How Do I Track My Time?

As a business, you can track time to document your business' and team's productivity, or to bill back to the Client for your services worked. All time you track will be saved until you're ready to bill for it later.
You can track time with the timer, or by logging time manually. Time entries can also be marked as billable, edited or deleted afterwards. If needed, you can adjust the day you start your week on in your Business settings.
 
To review all Time Entries tracked, from both yourself and your Team Members, go to How do I review my time? instead.
 
 

Tracking Format

Before you start adding time, you can choose whether you'd like to track your time by duration in hours and minutes, or by start and end time. This can be adjusted anytime, with the below steps:
  1. In the Time Tracking section, click on the More Actions button
  2. Then select Time Tracking Settings
    Time tracking settings button at top of page.
  3. Choose between Track time entries by duration for hours and minutes, including the ability to pause, or Track time entries by start and end time
  4. Click Save to finish.
 

Start Timer

Using the Timer allows you to start and have the Timer immediately start tracking time while you’re working. Use the steps below to start using the Timer:

When using the Timer, any time logged under 30 seconds will be rounded down to the nearest minute (e.g., 11m 15s = 11 minutes), while any time logged above 30 seconds will be rounded up to the nearest minute (e.g., 11m 45s = 12 minutes).
 
  1. Click on the Time Tracking section
  2. From the Day sub-tab, click on the Start Timer button
    Start timer button.
While the timer is running, you can fill out the entry with more details:
Timer running with fields to fill out.
  1. Click in the Add a client or project field, and choose between Internal Client, browse through your existing list, or type to make a new Client or Project instead
  2. If applicable, check the box off next to Apply to Retainer if you'd like to associate this entry to an existing Retainer for a Client or Project
    Apply to retainer checkbox.
  3. Next, in the Add a service field, type or browse through your existing Services, or type to make a new Service instead
  4. In the What are you working on? field, enter any notes as needed
  5. If your Tracking Format is set to Duration, pause the Timer by clicking on the pause button, and resume by pressing the play button, or hovering over any logged Time Entry and clicking the play button to resume that particular Time Entry 
    Resume button above time entry.
  6. If your Tracking Format is set to Start and End Time, there is no pause button. Instead, you can hover over any logged Time Entry and press the play button which will create a separate Time Entry with the same details with a new Start Time
    1. When you’re done, click on the Stop button to finish.
      Stop button in timer.

Notes:
  • Click Cancel at the bottom of your timer if you'd like to discard it entirely
  • The Timer will continue running until you click on the Stop button, and will stay open as you navigate to different parts of your FreshBooks account or if you close the browser window
  • If your Tracking Format is:
    • Set to Start and End Time, you can change the started at time if you’d like to have it start earlier and pause as needed on the same Timer
    • Set to Duration, you can pause by stopping the Timer and then resuming it from the Time Entry by clicking on the Play button that appears above it
  • Click on the pop-out icon in the top right corner to have the Timer in its own window, then click on the X button to close the window and pop the Timer back into the corner of your account again
    Pop out timer on account with window moving around.

Add Time Entry

Day View

The Day sub-tab is useful for logging time on a day by day basis. All time entries logged on that particular day will appear in a list below the New Entry button. To log time on the Day sub-tab, use these steps:
  1. In the Time Tracking section, you'll be on the Day sub-tab
  2. Click on the day you want to log time on (or use the calendar icon to jump back or forward by weeks)
  3. Click on the New Entry button
  4. Click on the Add a project or client field, and choose between Internal Client, browse through your existing list, or type to make a new Client or Project instead
    Fields to fill out for new day time entry.
  5. Next, click on Add a service and choose a Service if needed
  6. Depending on what tracking format you've chosen, you can either:
    1. In the HH:MM field, enter your time as a decimal (1.5), as #h #m (1h30m), or with a colon (1:30)
    2. Or in the Start field, add the start time and in the End field, add the end time
  7. Feel free to click on Add notes and include any details
  8. When you’re done, click on the green checkmark button to save your entry.
 

Week View

The Week sub-tab is ideal if you log time in bulk, especially if those daily time entries are similar. You also have the option to copy a week with recently logged time entries on it over to a new week, making timesheet entry quick. Use the below steps:
  1. In the Time Tracking section, click on the Week sub-tab
  2. Click on the week you want to log time on (or use the calendar icon to jump back or forward weeks)
  3. Click on the New Row button
  4. Click on the Add a project or client field, and choose between Internal Client, browse through your existing list, or type to make a new Client or Project instead
  5. Next, click on Add a service and choose a Service if needed
  6. Click on the green checkmark button to proceed
  7. Enter the time as a decimal (1.5), as #h #m (1h30m), or with a colon (1:30) into any box for each day of the week you see
  8. Repeat steps 3-7 for any additional Client, Project and Service as needed
    View of a week with blank boxes to fill out for time tracked.
  9. When you’re done, click on Save to finish logging time for the week.
If you’ve already logged time on another week recently using the Week view, the option to copy it over another week will become available. Click on the copy over all rows from most recent timesheet link under the New Row button, then you can go to step 8 above and continue with the rest of the steps.
Copy over all rows from most recent timesheet link at bottom of page.
 

Month View

If you prefer to log your time in a calendar view, you can use the Month sub-tab view instead. The total for each week is displayed as well as the Monthly Total at the bottom of the calendar, allowing you to see how much you've logged weekly or monthly at a quick glance. Use the below steps:
Month view showing calendar above list of time entries.
  1. In the Time Tracking section, click on the Month sub-tab
  2. Click on the day you want to log time on, otherwise it will default to today's date for you
  3. Click on the New Entry button
  4. Click on the Add a project or client field, and choose between Internal Client, browse through your existing list, or type to make a new Client or Project instead
    Fields to fill out for a time entry.
  5. Next, click on Add a service and choose a Service if needed
  6. Depending on what tracking format you've chosen, you can either:
    1. In the HH:MM field, enter your time as a decimal (1.5), as #h #m (1h30m), or with a colon (1:30)
    2. Or in the Start field, add the start time and in the End field, add the end time
  7. Feel free to click on Add notes and include any details
  8. When you’re done, click on the green checkmark button to save your entry.
 

Manage Time Entries

Billed, Unbilled and Non-Billable Status

There are three types of statuses on your time entries that determines whether they can be Invoiced or not:
  • Marked as Billable
    • Billed - The Time Entry is recouped, whether generated onto an Invoice or manually marked as Billed, once Billed, it cannot be rebilled again unless marked as Unbilled manually
    • Unbilled - The Time Entry is ready to be billed on an Invoice and charged to a Client
  • Non-Billable - The Time Entry is not available to be billed on an Invoice, this is useful if you’re tracking time that can’t be billed to a Client
    • Tracking time to an internal Client or Flat Rate Project will automatically mark the time as Non-Billable by default
 
Update the status of your time entries by marking them as Billed or Unbilled using the All sub-tab.
 

Edit, Delete & Timer

To edit a Time Entry logged by yourself or by any Team Member (except Contractors, who can only edit their own time), either modify several Time Entries in bulk with the steps here in the All sub-tab, or use the below steps to edit an entry individually:
  1. Either in the Day, Week, Month or All sub-tab, click on the time entry in the list below
  2. Change any detail as needed, including checking off or unchecking the Billable box (if applicable)
    Time entry in edit view with editable fields.
  3. Click on the checkmark button to save. 
 
From the Time Tracking section, hover over any tracked time to quickly perform any of these actions: 

Quick actions bar with three buttons over a time entry row.
  • Edit - Click on the pencil icon to modify your Time Entry as needed
  • Delete - Click on the trash can icon to delete the Time Entry permanently
  • Start Timer - Click on the play icon and choose between:
    • Start Timer Today - Click this to start a new Timer with the same details filled out
    • Resume Timer on Day - Click this to resume the Timer on the same day the Time Entry was logged if you're tracking by Duration, otherwise this will create a separate entry instead if you're tracking by Start and End Time
 

FAQs

How do I generate an Invoice with tracked time on it?
There are many ways to generate an Invoice, use the steps here to get started with rebilling your time back to a Client.
 
How do I add a Time Entry on behalf of my Team Member?
You can add Time Entries for any Team Member except Contractors, using these steps: 
  1. Click on the Time Tracking section
  2. Click on the DayWeek, or Month sub-tab
  3. In the dropdown under Hours Logged By, select the Team Member you want to add time for
    Dropdown showing each team member as an option to select.
  4. A banner will appear indicating You are viewing [Team Member's] timesheet. Follow the steps above to add time as needed. 
    Banner indicating you are viewing a team member's time sheet at top of page.