Time entries with a timer and a weekly grid
Your team keeps time on projects and tasks in the way that suits the work. Use a timer on the task, a weekly grid of projects and days, or a line in the list. Each entry is billable or not and lands on that person's weekly timesheet by itself.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- People rebuild their week from memory on Friday, and the hours are guesses.
- Time is kept per project but not per task, so you cannot see which piece of work ran over.
- Some hours are for the client and some are internal, and nobody marked which.
- Hours are typed into a sheet that nobody checks until the invoice is due.
How it works
- Open a task and press Start Timer when you begin. Press Stop Timer when you finish; the time is rounded up to 15 minutes and kept on the task.
- Or open Projects > Time > Weekly Grid: your projects and tasks down the side, the seven days of the week across. Type hours in the cells and press Save.
- Or add a line in Projects > Time > My Time: date, project, task, what was done, hours and billable.
- Every entry goes onto your weekly sheet for that week by itself. The grid shows your total against your usual hours.
- At the end of the week press Submit Week in the grid, and the week goes for approval (see Weekly timesheets with approval).
Everything it does
The timer
- Start Timer and Stop Timer on the task form. In the time list a play button goes on with the same work today, and a stop button stops a running timer
- One timer runs at a time for each person; starting another stops the first
- A stopped timer is rounded up to the entity's minutes (15 to start with; 0 for exact time) and is added to the entry's hours
- An entry never goes past 24 hours
- Submitting the week stops a running timer first
- The phone app keeps the moment you started or stopped, also without signal, and sends it when the phone is back online
The weekly grid
- Projects and tasks down, the seven days across, with a total per row, per day and for the week
- Add a project (and a task) to add a row; tasks offered are the open ones given to you or to nobody
- Week before and week after buttons, and This Week to come back
- Locked days and submitted or approved weeks cannot be typed in
- A day with several entries on one row is changed in the list, not in the grid
- Submit Week saves the grid and submits the week
A time entry
- Date, person, project, task, what was done, hours, billable
- Only projects that are Planned or Running take time; the task must be of the same project
- Hours of one entry are between 0 and 24
- Billable starts from the project's Time Is Billable (on to start with) and can be changed per entry
- Each entry records how it was made: By Hand, Timer, Weekly Grid or App
- Status follows the week: Draft, Waiting Approval, Approved or Sent Back
- Every change is kept in the entry's history
Who keeps time for whom
- Everyone keeps their own time
- A project manager can keep time for people on the projects they manage
- A Projects Manager can keep time for anyone and sees All Time
On projects and tasks
- The project shows Hours Logged and a button to its time; the project card on the board shows hours logged
- The task shows Hours Spent, Hours Left and Time Used % against its planned hours
- Filters: My Time, This Week, Last Week, Billable, Not Billable, status and Timer Running; group by person, project, task, week or status
Who uses it
Team memberKeeps time with the timer, the grid, the list or the phone app.
Project managerSees the time on their projects and adds time for people who forgot.
Projects ManagerSees all time with its cost, and keeps time for anyone.
Projects AdministratorSets the timer rounding, the week, the usual hours and the locks.
Where you use it
- Web: Projects > Time > My Time and Weekly Grid; Start Timer on each task
- The SmartMy Projects app: timer, time added and the weekly grid, also without signal (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- With SmartMy HRMS: Projects and Time in the HRMS menus and the employee app
- Not on the client portal
What you control
Settings
- Timer rounds to: 15 minutes (0 or 1 for exact time)
- Week starts on: Monday
- Working days a week: 5; usual hours a day: 8 (also per person)
- Time is billable: per project, on to start with
- Time locked until a date, and lock time older than n days: off to start with
Approvals
- Entries are approved with their week, through the Weekly Timesheet chain (see Weekly timesheets with approval)
Notifications
- None for single entries; reminders and sent-back notices are about the week (see Missing-time reminders)
Works with
SmartMy HRMSThe cost of each hour comes from the person's salary, and the same time screens appear in the HRMS menus and employee app.
Questions
What if I forget to stop the timer?
It keeps running until you stop it, start another or submit the week. The entry cannot go past 24 hours; correct the hours in the list before you submit.Can I keep time on a project without a task?
Yes. The task is optional. Time on a task also counts towards the task's hours spent.Can I make some hours non-billable?
Yes. Each entry has a Billable switch. It starts from the project's Time Is Billable, so internal projects can start every entry as non-billable.Does the timer round my time?
Yes, up to the next 15 minutes to start with. Your administrator can set other minutes, or 0 for exact time. Hours typed by hand are kept as typed.Can a manager add time for someone else?
A project manager can for people on their projects, and a Projects Manager can for anyone. Other people keep only their own time.Can we import time from another tool?
Not yet. Importing time from a sheet is not built; tell us if you need it before you start.Related features
TIMEWeekly timesheets with approvalEach person's time for the week sits on one sheet, sent on Friday. The project manager or your approval chain approves it as a whole. Approved hours become the project's cost and what you bill.TIMEMissing-time reminders and Time AnalysisEvery week, people whose last week is short or not submitted are reminded in the app and by email. Time Analysis shows managers the hours by project, person, task, week, billable and status.TIMETime checked against attendanceWith SmartMy HRMS, each submitted week is compared day by day with the person's attendance. It finds more hours than they worked, time on a day of leave or a holiday, or time on a day with no attendance. You choose to warn the approver or to block the week until it matches.TASKSTasks on a board, list, calendar and pivotEvery project's work as tasks with assignees, priority, dates and tags. See them as a board by stage, a list, a calendar or a pivot. Stages are shared by every project, or a project keeps its own.CLIENTS, DASHBOARDS, APPS, AIThe SmartMy Projects appYour team's tasks, the timer, time added by hand and the weekly timesheet on Android and iPhone, also without signal. Managers approve the team's weeks on the phone.MONEYBilling runs from approved hoursEach period, a billing run gathers what a project bills. That is approved hours at their rates, fixed-price instalments that are due, the retainer fee and overage, and expenses to pass on. Once approved, it becomes a draft invoice in accounting with the entity's GST or VAT.
See your next project on it.
Tell us how many people keep time, how you bill your clients today (hours, fixed price, retainers) and what you use now. We will set up one of your real projects with you.