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Settings → Time policies holds the rules every time entry in the workspace has to follow. It is one screen with three cards: Entry rules, Timesheet submission and Period locking. Route: /{workspaceSlug}/settings/time-policies. For Northwind Studio that is /northwind/settings/time-policies.
This page documents the screen. For how the rules feel day to day when you are tracking, read Time policies.

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Who can change what

The Time policies item sits under Workspace in the settings sidebar. It is shown to everyone, and it belongs to no app, so it never disappears. Without the capability, the card still renders but tells you so:
  • Entry rules – You don’t have access to change time policies in this workspace. Ask an owner or admin for access.
  • Timesheet submission – the dropdown is disabled, with the line Only owners and admins can change the timesheet period.
  • Period locking – Only an owner or admin can lock periods in this workspace.
A rule set here applies to everyone in the workspace, including Owners and Admins. There is no per-project or per-person override.

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Card 1 – Entry rules

Three toggles, three number fields and one dropdown. Everything in this card is saved together by the Save time policies button at the bottom. The button reads Saving… while it works, and a Time policies saved. message confirms it. A brand-new workspace enforces nothing. Every toggle starts off, both limits start blank, rounding starts at none.

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Require a task

Why it exists. Time attached only to a project cannot be traced to the work it paid for. Turning this on forces every hour to name a task. When to turn it on. Once your projects have real task lists. Turning it on before that leaves people with nothing to pick. What happens after. Saving an entry with no task is refused with A task is required before this entry can be saved. A running timer cannot be stopped until a task is chosen either – the stop button tells you Add a task to stop the timer.
This does not go back and fix history. Entries recorded before you turned it on keep no task and stay as they are.

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Require a description

Why it exists. A client asking “what were these 6 hours?” needs an answer. The description is that answer, and it prints on an invoice line. What happens after. An entry with an empty or whitespace-only description is refused with A description is required before this entry can be saved. A running timer cannot be stopped without one.

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Block future entries

Why it exists. Time is a record of work done, not work planned. Plan ahead in the Resource Planner instead. What happens after. An entry that starts later than right now is refused with Time entries cannot start in the future. Only the start time is checked.

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Editing window (days)

Why it exists. It stops last month’s approved week quietly changing shape after you reported on it. How it is measured. From when the entry starts, to now. An entry exactly on the boundary is still editable. With a 14-day window, an entry that started 14 days ago can be changed, and one that started 15 days ago cannot. What happens after. Editing an entry past the window is refused with This entry is outside the editing window and can no longer be changed.
Setting this to 0 leaves almost nothing editable, because any entry that already started is already older than a zero-day window. Leave it blank if you do not want a limit.

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Daily limit (minutes)

Why it exists. It catches the honest mistake – a timer left running overnight that turns into a 14-hour entry. How it is measured. In minutes, across the whole day, per person. A new entry is refused when the day’s existing total plus the new entry goes over the cap. A day that lands exactly on the cap is allowed. Set 600 for 10 hours, 720 for 12. What happens after. The entry is refused with This entry would exceed the daily time limit for this workspace.
Set the cap generously. It is a guard against runaway timers, not a working-hours policy. Expected hours belong in Work schedules.

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Idle threshold (minutes)

Why it exists. People walk away from a running timer. Idle detection notices, so the entry reflects real work. What happens after. Once the timer has seen no input for this many minutes, a prompt appears offering to Keep or Discard the idle stretch. This field cannot be left blank and cannot be 0.

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Rounding increment

Why it exists. Many agencies bill in fixed blocks. Rounding produces the billable figure without anyone doing the arithmetic. How it rounds. Always to the nearest step. There is no round-up-only or round-down-only option. A half step rounds up. What it touches. The billable duration used on invoices and against project budgets. Your exact tracked time is always kept alongside it, so you can always see what really happened.
Changing the increment does not re-round entries you already recorded. It applies to entries saved from that point on.

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Card 2 – Timesheet submission

This sets how much time one submission bundles. The card explains it: Submitting any week submits the whole period that contains it. There is no Save button here. Choosing an option saves it at once, and a message confirms the new setting.
The daily grid stays a seven-day week whatever you pick. Only the unit that is submitted and approved together changes.
When to change it. Move to monthly when weekly approval is more review than your team’s volume justifies. Keep it weekly when you invoice often, since nothing can be invoiced before it is approved.

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Card 3 – Period locking

Locking freezes a stretch of approved time so the books stop moving. The card explains it: Locks all approved time on or before a date. Locked entries can’t be edited, deleted or added to – corrections go through adjustment entries.

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How to close a period

1

Pick the date

Choose the last day to lock in Close through date. The date is read in your workspace timezone, so the day boundary matches the one your team sees.
2

Start the close

Click Close period…. A confirmation modal opens, titled Close the period through your chosen date.
3

Confirm it in writing

The modal asks you to type the workspace and date to confirm – for Northwind Studio closing through 31 July that is northwind / through 2026-07-31. A copy button beside the text puts it on your clipboard.
4

Close it

Click Close period. When it finishes you see how many entries were locked – for example Period closed through 2026-07-31. 412 entries locked.

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What gets locked, and what does not

This cannot be undone from this screen. Once time is locked, corrections go through adjustment entries rather than by editing the original. Close a period only after the work for it is approved and invoiced.

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Example

Northwind Studio tightens up as it starts invoicing Bluebird Coffee monthly.
1

Maya sets the entry rules

She turns on Require a task and Require a description, sets Editing window (days) to 14, and leaves the daily limit blank. She clicks Save time policies.
2

Sarah feels it the next morning

Sarah Lin starts a timer with no task. When she tries to stop it, the button tells her to add a task. She picks “Homepage wireframes” and stops it.
3

Rounding sets the billable figure

With rounding at 15 minutes, Sarah’s 3 h 07 min becomes 3 h 00 of billable time. At her 100ratetheentryisworth100 rate the entry is worth 300 to the Website Redesign budget. Her exact 3 h 07 min is still on the entry.
4

Daniel closes the month

Once Priya Raman has approved July and Daniel Okafor has invoiced it, Maya closes the period through 31 July. July stops moving.

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Loading state

While the workspace loads, each card shows placeholder bars in place of its controls. Nothing is saved until you press the button on the card you changed.

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Errors you may see

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Common questions

Yes. There is one set of rules for the workspace, and it binds everyone.
No. Time policies are workspace-wide.
No. The rules are checked when an entry is saved. Entries already recorded stay exactly as they are.
No. The exact duration is always kept. Rounding produces the billable figure that invoices and budgets use.
Not from this screen. Correct locked time with an adjustment entry instead.
The editing window has passed. Ask an Owner or Admin to widen the window, or leave it blank to remove the limit.

Time policies in practice

What each rule feels like while you are tracking.

Time tracking overview

How time gets recorded, submitted and approved.

Edit a time entry

What you can change, and when the window closes.

Using the timer

Starting, stopping and idle detection.

Timesheets overview

How a submission period is filled in and approved.

Time entry fields

Every field on an entry, including task and description.