intajThe short answer
Build five databases: Clients, Projects, Tasks, Invoices and a Time Log. Connect them with relations so every project belongs to a client and every task, hour and invoice belongs to a project. Then make one home page that filters those databases down to this week. Everything else is optional.
Before you start: one workspace, one page
Create one page called Business and build everything inside it. Keep personal notes elsewhere. One page means one place to search, one page to duplicate as a backup, and one page to share with an assistant later. The free Notion plan is enough for all of this.
Step 1: Clients
Start with a simple table. Each client gets a row with a status (Lead, Proposal sent, Active, Past), a contact email and a next follow-up date. The follow-up date is the property most people skip, and it is the one that brings work back: a view filtered to clients whose follow-up date is today or earlier is a to-do list for new business.
Step 2: Projects
Add a Projects database with a relation to Clients, so each project belongs to exactly one client. Give it a status (Proposal, Active, Delivered, Closed), a deadline, a billing type (fixed, hourly or retainer) and the agreed amount. Later, a rollup from Invoices will show how much of that amount has actually been paid.
Step 3: Tasks
Tasks need a relation to Projects, a due date and a status. Keep the properties few; a task database with twelve columns stops being used within a month. The views matter more than the properties: a list filtered to due this week, sorted by date with late tasks first, is where you will actually work.
Add a rollup on Projects that counts completed tasks against all tasks. Dividing one by the other gives a progress percentage that fills in on its own.
Step 4: Time Log
A small database with a date, a number of hours and a relation to the project. Log in blocks, not minutes: 2.5 hours on the redesign, 1 hour on calls. The point is not surveillance. It is the one number that tells you what a fixed-price project actually paid per hour once it is finished.
Step 5: Invoices
Each invoice is a row with an amount, an issued date, a due date, a status (Draft, Sent, Paid, Void) and a relation to the project. Add a formula that compares the due date with today and shows Due in 8 days, Due today or 10 days overdue. A view called Awaiting payment, filtered to Sent and sorted by due date, is the view you open every Monday.
Step 6: Connect the money
Now the relations pay off. On Projects, add a rollup that sums paid invoices and another that sums logged hours. A formula dividing paid by hours is the project's effective hourly rate. On Clients, roll up unpaid invoices to see who owes you, and all paid invoices to see which clients are worth keeping.
Step 7: Build a home page
Create a page called Home at the top of Business and add linked views of the databases you just made, each filtered down: tasks due this week, active projects with their progress, invoices awaiting payment and clients due for a follow-up. This is the only page you need to open on a normal day. If a view does not change what you do next, remove it.
Keeping it alive
- Add every new client the day you first talk to them, even as a lead.
- Create the project before the work starts, not after the first invoice.
- Log hours at the end of each day; after a week you will not remember.
- Spend 20 minutes every Monday on the home page: send invoices, chase the overdue ones, set follow-ups.
- Review the structure once a quarter and delete what you stopped using.
Common mistakes
- Starting with a template that has twenty databases, then abandoning it.
- A separate page per client instead of one Clients database.
- Tracking tasks in Notion but invoices in a spreadsheet, so nothing connects.
- Building dashboards before there is data to show in them.
Questions
Do I need a paid Notion plan?
No. Databases, relations, rollups, formulas and linked views are all on the free plan. The free plan limits charts to one per workspace, which is enough for income by month.
How long does this take to build?
An evening if you follow the steps in order, plus the time to enter your current clients and open invoices. Most of the work is the relations and rollups in steps 2, 3 and 6.
Should I build it myself or use a template?
Build it yourself if you want to learn Notion and have an evening to spend. Use a template if you want to start working in it today; a good one has the same five databases, already connected, and sample data you can delete.
Related guide: how to follow up on late invoices · All guides