Every prepaid hour and support request, in one place.
BVT Retainer Manager tracks the hours your clients buy, the support requests they raise, the work you log against them, and the invoices that follow — in one system your team and clients can open anywhere.
Key takeaways
- BVT Retainer Manager — a web-based system for service businesses that sell time in prepaid blocks, covering hours, client support requests, tasks, reports and invoicing.
- Sell hours as packages, log work as deductions, and show the client exactly what is left — total hours minus deductions, always live.
- Clients raise their own support requests, reply in-thread and follow progress; your team is emailed and can assign each request.
- Projects are the central record — packages, tasks, routines, support requests, reports and Xero-synced invoices all hang off them.
- Reports with annotated photos answer "what did you do?" before it is asked; clean print view for handover.
- Four roles (HQ, Admin, Customer, Support) plus separate per-user financial access for view, edit and Xero sync.
- Used by website and software maintenance retainers, IT support, agencies in prepaid blocks, and field-service teams.
Sell hours, log work, report back, invoice.
The project is the central record. Everything else — packages, tasks, routines, support requests, reports, invoices — hangs off it.
Prepaid hours you can trust
Packages with purchase date, expiry and status. Every job logged as a deduction — Hrs. Remaining is always total minus deductions.
Client-raised support requests
Clients and support contacts submit requests directly, reply in-thread and follow progress. Email-notified, assignable.
Projects as the single source of truth
Contact details, notification emails, notes, packages, tasks, routines, support requests and reports on one record.
Tasks and recurring routines
Assign tasks with comments and status. Schedule daily, weekly or monthly routines with start and end dates and assigned staff.
Calendars
See scheduled work across the business, on routines, or per project — for dispatchers and field staff.
Reports with photo evidence
Write up completed work tied to a task or visit. Attach and annotate photos, print a clean report for handover.
Invoicing connected to Xero
Line items, due dates and totals — invoices, contacts and items sync to Xero with a visible pending / synced / failed status.
An audit trail
Activity log records changes across the system for owners and admins — who did what, and when.
Each person sees what they need, and nothing more.
HQ
Everything, including company settings, email (SMTP), timezone and the Xero connection.
Admin
Day-to-day management of projects, packages, tasks, routines, users and the activity log.
Customer
A view of the projects and packages they are linked to — raises their own support requests in-thread.
Support
Access scoped to the projects they are assigned to — no client list, no financials unless granted.
Service businesses that sell time.
See BVT Retainer Manager with your own projects.
A 30-minute demo on real packages, real deductions and a real Xero connection — before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
- What is BVT Retainer Manager?
- BVT Retainer Manager is a web-based system for service businesses that sell time. You sell blocks of hours to clients, log work against them, handle the support requests clients raise, and show clients exactly what is left — in one system your team and your clients can open on a laptop or a phone.
- Who is BVT Retainer Manager built for?
- Service businesses that sell blocks of hours and need to show where they went: website and software maintenance retainers, IT support and managed services, agencies working in prepaid blocks, and facilities or field-service teams with recurring visits.
- How does BVT Retainer Manager track prepaid hours?
- You create a package on a project with a total number of hours, a purchase date and an expiry date. Every piece of work is booked as a deduction with hours, a description, who logged it and when. Hrs. Remaining is always total hours minus deductions, so the number on screen is the number you bill against.
- Can clients raise their own support requests?
- Yes. Clients and named support contacts sign in to see their projects and packages, submit support requests, reply in-thread, and follow progress. Your team is notified by email and can assign each request to the right person.
- Is BVT Retainer Manager a helpdesk or ticketing system?
- No. It is not a full helpdesk. Clients can raise support requests and reply in-thread, and your team is emailed and can assign them, but the focus is on the prepaid hours behind the work: what the client bought, what has been used and what is left. If you need a dedicated helpdesk, BVT Retainer Manager can sit alongside one.
- Does BVT Retainer Manager integrate with Xero?
- Yes. Invoices, contacts and items sync to Xero with a visible status (pending, synced, failed) so nothing goes missing quietly. Contacts and line items flow both ways so the work tool and accounting tool stay aligned.
- What reports can BVT Retainer Manager produce?
- Field reports tied to a task or routine visit, with attached and annotated photos, plus a clean print view for client handover. The activity log captures who changed what and when, and per-project and per-package summaries show hours used and hours remaining.
- How are user permissions handled?
- Four built-in roles — HQ (everything including SMTP and Xero), Admin (projects, packages, tasks, routines, users, activity), Customer (their own projects and packages), and Support (access scoped to assigned projects). Financial access is a separate per-user permission with view, edit and sync controls, so a bookkeeper can be given billing access without seeing the rest.
- What does BVT Retainer Manager run on?
- PHP and MySQL on ordinary hosting. No container platform or specialist infrastructure required. The interface is responsive with light and dark themes.