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Performers are the people who do the work on an gig. In Aourly, every person who logs time against an gig must be added as a performer. This guide covers how to add performers, set their rates, and configure workload schedules.

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What Is a Performer?

A performer is a team member assigned to work on a specific gig. Each performer has:
  • Their own hourly rate for the gig
  • An expected weekly workload (hours per week)
  • An optional daily workload distribution (hours per day of the week)
  • Their own timesheets (time entries grouped by period)
  • A status (Active, Paused, or Ended)
For most sole proprietors using Aourly, you will be the only performer on your gigs. If you collaborate with subcontractors or have team members, you can add multiple performers to the same gig.

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Adding a Performer

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Step 1: Open the Gig

Navigate to Jobs in the sidebar and click on the gig. In the gig detail view, find the performers section.

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Step 2: Select the Team Member

Click Add Performer and choose a user from your company. The list shows all team members who have been added to your company with the Performer role in Aourly.

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Step 3: Set the Hourly Rate

Enter the hourly rate for this performer on this gig. Key points:
  • The rate is specific to this gig — the same person can have different rates on different gigs.
  • This rate is used to calculate the cost of each time entry (hours x rate = cost).
  • For Hourly Rate gigs, this directly affects invoiced amounts.
  • For Fixed Price and Retainer gigs, the rate is used for internal tracking and profitability analysis.

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Step 4: Set Weekly Workload

Enter the expected number of hours this performer will work per week. This number is used for:
  • Progress tracking: Compare actual hours against expected hours.
  • Workload management: Understand if a performer is over or under their target.
  • Scope monitoring: Track if the gig is on pace to finish within the estimated total hours.

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Step 5: Configure Daily Workload (Optional)

You can distribute the weekly hours across individual days of the week. For each day, Monday through Sunday:
  • Enable/disable the day (mark whether the performer works on that day)
  • Set hours for that day
This is particularly useful for:
  • Defining a realistic work schedule (e.g., no weekends)
  • Setting up automatic time tracking
  • Planning around part-time arrangements
Example configuration for a 32-hour work week:
DayEnabledHours
MondayYes8
TuesdayYes8
WednesdayYes8
ThursdayYes8
FridayNo0
SaturdayNo0
SundayNo0
Tip: Daily workload settings help with automatic time tracking suggestions. Configure them accurately for the best auto-generated entries.

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Performer Statuses

Each performer on an gig has a status:

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Active

The performer is currently working on the gig. They can:
  • Log time entries
  • Have time entries auto-generated (if automatic time tracking is enabled)
  • Be included in timesheet periods

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Paused

The performer is temporarily suspended from the gig. When paused:
  • They cannot log new time entries
  • Existing time entries and timesheets are preserved
  • They can be reactivated later when work resumes
Use pausing when a team member needs a temporary break from the project, such as during vacation or while reallocating to other work.

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Ended

The performer’s involvement in the gig is complete. When ended:
  • They cannot log new time entries
  • All historical time entries and timesheets remain accessible
  • The performer’s contribution history is preserved for reporting and invoicing
Use this when a team member permanently leaves the project.

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Automatic Time Tracking

If you enable Automatic Time Tracking on the gig, Aourly will automatically create time entries based on each performer’s daily workload schedule. This is helpful when:
  • You have a predictable, recurring schedule
  • You want pre-filled entries that you can adjust as needed
  • You want to reduce the overhead of manual time logging
Auto-generated entries appear as “Planned” (Suggested status) and can be edited, approved, or deleted like any other time entry.

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How Workloads Affect Other Features

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Timesheets

Each performer has their own timesheets for the gig. Timesheets group time entries by period (weekly or monthly, based on the gig’s timesheet frequency). This means:
  • Performer A and Performer B have separate timesheets even for the same period.
  • Approval and invoicing happen per performer per period.

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Progress Tracking

The gig dashboard shows progress metrics based on performer workloads:
  • Expected hours: Calculated from weekly workloads and the number of weeks elapsed.
  • Actual hours: Sum of logged time entries.
  • Variance: The difference between expected and actual, highlighting under or over-delivery.

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Invoicing

When creating invoices, time entries are grouped by performer. Each performer’s entries show their individual rate and hours, giving the client a clear breakdown of who worked on what and at what cost.

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Best Practices

  • Set rates carefully: The rate you set here is what gets used for all cost calculations. Double-check it matches your client agreement.
  • Be realistic with workloads: Overly optimistic workload estimates lead to misleading progress metrics. Set hours that reflect actual expected availability.
  • Use daily workloads for auto-tracking: If you enable automatic time tracking, having accurate daily distributions makes the auto-generated entries much more useful.
  • Pause instead of ending prematurely: When a performer needs a temporary break, pause them rather than ending their involvement. This preserves the expectation of continuation.
  • End instead of deleting: When a performer permanently leaves a project, end them rather than removing them. This preserves their time entry history for accurate reporting and invoicing.
Daily workload settings help with automatic time tracking suggestions. Configure them accurately for the best auto-generated entries.
Each performer has their own timesheets. When you approve time, you are approving per performer per period.
Changing a performer’s hourly rate does not retroactively update existing time entries. Only new entries will use the updated rate.
Pausing a performer prevents new time entries but keeps existing ones intact.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Each performer has their own rate, workload settings, and timesheets. This is useful when working with subcontractors or collaborators.
The performer’s status changes to Deactivated. They can no longer log new time entries for this gig, but their existing entries and timesheets are preserved.
Yes. A team member can be added as a performer on multiple gigs simultaneously, each with different rates and workload settings.
Performers can be Active (currently working, can log time), Paused (temporarily suspended, no new time entries), or Ended (permanently removed from the gig, historical data preserved).
Daily workloads are optional. They are mainly useful if you enable automatic time tracking or want detailed workload planning. If you only need basic time logging, the weekly hours field is sufficient.