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Creating time entries in Timely
Creating time entries in Timely

Quickly log hours from the web or desktop app

Lisa avatar
Written by Lisa
Updated over a week ago

Plans 💳 : Everyone

User Permissions 👥: Everyone

Timely is known for its awesome automatic time tracking, but we know that many different people have many different approaches to time tracking. Be it timers or timestamps, Timely offers a handful of ways to track your time manually and easily!

Logged vs. planned time

First, it’s important to make the distinction between the types of time that can be recorded in Timely: logged and planned time.

Planned Time (striped color) is the time you think you'll need to complete a scheduled task.

Logged Time (solid color) is the actual amount of time you end up spending on the task.

Using planned time can help you schedule your day or week, and anticipate how long it will take you to complete all your tasks.

Note: Your total weekly logged and planned time can be found at the top of your calendar in Week view. Depending on your plan, you may need to add planned time by using the Planning tab in the navigation bar.

Create a manual time entry

In the Hours tab, just click the "+/New Entry" button to open the Hour Editor. Select a project, add your notes and choose any necessary tags. In the “Logged time” field, add the hours and minutes of your entry then click “Submit” and you’re done!

Note: If you have Memory installed, you can click the brain icon in the Hour Editor to automatically add the memories together for a more precise total.

Using the timer

When using the timer, you’ll set-up your entries the same as you would if you were to create a manual entry by selecting a project and adding notes and tags. From there, click the 'Timer' button to start counting. Hit 'Pause' when you need a break and 'Submit' when you're finished.

Using timestamps

You can add timestamps to an entry by clicking the two-way arrow in the Hour Editor. Just punch in your start and end times, and we'll do the math!

Note: You can also click/drag on the Memory timeline to create a manual entry with timestamps.

Pro Tip: To make selecting the appropriate amount of time a breeze, you can elect to "snap" your time entries to the closest minute interval. You'll find this option when creating your time entry by clicking the gear icon or "..." menu for more options.

This is super helpful for folks who might bill their time in specific discrete units, allowing you to enforce this for each time entry you create.

Editing entries

In Timely, as long as entries haven’t been marked as billed, your logged hours can be edited as often as necessary. Just click, make your edits and submit!

Other functions

Within the Hour Editor, you can also copy or move entries to another date as well as delete entries if need be.


FAQs

How do I add a planned time entry?

If your workspace doesn’t support the Planning feature, just create a time entry and simply click "Plan time", then enter your planned hours and submit. If your workspace does support Planning, click here to learn more about how to add planned time in Timely.

How do I change my planned time to logged hours?

Once you've completed a task, you can change your planned time entry to a logged one. Just select it and click the Brain icon to open you Memory timeline. From here, you can select the tracked memories related to the task, add notes and tasks, then submit.

Can I see what tags I've applied to an entry after I've created it?

Yes, you can! Just hover over the tag icon in the entry to see what tags you've added:

My entry says "This hour is locked" and won't let me edit it. What's going on?

Once an entry has been "Marked as Billed", it becomes locked. This means Managers and Employee level users won't be able to make edits; only account Admins can adjust entries already marked as billed.

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