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Time tracking is how hours get into TimeTracker. You run a timer or type the hours in by hand. Either way you get a time entry, and that entry carries the money with it.

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What is a time entry?

A time entry is one block of work by one person. It records:
  • when the work started and how long it took
  • the project and task it belongs to
  • a short description
  • whether it is billable
  • the rate that applied on that date
Every entry belongs to exactly one person and one workspace.
A time entry is not the same as clocking in. Time tracking records hours against a task. The Time Clock records that you were at work. See Time Clock overview.

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Why it matters

Tracked time is the input to almost everything else in TimeTracker: That chain is the point of the product: Client → Project → Task → Estimate → Time entry → Approval → Budget impact → Invoice → Payment.

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The two ways to record time

Run a timer

Start the clock when you begin, stop it when you finish. Best for live work.

Add it by hand

Type a duration, or a start and end time, after the fact.
Both produce the same kind of entry. Nothing downstream treats them differently.

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Where you see your time

The Time page has a period picker, a Today button, and two view buttons – List view and Grouped view. It also shows the period total and the submission status.

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How it works

  1. You record an entry. TimeTracker stores the exact start, stop and duration.
  2. It freezes the billable rate (and your cost rate) onto the entry, using the rates in force on that date. A later rate change never rewrites it.
  3. If your workspace rounds billable time, it also stores the rounded duration. Raw tracked time is always kept exactly.
  4. The entry joins your timesheet for that period.
  5. When you submit and someone approves the period, the time locks.
Overlapping entries are allowed. If a new entry overlaps an old one, you get a gentle notice on the toast – the entry still saves.

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Example

Sarah Lin at Northwind Studio starts a timer on Homepage wireframes, part of Website Redesign for Bluebird Coffee. She stops it three hours later.
  • The entry is 3 hours, billable.
  • Her billable rate is 100/hour,sotheentryisworth∗∗100/hour, so the entry is worth **300** to the project.
  • Her cost rate is 45/hour,soitcostsNorthwind∗∗45/hour, so it costs Northwind **135**.
  • The margin on those three hours is $165.
Those numbers are fixed to the entry from the moment it is saved.

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Permissions

Owner, Admin, Project Manager, Member and Contractor can track and edit time. Finance and Client cannot. Only Owner and Admin can see cost. See Time tracking permissions and Roles and capabilities.

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Plan and app gating

  • Time tracking is a Free feature. Every plan can record hours.
  • The Time tracking app must be switched on in Settings → Apps. It is on by default and needs Projects & tasks on as well.
  • If the app is off, the timer disappears from the top bar and the Time page is hidden. Nothing already recorded is deleted.
See Apps and modules.

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Common questions

No. You get one running timer per workspace. Starting a second one is refused with “Stop your running timer before starting a new one.”
Yes. The start time is held on the server, not in your browser. Close the tab, switch device, or lose your connection – the timer is still running when you come back.
Not by default. An entry with no project is still recorded, but it never reaches a budget, a rate or an invoice. Your workspace can require a task on every entry – see Time policies.
It moves to Submitted and can no longer be edited. Once approved, it is locked. See How timesheets work.

How to track time

Every way to get an hour into TimeTracker.

Time entry fields

What each field on an entry means.

Billable hours

What billable means for a time entry.

Time policies

The workspace rules every entry follows.