> ## 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.
# Time policies settings: rules for every entry
> Set what a time entry must contain, how far back it can be edited, the daily cap, idle detection, rounding, the timesheet period and period locking.
**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](/time-tracking/time-policies).
## 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.
| Card | Capability | Who holds it |
| ------------------------ | -------------------------- | ------------ |
| **Entry rules** | `workspace.updateSettings` | Owner, Admin |
| **Timesheet submission** | `workspace.updateSettings` | Owner, Admin |
| **Period locking** | `period.close` | Owner, Admin |
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.
## 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.
### Require a task
| | |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Control | Toggle |
| Helper text | Every time entry must be attached to a task before it can be saved. |
| Default | Off |
**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.
### Require a description
| | |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| Control | Toggle |
| Helper text | Every time entry must include a non-empty description. |
| Default | Off |
**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.
### Block future entries
| | |
| ----------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| Control | Toggle |
| Helper text | Reject time entries that start in the future. |
| Default | Off |
**Why it exists.** Time is a record of work done, not work planned. Plan ahead in
the [Resource Planner](/planner/overview) 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.
### Editing window (days)
| | |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Control | Number box, whole numbers, 0 or more |
| Placeholder | No limit |
| Helper text | Entries older than this can't be edited. Leave blank for no limit. |
| Default | Blank – no limit |
**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.
### Daily limit (minutes)
| | |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| Control | Number box, whole numbers, 0 or more |
| Placeholder | No cap |
| Helper text | Cap on tracked minutes per day. Leave blank for no cap. |
| Default | Blank – no cap |
**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](/settings/schedules).
### Idle threshold (minutes)
| | |
| ----------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Control | Number box, whole numbers, 1 or more. Required. |
| Helper text | Minutes of no input before a running timer is flagged as idle. |
| Default | 10 |
**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`.
### Rounding increment
| | |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Control | Dropdown |
| Options | **None (raw time)**, **6 minutes**, **15 minutes**, **30 minutes** |
| Helper text | Applies to billable duration and displayed time. Raw tracked time is always stored exactly. |
| Default | None (raw time) |
**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.
| Tracked | None | 6 min | 15 min | 30 min |
| ---------- | ------ | ------ | ------ | ------ |
| 7 minutes | 7 min | 6 min | 0 min | 0 min |
| 22 minutes | 22 min | 24 min | 15 min | 30 min |
| 3 h 07 min | 3 h 07 | 3 h 06 | 3 h 00 | 3 h 00 |
Changing the increment does not re-round entries you already recorded. It applies
to entries saved from that point on.
## Card 2 – Timesheet submission
| | |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Control | Dropdown |
| Options | **Weekly**, **Biweekly (every two weeks)**, **Monthly (calendar month)** |
| Default | Weekly |
| Capability | `workspace.updateSettings` |
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.
## 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.*
| Control | What it is |
| ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Close through date** | A date picker. The last day to include, inclusive. |
| **Close period…** | The action button. It stays disabled until you pick a date. |
### How to close a period
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.
Click **Close period…**. A confirmation modal opens, titled *Close the period
through* your chosen date.
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.
Click **Close period**. When it finishes you see how many entries were locked –
for example *Period closed through 2026-07-31. 412 entries locked.*
### What gets locked, and what does not
| | |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Locked | Every **approved** time entry dated on or before your date |
| Not touched | Entries still in draft, submitted, or rejected |
| Not touched | Entries already in Trash |
| Blocked afterwards | Editing or deleting a locked entry, and adding a new entry inside the closed range |
**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.
## Example
Northwind Studio tightens up as it starts invoicing Bluebird Coffee monthly.
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**.
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.
With rounding at 15 minutes, Sarah's 3 h 07 min becomes 3 h 00 of billable time.
At her $100 rate the entry is worth $300 to the Website Redesign budget. Her
exact 3 h 07 min is still on the entry.
Once Priya Raman has approved July and Daniel Okafor has invoiced it, Maya
closes the period through 31 July. July stops moving.
## 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.
## Errors you may see
| Message | Why | What to do |
| ------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| Those time-policy settings don't fit together. | A value is out of range – a negative window or limit, an idle threshold under 1, or a fraction where a whole number is needed | Check the number boxes and save again |
| Couldn't save time policies. Check the values and try again. | The save was refused | Confirm you hold `workspace.updateSettings` |
| Couldn't close the period. Please try again. | The period close was refused | Confirm you hold `period.close` |
## 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.
## Related guides
What each rule feels like while you are tracking.
How time gets recorded, submitted and approved.
What you can change, and when the window closes.
Starting, stopping and idle detection.
How a submission period is filled in and approved.
Every field on an entry, including task and description.