Time entries
A time entry records project effort via timer or manual entry; Hourly work can be invoiced, while fixed-fee and non-billable work remains effort only.
A time entry is the unit of tracked work in Hoursmith. Hourly entries can become invoice lines; Fixed fee and Non-billable entries record delivery effort only. It's the fourth link in the Clients → Projects → Tasks → Time → Invoices → Payment chain.
How time is logged
Every entry records work against a project — and optionally a task. You can create one two ways:
- With the live timer, started and stopped as you work.
- By entering it manually after the fact.
One timer at a time. You can only have a single timer running at once across the workspace. Starting a new timer is built around that rule. See The one-timer rule.
How long, and when
Every entry records how long the work took. It can also record when it started and finished — a timer captures that automatically, and on a manual entry you can type a start and end time and let the duration work itself out. Entries logged as a plain duration are perfectly valid and simply carry no times. Where times exist, they're shown in the timezone of whoever tracked them, in the clock format each viewer prefers.
Billable, and priced by the project
On an Hourly project, an entry can be billable or non-billable and is priced at the project rate. On a Fixed fee or Non-billable project, project policy keeps every entry non-billable. Fixed fee hours are still reported as delivery effort, while the contract value is invoiced separately. See Billable vs non-billable.
Invoiced time is locked
This is the rule that keeps your numbers honest: only billable, un-invoiced entries can be pulled onto an invoice. The moment an entry lands on one, it's locked — it can't be edited or re-billed, so a past invoice and your time log can never drift apart. See Invoiced and locked time.
Doing it
The live timer
Track time as you work, in one click.
Manual time entry
Type in time after the fact.
Billable vs non-billable
Which time can become an invoice.
Invoiced and locked time
Why billed entries can't change.