> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.timetracker.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Track your first hour

> Record time in TimeTracker with the timer or by entering hours manually, and see how one time entry feeds your timesheet, budget, reports and invoices.

Recording time is the thing your team does every day, so it is deliberately the
simplest part of the product. There are two ways, and they produce exactly the same
result.

## Option 1: use the timer

Best when you are starting work now.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Start the timer">
    The timer lives in the top bar, so it is reachable from any page.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick what you are working on">
    A task, or a project if you are not using tasks. Add a description if it helps
    you remember later.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the billable switch">
    On for client work, off for internal work. Most workspaces default this
    sensibly. See [billable hours](/time-tracking/billable-hours).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Work">
    The timer keeps running as you move around the app, and across page reloads.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Stop">
    A time entry is created and priced immediately.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Full detail: [using the timer](/time-tracking/using-the-timer).

## Option 2: enter hours manually

Best when you are recording something that already happened. Plenty of teams fill in
their whole week on Friday, and that is perfectly valid.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Go to Time">
    Choose **Add time**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick the task or project" />

  <Step title="Enter the date and duration">
    Type `3h`, or `3:30`, or start and end times – the field understands shorthand
    like `11a` for 11:00.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set billable and add a description" />

  <Step title="Save" />
</Steps>

Full detail: [add time manually](/time-tracking/add-time-manually).

<Note>
  **Neither method is "better".** A timer entry and a manual entry are the same record.
  Use whichever fits how your team actually works.
</Note>

## What one entry does

This is worth seeing once, because it is the whole reason the product exists.

Sarah tracks **3 hours** on "Homepage wireframes" for Bluebird Coffee. Her billable
rate is **$100/hour** and her cost rate is **$45/hour**.

| Where                                       | What happens                                                        |
| ------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Her timesheet](/timesheets/overview)       | 3 hours appear in her week. She does not re-enter them.             |
| [The project budget](/budgets/overview)     | Burn moves by **\$300**.                                            |
| [Margin](/budgets/profitability-and-margin) | $300 revenue, $135 cost, **\$165 margin**.                          |
| [Reports](/reports/overview)                | The entry is immediately reportable.                                |
| [Invoicing](/invoicing/overview)            | The 3 hours are queued as billable, ready to invoice once approved. |
| The [task](/tasks/task-estimates)           | 3 of the 8 estimated hours are used.                                |

One action. Six places updated. Nothing typed twice.

## The rate is frozen on the entry

When the entry saves, it keeps a copy of the rates that applied **at that moment**.

If Sarah's rate rises to $125 next quarter, this entry is still worth $300. Last
quarter's reports and any invoice you already sent do not change.

That is deliberate – without it, one rate change would silently restate your whole
history. See [rate snapshots](/rates/rate-snapshots).

## Fixing an entry

You can edit your own time while it is still in draft: change the duration, the task,
the date, the description or the billable flag.

Once the week is **approved**, entries are locked. Changing one then needs someone
with `time.adjust`, or the approval has to be reopened. See
[edit a time entry](/time-tracking/edit-a-time-entry).

## Where your time shows up

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Time" icon="stopwatch" href="/time-tracking/overview">
    Your entries as a list, day by day.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Calendar" icon="calendar" href="/time-tracking/calendar-view">
    The same entries on a week grid you can drag.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Timesheets" icon="table" href="/timesheets/overview">
    Your week totalled, ready to submit.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Reports" icon="chart-line" href="/reports/overview">
    Across people, projects and clients.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Habits that keep the numbers honest

* **Track as you go, or once a day.** Reconstructing a week from memory is where
  accuracy goes to die.
* **Record non-billable time too.** It is the only way utilisation and margin mean
  anything. See [billable vs non-billable](/concepts/billable-vs-non-billable).
* **Write a useful description.** "Homepage revisions round 2" tells you more in
  three months than "design".
* **Submit your week on Friday.** See
  [submit a timesheet](/timesheets/submit-a-timesheet).

## Permissions

| Action                   | Capability        | Roles                         |
| ------------------------ | ----------------- | ----------------------------- |
| Track your own time      | `time.track`      | Everyone except Client        |
| Edit your own time       | `time.edit`       | Everyone except Client        |
| See other people's time  | `time.viewOthers` | Owner, Admin, Project Manager |
| Edit other people's time | `time.editOthers` | Owner, Admin, Project Manager |
| See the cost of time     | `time.viewCost`   | Owner, Admin                  |

Seeing other people's time is also limited by
[supervision scope](/concepts/supervision-scope).

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What if I forget to stop the timer?">
    Edit the entry and correct the duration. Nothing is locked until the week is
    approved.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I run two timers at once?">
    No. One running timer per person – you are only in one place at a time. Stop one
    and start the other.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if I forgot to track a day?">
    Add the entries manually with the correct date. Backdating is normal.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can my manager record time for me?">
    Yes, with `time.editOthers`, if you are in their scope. See
    [track time for someone else](/time-tracking/track-time-for-someone-else).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do my hours get rounded?">
    Only if your workspace has set a rounding rule. See
    [time policies](/time-tracking/time-policies).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="My hours landed on the wrong day">
    Usually a timezone difference. An hour belongs to the day it happened in **your**
    timezone, which comes from your work schedule. See
    [missing or wrong hours](/troubleshooting/missing-or-wrong-hours).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="How to track time" icon="stopwatch" href="/time-tracking/how-to-track-time">
    Every way to record an hour.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Submit a timesheet" icon="paper-plane" href="/timesheets/submit-a-timesheet">
    Sending your week for review.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Setup checklist" icon="list-check" href="/getting-started/setup-checklist">
    Finish setting the workspace up.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Weekly timesheet routine" icon="repeat" href="/guides/weekly-timesheet-routine">
    A rhythm that works.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>