# Retainers with an hours quota

> Bill a monthly fee with included hours, see the burn during the month and bill overage with the period.

A retainer is a project with the billing type **Retainer**: a monthly fee with a quota of included hours. Time logged above the quota is overage.

## Set up the retainer

1. Create the project with the **Billing type** **Retainer**.
2. Enter **Retainer / month (net)** and the included hours.
3. Save. The project gains a **Retainer** tab.

## During the month

The **Retainer** tab shows the meter **Quota used this period**: how many of the included hours are logged so far. The period ledger lists every period with **Logged**, **Covered**, **Over quota**, **Pending** and **Billed**.

## Bill the period

1. On the **Retainer** tab, click **Bill this period** for the period you want to bill.
2. The draft contains the fee, the covered hours and, if the quota was exceeded, the overage as additional effort, with the statement of hours.
3. Check the draft and [finalize](/help/billing/invoices/).

One invoice per period: the app will not bill the same period twice. A missed month can be billed later with the same button.

## Recurring instead of manual

A retainer can also bill itself through a [recurring invoice](/help/billing/recurring-invoices/) definition. The Retainer tab then shows **Open recurring invoice**.