Getting started

HourSlip takes about five minutes to set up: install it, tell it who you are, add a client and a project, and press play. This guide walks through each step in the order the app asks for them.

Install it

Mac

Open HourSlip.dmg and drag HourSlip into Applications. It needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later. The app is signed and notarized, so it opens with a double-click.

HourSlip has no Dock icon. Look for the clock in your menu bar. On a MacBook with a notch, it sits beside the notch instead, where a small jellyfish swims while no timer is running.

Windows 10 and 11

Run HourSlip-Setup.exe. The beta isn't signed with a Windows certificate yet, so SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC". Choose More info, then Run anyway. HourSlip then lives in the system tray, and closing its window leaves it running there.

Linux

Make the AppImage executable with chmod +x HourSlip.AppImage and run it, or install the package with sudo apt install ./hourslip.deb. On GNOME, turn on the AppIndicator extension to see the tray icon.

The welcome tour and the checklist

The first launch opens a six-page tour that runs from the timer to a finished invoice. Skip it if you like. You can reopen it from Help › Welcome Tour on a Mac, or with the Welcome Tour button at the bottom of the sidebar on Windows and Linux.

After the tour, the Timesheet shows a card called Get set up with five steps. Each one takes you to the right place when you click it and crosses itself off when it's done. The rest of this guide follows those five steps.

The HourSlip main window: a sidebar with Timesheet, Clients, Projects and Invoices, and the timesheet with a running timer
The main window. The sidebar has four sections: Timesheet, Clients, Projects and Invoices.

1. Add your business details

Open Settings (⌘, on a Mac, Ctrl+, on Windows and Linux) and stay on the Business tab. Fill in your business name, address, email and payment instructions. Add a tax ID and a logo if you use them.

These print at the top of every invoice. If you leave the business name empty, the invoice header comes out blank, and HourSlip warns you about that when you create one.

2. Add a client

Go to Clients and press Add Client. A client needs a name and an hourly rate. The currency starts as your region's, and you can change it per client. Email and address are optional, but the address prints on invoices and the email is where Email Invoice… sends them.

The free version holds one client. Clients and projects covers payment terms, tax and the rest.

3. Add a project

Time is tracked against projects, and every project belongs to a client. Go to Projects, press Add Project (New Project on Windows and Linux), give it a name and pick the client. It takes the client's rate unless you override it.

One project per client is enough to begin with. Split things up later if a client wants the invoice broken down.

4. Track some time

Click HourSlip in the menu bar, beside the notch, or in the system tray. A small panel opens with your projects. Press play on one and the timer starts. Type a note about what you're doing if you want it on the invoice.

Press Stop when you're done. You don't have to keep the window open, and the timer survives quitting the app, restarts and sleep. Tracking time has the details.

Forgot to start it? Add the time by hand with New Entry on the Timesheet.

5. Send your first invoice

Once there's finished time, the client's card in Clients shows a green Invoice button with the unbilled amount. Click it, check the preview and press Create Invoice. You get a draft with a live PDF preview that you can edit, export and email.

Creating and sending invoices picks up from there.

Worth setting on day one