Who is Timely
Timely is a Norwegian-headquartered SaaS providing AI-powered time tracking for businesses around the world. Timely automatically captures work completed and turns it into one-click, ready-to-approve timesheets - delivering accurate, privacy-first time data to help businesses maximize margins, drive profitability and improve productivity.
Why they use Bound
Like many international businesses, Timely deals with multiple currencies.
Their revenue is in USD.
Their operating costs are in NOK
This meant they regularly needed to:
→ Convert USD to NOK to cover expenses.
Timely’s finance team faced three key challenges:
Currency volatility impacting financial reporting – Regular swings between NOK and USD created unpredictability in both cash balances and P&L statements.
No structured FX risk management – Before Bound, there was no system to formalise hedging or protect budgeted rates.
Limited internal resources – The team needed a solution that was easy to implement and didn’t require constant manual intervention or FX expertise.
The company needed a solution that would protect budgeted rates, reduce exposure to adverse FX moves, and give the finance team confidence in presenting accurate numbers to the board.
How they use Bound
Hedging Strategy: Ranging
Ranging helps teams manage risk without giving up upside. You set:
A stop rate to protect against downside.
A limit rate to lock in gains if the market moves in your favour.
If one triggers, the other cancels — so you avoid worst-case scenarios and can still benefit from favourable moves.
In Timely’s case:
They set their expected USD-to-NOK cashflow for the year.
Stop rate: 10.5 (their budget rate)
Limit rate: 11.10
What happened?
The market moved in their favour - hitting their limit at 11.10. A forward was then placed for the rest of the year at that rate, locking in a strong outcome and outperforming their budget.
Achieved Risk: The potential loss from your hedging strategies on Bound.
Unhedged Risk: The potential loss if no hedging was done, only booking spot trades.
Results
Better rates | Beat their budget rate by 5.4% From 10.5 to 11.1 |
Minimised losses | Timely avoided posting FX losses even during periods of significant NOK volatility. |
Budget stability | Cash flow and P&L became more predictable, enabling accurate board reporting and confident decision-making. |
Time saved | With Bound’s intuitive interface and automated features, the finance team spends less time managing hedges and more time on strategic priorities |
Why Timely Recommends Bound
Ease of use: “Bound’s platform is simple and intuitive, we didn’t need FX experts to get it right.”
Flexibility: Hedging ranges, limits, and forwards can be adjusted easily as business needs change.
Reliable support: Responsive and practical guidance from the Bound team ensures implementation is smooth and ongoing management is straightforward.
No opinion given in the material constitutes a recommendation by Bound Rates Limited that any particular transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific company or person. Results may and will vary. The information in this publication does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Bound Rates Limited or its affiliates.
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