The Time Recording global feature controls how time is captured, recorded, and submitted across the system. 

Modeller > Global Features > Time Recording. 

You can enable or disable time recording at any point by toggling it on or off from the feature list.

Click the settings cog to access the settings.  This opens the Time Recording Feature blade. 

Work Type Configuration

Click the cog icon to open the work type configuration blade.  This lists all the work types.  

Click the right arrow next to a work type to enable time recording against it.  Toggle the option on/off.  When toggled on, the configuration settings display.

Blade Layout

Time Recording Blade Layout

Introduced in release 7.12 to incorporate Extended Narrative.   Set how you want the narrative to display on the time recording blade.  Two options: Standard - the existing time recording blade (default) Extended Narrative - the new document-style blade The default value is Standard. This setting can be changed at any time to apply the selected layout across all time recording entries for the firm. Extended Narrative blade behaviour When the Extended Narrative layout is selected, the following applies when a user opens a manual time entry via the clock icon ribbon button on a work item: The Extended Narrative blade displays in place of the standard blade The narrative box is free text and auto-expands to accommodate the content as the user types When a stopwatch entry is stopped and the time entry is opened, the Extended Narrative field is present Example Standard blade Example Extended Narrative blade

Unit of measure

Stopwatch behaviour

Automatic stopwatch behaviour

Prevent user overrides.  When enabled, users cannot change or override the time codes set by automated stopwatches. This applies where a stopwatch has been configured to default to a specific time code.

Time Entry Creation Behaviour

Stopwatch toast behaviour

Time targets

Targets can be set at global organisation level or set the expected number of hours to be recorded per day for a given work type. Results can be reported on to track whether targets are being met or exceeded.

Click the settings cogs to configure.

See Time Recording Targets for full details on how to configure time targets.

Book for others

Time periods

A time code set is a collection of codes that identify the type of work being recorded. Sets can have a flat list of codes or a hierarchical structure with parent and child codes. Time code sets are assigned to Classifications and presented to users when they record time.

Time Code Sets

Time Code Sets are maintained under Admin > Time.

1. The Time code sets panel can be collapsed and expanded.
   
2. Click a time set to see the time codes for that set
   
3. Click + New Set to create a new time set. This opens the Add new time code set blade. Complete the details, Save and Close.
   

Add Time Codes to a Time Set

Sets can have a flat list of codes or a hierarchical structure with parent and child codes. 

+ New Code opens the Add new time code blade.  Complete the details, Save and Close.

A classification is a segment (set of fields) that captures additional information about a time entry. For example, a classification called Activity might require the user to select a code from an activity code set. Classifications can be mandatory or optional, and can apply at the point of entry or submission.

Using the screenshot above as an example, a time classification has been defined containing the Time Code Sets of Phase and Task and Activity.

Time Code Classifications are maintained under Admin > Time and consist of one or more segments.

For a given segment, you can specify the following.

Whenever a time entry is created, the user will be asked to enter the top-level time category.

It is this choice that determines the different time codes that need to be entered.

Configure Time Categories

Time Categories are defined within Admin > Time and are defined by:

• A Name and unique System Name.
• A flag to indicate whether they are billable or not.
• And the default time classification (or set of fields) that are shown - see Time Recording: Configuring Time Classifications‍.

In addition to the default time classification, you can also specify a number of Rule Groups to vary the time classification that is used.

Within a rule group, you can specify that a given time classification is shown based on:

• Matching rules that are evaluated for a time container (the time container is typically the matter but could also be the SoW).
• Matching rules that are evaluated for the work item (typically a task) where time is being recorded against it.

Using matching rules, you can:

• Vary the time capture by different matter types - for example, using the JCode classification for dispute matters and a separate classification for real estate matters.
• Vary the time capture for different clients - for example, your client may wish for you to add additional time codes for their matters.

In the Time Recording Global Feature you can configure time categories for work types.

Time targets set the hours a user is expected to record. Clio Operate compares recorded time against the target on a schedule, and raises an event where the target is missed, so a firm can follow up with a notification or a task.

Time Targets are set in Time Recording Global Feature Configuration, but how to configure them and how they are used is explained here. 

When a time recording entry is created, it is possible to record the internal cost associated with that time. The internal cost represents the time recorder's wage, rather than their charge-out rate. Recording it alongside the charge out value lets a firm report on the profitability of work. 

Create rates for internal costs

Once an internal rate card has been created, the cost rates for each job role need to be configured.

The internal costs rates are determined by a users job role. For example:

• a partner's internal cost = £250.00 per hour
• a trainee = £50.00 per hour

Optionally, a firm may also choose to create rates for specific people. For example: Wendy is a partner, the default rate for a partner is £250.00 but the rate for Wendy is £285.00 an hour. 

For the user specific rates to be valid, they must be configured against the correct job role for the user, i.e. if Wendy's job role was not a partner than the rate record below would not be applied.

1. Navigate to Admin > Finance > Internal Costs.
   
2. Select Add Item > Internal Cost Record or click on an internal cost record to edit it.
   
3. Complete the Item Details.
4. To add the rates click + in Pricing 
   

Default Rate

Individual Person Rate

Rate for different Jurisdictions

5. All rates then display in pricing:
   
6. Save & Close.

How a rate is chosen

Once rates have been configured, any time recording records the internal cost in the Chart of Accounts. 

Rates are resolved by job role first, then narrowed by person and jurisdiction. The default rate is the fallback.

Order	Match	Used when
1	Person and jurisdiction	A rate exists for that person in that jurisdiction.
2	Person	A rate exists for that person with no jurisdiction.
3	Jurisdiction	A rate exists for the jurisdiction with no person.
4	Default rate	No job role rate is matched for the user.

For a person specific rate to apply, it must be configured against the job role the person holds. A rate recorded under the wrong job role is never reached.

Job role is resolved at the entry's start time.

The job role used is the one assigned at the time entry's start date and time. Where someone changes role part way through an entry, the role at the start applies.

Adding a person specific rate for one partner overrides the partner default for that person only.

 

 

Five time recording elements can be placed on portals and work item blades. This article covers the time specific configuration. 

Two things decide what a user can do to a time entry. The time permissions they hold, and their update access to the matter the time is recorded against. Both apply.

What each permission does

Ten permissions sit in the Time group. The description column is the wording shown in the product, which is generic for several of them, so the third column explains what each one actually governs.

Another permission not in the Time Group is Admin Access - Finance.  This governs opening the Finance area of the Admin portal, which contains Admin > Time. Without it a user cannot maintain time code sets, classifications or categories, whatever time permissions they hold. Not the same as Time - Finance Admin, which governs what a user can do to a time entry.

Who can edit a time entry

• Decide who returns submitted time for correction. Only Time - Finance Admin can do it, so that group is the single route to fixing a submitted entry. One person is a bottleneck, and an absence stops corrections.
• Check where the permission sits today. In the default configuration pack, Time - Finance Admin is granted to System Admin alone, which is usually IT rather than finance.
• Avoid solving it with System Admin. That set carries broad platform permissions well beyond time recording. A dedicated set for the people who own timesheet quality, usually finance or billing, and sometimes team leaders, keeps the reach proportionate.
• Decide whether users keep Time - Delete. Fee earners hold it by default. Deleting your own draft is normal housekeeping, but combined with editing it means a user can reshape their own time freely until they submit it.
• Check Time - Record for others. It is granted to System Admin only by default, so booking time for someone else needs both the permission and the setting.
• Decide who sees costs. Time - View Fee Costs exposes what the client is charged, and Time Internal Costs - Read exposes what the work costs the firm. Treat the second as the more sensitive of the two.
• Separate viewing targets from setting them. Time Targets - View and Time Targets - Update are different permissions, so a team leader can be given sight of targets without the ability to change them.
• Remember the matter side. Permissions decide what a user may do to time in principle. Matter access decides which time they can reach.

Passive time capture times work as it happens. A stopwatch starts when a user opens a work item, stops when they close it, and a time entry is created for them, already coded. This article covers the whole setup in the order it needs doing. See Understanding Time Recording for a full overview.

Some of the detail here also appears in the articles about the global feature, work types and classifications. It is repeated so you can work through the setup without moving between articles.

Configuration

Enable time recording

Nothing else works until the feature is on.

1. Navigate to Modeller > Global Features.
2. Locate Work Item Time Recording in the Case category.
3. Toggle the feature on.
4. Select the settings cog. The Time Recording Configuration blade displays.

Set how stopwatches behave

Decides when an entry is created, how short a visit is ignored, and what happens when the browser closes. These settings are system wide. They apply to every work type that captures time.

When an entry is created

Select one of three options. They are mutually exclusive, so choosing one replaces the others.

Duration limits and browser behaviour

Set the work type triggers

Decides what starts and stops a stopwatch.

1. In the Time Recording Global Feature, select the cog on Work Type Configuration. A list of work types displays.
2. Select the right arrow next to the work type you want to configure. The Time Recording Settings blade displays.
3. Set Enable Time Recording to enabled.
4. Under Automatic Stopwatches - System Triggers, enable Start on Open, Stop on Close, or both. Start on Open on its own is enough.
5. Set Blade stack behaviour to Trigger events for parent only or Trigger events for all blades.
   Blade stack behaviour is only enabled once Start on Open or Stop on Close is on, so set the triggers first. Where neither is on, no stopwatch starts by itself and there is no passive capture on that work type.
6. Under Automatic Stopwatches - Phase Change Triggers, add any phases that should start or stop a stopwatch.
7. Save the blade.

Fixed time is a separate mechanism on the same blade. It records a set number of minutes when a work item moves between two phases, rather than timing the work. 

Give automatic entries their codes

An automatic stopwatch has nobody to ask which codes to use, so it uses the defaults on the classification. Without them, entries arrive with empty fields and the user has to complete each one, which removes most of the benefit.

1. Navigate to Admin > Time > Time Classifications.
2. Open the classification used by the categories the work type can record against.
3. Open each field in turn.
4. Under Automatic recording, set Default time code for fields that capture a time code set.
5. Set Default value for fields that capture a memo. 
6. Check every field, including mandatory ones. A field marked Mandatory for submission with no default leaves the user with an entry they cannot submit until they complete it. Either give it a default, or accept that users complete that field by hand.
7. Save.

For how classifications and their fields work, see Time Classifications. 

Add the widget to the blade

Triggers control when time is captured. The blade controls whether anyone can see it.

1. Navigate to Modeller > Work Types.
2. Select the work type, then select Blade Editor.
3. Add the time recording widget to the blade.
4. Save the blade.

Decide what users can change

Automatic entries can be locked down more than manual ones. Both settings are in the Time Recording Global Feature under automatic stopwatch behaviour.

Things that catch people out

• The widget. Triggers without the widget means invisible time.
• Minimum duration set too high. Short pieces of work are exactly what passive capture is meant to catch, so a high minimum defeats the purpose. A high maximum has the opposite risk, capping a genuine long session.
• Missing defaults on mandatory fields. Users end up with entries they cannot submit.
• Toasts turned off. Users then have no signal that time is being recorded for them, which is where complaints about unexpected entries come from.
• Assuming Time - Update controls editing. It does not. Use the override restrictions above to limit what users can change on automatic entries.