---
title: "Manage contractor timesheets and payments — Clock Clerk"
description: "How Clock Clerk handles contractors: the same week sheet as employees, a monthly acceptance protocol at their cost rate, countersigning by their manager, finance approval with confirmed bank details, and a payment file. Limitations and plans included."
url: "https://clockclerk.com/features/contractor-management"
---

Contractor management

# Manage contractor timesheets and payments

A contractor's hours are a bill to pay, not just time to report. Clock Clerk turns a contractor's month into an acceptance protocol and an invoice at their agreed rate, has their manager countersign it and finance approve it, and records it as paid.

[Start free trial](https://app.clockclerk.com/signup) Which plan includes it

Thirty days of the Team plan, no card.

The problem

## The timesheet says one thing, the contractor's invoice another

Contractors usually log hours in the client's tool and then send their own invoice, which accounts payable compares with the timesheet by hand. The two disagree on rounding, on days, on the rate, and the manager who could confirm the work is not in the loop.

There is also the risk nobody likes to name: a changed bank account on an emailed invoice is how payments are redirected.

How Clock Clerk handles it

## One month, one protocol, three signatures

### The month becomes the contractor's invoice.

A contractor fills in the same week sheet as everyone else. Their month screen previews the protocol at their cost rate, hourly, or as a monthly or annual retainer pro-rated by day, with an invoice number from their own series. Submitting files the month and freezes the figures.

- **Countersigned** by the manager named on their contract, and approved by finance.
- **Nobody countersigns their own month.**
- **Reimbursable expenses** are added to the month at cost, with their receipts.

Team and Enterprise

### Paid once, to an account somebody checked.

Any change to a contractor's bank details has to be confirmed by finance before their month can be approved, and the account is frozen when they submit. Approved months go into a payment file, each stamped with its batch so it cannot be paid twice.

- **Bank transfer or another route**, such as a wallet or a check, with its details.
- **Protocol hours are locked** while the month is live, like billed hours on an invoice.
- **On Team**, approved months go to QuickBooks as bills; **on Enterprise**, to any other ERP as vendor bills, or to SAP as service entry sheets against a purchase order.

Team and Enterprise

Limitations

## What it does not do

Clock Clerk approves and records contractor pay; it does not move the money. These are the limits.

- #### It does not pay anyone

  The payment file is a CSV for your bank or payments tool, and paid is recorded by hand. There are no payouts, and no SEPA or NACHA file yet.
- #### No contractor onboarding

  There are no contracts to sign, tax forms such as W-9 or 1099, or compliance checks; the contract details are reference fields on the profile.
- #### Monthly only

  A contractor is paid by calendar month. Milestones, weekly pay and partial months on request are not supported.
- #### One currency, no tax on the protocol

  Rates and amounts are in US dollars, and the protocol carries no VAT or sales tax.
- #### Final once approved

  An approved or paid month cannot be withdrawn or returned; a correction is made outside Clock Clerk.

Plans

## Which plan includes it

Contractors log time like anyone on every plan. Protocols, countersigning, approval, payment and export to QuickBooks are Team; export to any other ERP is Enterprise.

| What is included | Free | Starter | Team | Enterprise |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $0 | $3 per filer / month | $6 per filer / month | Talk to us |
| Contractors on the week sheet, with approvals | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Contractors: monthly protocols, countersigning and payment | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Cost cards and cost-basis reports | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Expense claims with receipts | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Export hours and cost to QuickBooks Online and Desktop | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Export hours and cost to SAP, Oracle, NetSuite and every other ERP | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included |

Reviewers, administrators and finance readers are free on every plan; Starter and Team charge only for the people who log hours that month. [Compare plans in full](https://clockclerk.com/pricing.md)

Questions

## Asked while evaluating

**Does a contractor cost the same as an employee?**

Yes. Anyone who logs hours in a month is one filer, at the same price, whatever their role or contract.

**Who can approve a contractor's month?**

The month is countersigned by the manager named on the contractor's profile, an administrator, or a finance user allowed to countersign. Approving it for payment and marking it paid are finance's.

**Can a contractor be paid a monthly retainer?**

Yes. A monthly or annual cost is paid as one line, pro-rated by calendar day, even in a month with no hours. A raise in mid-month becomes two lines.

## Pay contractors for the month they logged

Thirty days of the Team plan, no credit card required. When the trial ends, your data stays and stays readable. Start with your work email and set a password from the link we send you.

[Start free trial](https://app.clockclerk.com/signup) [See the whole product](https://clockclerk.com/index.md)

Evaluating something else?

[Timesheet approvals](https://clockclerk.com/features/timesheet-approvals.md) [Engineering firms](https://clockclerk.com/solutions/engineering-firms.md) [Timesheet invoicing](https://clockclerk.com/features/timesheet-invoicing.md) [Active-filer pricing](https://clockclerk.com/pricing/active-filer.md)