What is Clearmargin?
Clearmargin is the financial stack for freelancers and small teams. Proposals, time tracking, expenses, invoicing, and payments — all in one place. Because everything is connected, you get real profitability insight without becoming an accountant.
The problem Clearmargin solves
Most freelancers juggle 4–5 tools for the money side of their business — one for proposals, one for time tracking, one for expenses, one for invoicing, and maybe a spreadsheet to tie it all together. Each tool works fine on its own, but together they create data silos, double entry, and blind spots.
The alternative is accounting software like QuickBooks — but that's built for businesses with employees, inventory, and payroll. Freelancers don't need a chart of accounts. They need to get paid and know what they're making.
Clearmargin fills the gap: more clarity than spreadsheets, less noise than accounting software. The whole money side of your business in one app.
What Clearmargin does
Proposals
Build professional proposals with scope, timeline, and milestones. Historical data pre-fills hour estimates based on past projects, so you quote with confidence.
Time Tracking
Log time with a quick-entry strip or running timer. Standard, overtime, and custom rate multipliers. Billable vs non-billable tracking for accurate billing.
Expense Management
Assign costs to projects, split across clients, or allocate overhead automatically. Pass-through costs with optional markup. Every dollar accounted for.
Invoicing
Generate invoices from project data in one click. Recurring billing, payment schedules, and deposit tracking. PDF export with your branding.
Payments
Accept cards and ACH bank transfers via Stripe Connect. No platform fees — your clients pay you directly at Stripe’s standard rates.
Profitability Insights
Because everything lives in one place, Clearmargin shows you per-client and per-project profitability automatically. See which clients make you money — and which don’t.
Who built Clearmargin?
Clearmargin is built by Delmare Digital, a software and consulting studio that builds products and custom applications for businesses of all sizes. Founded by Allan Delmare.
Clearmargin started the way the best tools do: from a real problem. Allan was freelancing and only needed to send invoices a few times a year. He didn't want to manage QuickBooks. He didn't want to spend $40 a month. He just wanted to send some invoices.
Free invoice generators and spreadsheets worked — until they didn't. What was the last invoice number? What did he charge for hosting last time? What did he call that line item? What formatting did he use? Every invoice meant digging through old files trying to duplicate the last one, surrounded by confusing notes about hours worked, tasks completed, and rates charged.
Then the gaps got bigger. A client asked for a proposal and there was no system for that — just a blank document and guesswork. Time tracking was scattered across notes apps, spreadsheets, and scraps of paper. And costs? Subscription fees were spiraling quietly — tools he was paying for but not accounting for when pricing his services. The little “oh yeah, I forgot about that” expenses that eat into your margin without you noticing.
He knew he was making money, but he couldn't say exactly how much. No single tool covered proposals, time, expenses, and invoicing together. So he built one.
Frequently asked questions
What is Clearmargin?
Clearmargin is the financial stack for freelancers, independent professionals, and small teams. It combines proposals, time tracking, expense management, invoicing, and payments into one app — so you can manage the money side of your business without learning accounting software.
Who is Clearmargin for?
Clearmargin is built for freelancers, consultants, designers, developers, photographers, and small agencies (1–20 people) who want to send proposals, track time, log expenses, invoice clients, and get paid — all in one place.
Is Clearmargin accounting software?
No. Clearmargin is not accounting software and doesn’t try to be. There’s no chart of accounts, no journal entries, no double-entry bookkeeping. Clearmargin handles the financial workflow freelancers actually need: proposals, time, expenses, billing, and payments. If you need tax exports, Clearmargin generates CSV, QuickBooks IIF, and tax summary reports.
How is Clearmargin different from spreadsheets?
Spreadsheets are flexible but require you to do all the work — formulas, formatting, manual reconciliation. Clearmargin automates the connections between proposals, time tracking, expenses, and invoicing. Your profitability is calculated automatically because all the data is already connected.
How is Clearmargin different from QuickBooks or FreshBooks?
QuickBooks and FreshBooks are accounting tools built for businesses with employees, inventory, and complex tax situations. Clearmargin is purpose-built for freelancers and small teams who need proposals, time tracking, expenses, and invoicing without the accounting complexity. More clarity than spreadsheets, less noise than accounting software.
Does Clearmargin charge platform fees on payments?
No. Clearmargin uses Stripe Connect with direct charges. Your clients pay you directly — you only pay Stripe’s standard processing rates. No platform fees, no per-invoice charges, no revenue sharing.
Can I try Clearmargin for free?
Yes. Clearmargin offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. You get full access to all features during the trial.
Your clients get billed. You get paid.
It's that easy.
14-day free trial. No credit card required.
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