Everything Aruga does
Aruga runs the business side of a small company: clients, billing, time, and people, in 1 login. Here is every part, group by group, with a screen drawn from sample data.
Clients and agreements
Everything you agree with a client lives in one place, from the first quote to a retainer that renews every month.
Clients
A record for each client with several contacts, and a choice of who receives invoices and reminders.
- Several contacts per client, each with a choice of what they receive.
- Billing address, currency, payment terms, and tax rate per client.
- Notes and the full history of invoices, payments, and agreements.
Quotes
Send a quote with an Accept button. When the client accepts, it becomes an invoice.
- Built in the same editor as invoices.
- The client accepts on a public page. Aruga records who accepted and when.
- An accepted quote becomes a draft invoice in 1 click.
Retainers
Fixed fee, hours bank, fixed fee plus extra hours, prepaid blocks, and credit balances. Rollover, proration, and renewals follow the rules you set.
- 5 types: fixed fee, hours bank, fixed fee plus extra hours, prepaid block, and credit balance.
- Monthly, quarterly, or yearly, billed in advance or in arrears.
- Rollover with or without a cap, proration of the first period, scheduled price changes, pause and resume.
Client portal
Clients log in to see every invoice, quote, payment, and statement. They can pay, save a card, and export their records.
- Clients log in with a link sent to their email. No password needed.
- Every invoice, quote, payment, refund, credit note, and retainer statement.
- Pay 1 invoice or several at once. Save a card. Export a year of invoices in 1 file.
Amount due
$3,600.00
| Invoice | Issued | Due | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MS-0042 | October 9, 2026 | October 24, 2026 | $4,800.00 | Partially paid |
| MS-0038 | September 1, 2026 | September 16, 2026 | $1,500.00 | Paid |
| MS-0029 | August 1, 2026 | August 16, 2026 | $1,500.00 | Paid |
Billing and payments
Clear invoices, sent on time, paid by card, and followed up without you having to remember.
Invoices
Line items, tax per line, discounts by amount or percent, notes, and terms. Every invoice gets a number that is never reused.
- Tax per line, compound tax, and discounts by amount or percent.
- A PDF (Portable Document Format) file goes with every email and is remade when the invoice changes.
- Partial payments, deposits, void, and write off, each with a reason.
Recurring invoices
Weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Each run creates a draft for you to review, or sends on its own.
- Weekly, every 2 weeks, monthly, quarterly, or yearly, with a start date and an optional end date.
- A schedule that starts on the 31st runs on the last day of shorter months.
- Pause, resume, or end a schedule at any time.
Card payments
Connect your own Stripe account. Clients pay by card on a secure page. The money goes directly to you. Aruga never holds it.
- Each company connects its own Stripe account. Aruga never holds the money.
- Clients pay on a page hosted by Stripe. Card numbers never touch Aruga.
- Stripe fees and net amounts are recorded on every payment.
Reminders
Before the due date, on the day, and after. Reminders stop the moment an invoice is paid.
- Rules such as 3 days before the due date, on the day, 7 days after, and 14 days after.
- Each rule has its own subject and message, in your words.
- Exclude a client or a single contact from reminders.
Credit notes and refunds
Apply a credit against an open invoice. Refund a card payment in full or in part. Every change is recorded.
- Apply a credit note against any open invoice.
- Refund a card payment in full or in part from Aruga.
- Disputes raised with Stripe show up on the invoice.
Currencies
Invoice in United States dollars, Philippine pesos, or another currency. Each client has its own.
- Set a currency per client.
- Totals are shown per currency and never added across currencies.
- Peso amounts show as ₱25,000, or PHP 25,000 where the symbol may not display.
Marigold Studio
1420 Elm Street, Sacramento, California 95814
Invoice
MS-0042
- Issued
- October 9, 2026
- Due
- October 24, 2026
- Bill to
- Blue Fern BooksAna Reyes
| Description | Quantity | Price | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand identity design | 1 | $2,400.00 | $2,400.00 |
| Website design, 6 pages | 6 | $350.00 | $2,100.00 |
| Print ready files | 2 | $150.00 | $300.00 |
- Subtotal
- $4,800.00
- Tax
- $0.00
- Total
- $4,800.00
- Paid
- $1,200.00
- Amount due
- $3,600.00
Thank you for working with us. Pay by card from the link in your email, or by bank transfer.
Time and people
From the first interview to the pay run, every person on your team has 1 record that is always up to date, and the hours they work turn into invoices.
Hiring
Everyone you have ever interviewed, what they said, and what you decided. Your own scorecard, scored by your own people. Aruga never scores or ranks anyone.
- A record of everyone interviewed, searchable, so the runner up from last year is found when a role opens.
- A scorecard built from your job description, scored by your interviewers, with every candidate side by side.
- References logged the same way every time, what was promised in the interview, and a hired person who becomes an employee record without retyping.
Timekeeping
Your team records hours against clients and projects. A manager approves them. Nothing is billed twice.
- Hours against a client, a project, and a task, entered as they happen or at the end of the week.
- A manager approves hours before they are billed.
- Utilization per person and per client.
Hours to invoice
Approved hours fill retainer periods and become invoice lines at each client's rate. Extra hours are billed by the rule you choose.
- Approved hours fill the retainer period for that client.
- Hours beyond the included amount are billed as extra hours, held for approval, or added to the next invoice.
- Hourly clients get invoice lines from approved hours at their rate.
Employee records
One record per person with role, start date, pay details, and documents. Onboarding steps in one list.
- Role, start date, manager, pay details, and documents in one record.
- Onboarding steps as a list that the new person and the manager can both see.
- Each person sees their own record and nothing else.
Leave
Leave requests, approvals, and balances, with your own kinds of leave and the Philippine holidays Aruga keeps up to date.
- Requests, approvals, and balances per kind of leave, with the days each person has left.
- Proclaimed Philippine holidays, including local ones for a province or city, kept current from official notices.
- Nobody can approve their own leave. The database refuses it.
Payroll
Pay runs for staff paid in the Philippines, built from each person's pay record, approved leave, and the government tables Aruga keeps current. An owner approves every run.
- A monthly salary or a daily rate, allowances, and the SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG Fund, and tax tables, kept current from official notices.
- Every payslip line shows how it was worked out. An owner approves each run before anyone sees a payslip.
- Payslips on each person's own page and as a PDF (Portable Document Format) file, and 13th month pay in December.
| Person | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Hours | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ana ReyesBlue Fern Books | 7.5 | 8 | 6.5 | 8 | 4 | 34 | Approved |
| Miguel SantosHarbor Cafe | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 37 | Approved |
| Priya NairNorthwind Dental | 6 | 7.5 | 8 | 8 | · | 29.5 | Waiting |
Leave: Priya Nair
October 10, 2026. Approved. 9 days left this year.
Pay run: 6 people
Built from salaries and approved hours. Runs on October 15, 2026.
Your team and your numbers
Give each person the access they need, and see how the company is doing without a spreadsheet.
Team roles
Owner, admin, people, finance, staff, viewer, and employee. A person can hold more than 1 role, and each company decides what each role can see and change.
- 7 roles, and a person holds 1 or more. People covers hiring, employees, leave, and payroll. Finance covers money and reports.
- Access is by area: settings, money, reports, hiring, employees, leave, time, and payroll, each with see and change. Each company sets its own on 1 screen.
- Only an owner approves a payroll run, connects the payment processor, or changes who is an owner. 1 login can belong to several companies.
Dashboard and reports
What is outstanding, what is overdue, revenue by month and by client, days to pay, hours billed against hours worked, and profit by client. Export any report as a CSV (comma separated values) file.
- Outstanding, overdue, and paid this month, with a 12 month trend.
- Revenue by month, quarter, and year, with the same period last year.
- Receivables by age, days to pay by client, payment method mix, and retainer health.
Activity log
Every change to money, status, or access is written down with who did it and when.
- Who changed what, and when, for every record.
- What clients do in the portal is logged too.
- Export the log as a CSV (comma separated values) file.
Outstanding
$12,450
Overdue
$1,800
Paid this month
$8,200
Revenue, last 12 months
Paid invoices
Most overdue
- Harbor CafeMS-0031, due September 18, 2026$950
- Northwind DentalMS-0035, due September 30, 2026$850
Coming up
- Blue Fern Books, monthly retainerNovember 1, 2026$1,500
- Harbor Cafe, monthly invoiceNovember 1, 2026$600
Open by invitation
Aruga is new. We invite a few companies at a time and work with each one closely. Tell us about your company and we will reply by email.