Turn your hours into an invoice PDF on iPhone, without a subscription
Quick answer: Set up each client once with their rate, log the hours after each job, and at the end of the week or month turn them into a PDF invoice that shows the dates, hours, rate, total and your payment details. You do not need accounting software for this. Time Card does it free for two clients with standard PDF invoices, and its Pro plan can be bought once.
The complaint on Reddit is always the same: “I track time in one app, copy it into Excel, then into an invoice template, and I forget 15 minutes here and 20 minutes there, or I mistype a rate and undercharge.” And the second complaint: “the app required a monthly subscription just to export a PDF.”
Both are solvable with one habit and one tool. The habit is logging the hours on the day. The tool is anything that keeps clients and rates and turns the week into a PDF without re-typing. This page shows the process, what the invoice must contain, and which apps do it without a monthly fee. We make Time Card, which is one of them.
The three-step process
1. Set up each client once. Name, email, the rate you agreed, the currency. Put your own details in once too: business name, ABN or tax ID, bank details or payment instructions, and your default payment terms. Every invoice then carries them.
2. Log hours after each job. Tap the day, set start, finish and any unpaid break. Do it in the car before you drive off. A tutor’s 1.5-hour lesson or a cleaner’s 4-hour job takes seconds to record and a long time to reconstruct.
3. Make and send the invoice. Open the week or month for that client, create the invoice, check it, send the PDF, and record the payment when it lands.
What the invoice looks like
An example for a tutor, two weeks of lessons:
| Invoice | INV-0014 |
| From | Your name and your ABN |
| To | Parent’s name |
| Billing period | 1 to 15 October 2026 |
| Issued | 16 October 2026 |
| Due | 23 October 2026 (7 days) |
| Date | Description | Hours | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 October | Maths tutoring | 1.5 | A$80.00 | A$120.00 |
| 9 October | Maths tutoring | 2.0 | A$80.00 | A$160.00 |
| Total due | A$280.00 |
Payment details: your bank account, PayID or other method. If you are registered for GST, each line or the total shows GST and the document is titled “Tax invoice”. If you are not, there is no GST line and it is an invoice.
What an invoice needs
In Australia, business.gov.au lists what a tax invoice must show: that it is a tax invoice, your identity and ABN, the date, a description of what was sold, the price and the GST amount, and the buyer’s details above a certain amount. If you are not registered for GST, you issue an ordinary invoice without GST. In the United States there is no GST, so an invoice needs your name, the client’s, a number, the date, the description, the amount and the terms, with sales tax only where it applies. In the United Kingdom, VAT appears only if you are VAT-registered. This is not tax advice; it is the list of fields the PDF has to carry.
Subscription, or pay once
- Time Card (ours): standard PDF invoices are free for two active clients, with your ABN or tax ID, GST, invoice number and payment terms. Pro, which adds unlimited clients, more invoice designs, payment recording and CSV export, is US$19.99 or A$19.99 once for lifetime, or a monthly or yearly subscription if you prefer. Works offline, no account.
- CLOCK: Timer & Invoice Maker: a timer with invoicing, sold as a one-time purchase (A$22.99 on the Australian App Store on 20 October 2026), works offline, no account. Better if you want a running timer rather than start and finish times.
- Billable: free PDF tax invoices with GST and ABN; emailing from the app and reminders need a subscription. Built for Australian sole traders.
- Zoho Invoice, Rounded, MYOB Solo, Xero: proper invoicing or accounting. Better once you have expenses, BAS or many invoices a month.
By the kind of work you do
Tutors. Lessons come in blocks (1 hour, 1.5 hours), often weekly, billed to parents fortnightly or monthly. Set the lesson length as your usual shift so each lesson is one tap, and invoice per family.
Cleaners. Several clients at different rates, some weekly, some fortnightly. One client per family, log the clean on the day, invoice weekly or monthly. If you quote fixed prices rather than hours, a quoting app fits better.
Freelancers with a couple of clients. Two clients are free in Time Card. If you need a stopwatch running while you work rather than start and finish times, CLOCK or Toggl Track suit you better; Time Card is for hours you know the start and end of.
Questions people ask
Can I make an invoice from my hours without accounting software?
Yes. For a few clients paid by the hour, a time card app that makes PDF invoices is enough. Accounting software earns its keep when you have expenses, BAS or VAT returns, and many invoices a month.
Do I need an ABN or GST on my invoice?
In Australia, an invoice should carry your ABN if you have one, and GST only if you are registered for GST. Without GST registration you issue an invoice, not a tax invoice, and you do not add 10%. business.gov.au sets out the requirements. Other countries have their own rules on tax IDs and VAT.
Is there an invoice app with no subscription?
Time Card's standard PDF invoices are free, and its Pro plan is available as a one-time lifetime purchase. CLOCK: Timer & Invoice Maker is sold as a one-time purchase. Billable generates PDF invoices free and charges a subscription for emailing from the app. Check each listing; prices change.
Can I record payments?
In Time Card, Pro records payments against an invoice and shows what has been paid and what is still owed. The free plan makes the invoices; you track payment yourself.
What if a client questions my hours?
Send the timesheet behind the invoice: each day with start, finish and break. Logging hours on the day, rather than reconstructing them at month end, is what makes that record believable.