Table Of Contents
Overview
A Few Rules On How Timers Work
Navigating To The Timer
Top Navigation Bar
From the Task Board
Starting A Timer
Cancelling A Timer
Pausing Active Timers
Saving Time Entries
Editing Time Entries
Restarting A Previous Timer From The Same Day
Switching Between Timers
Midnight Roll-Over
Activity Indicator
Related Articles
Overview
Timers keep track of the total amount of time worked on each project. You don't have to be logged into BigTime to keep a timer running. You can start a timer, turn off your computer or tablet, and return an hour or two later — your timer will still be running.
In this article, you will learn how timers work, i.e., what the process of logging working time looks like.
A Few Rules On How Timers Work
| Using Timers In BigTime | |||
| Step 1 | Start a Timer and track working time | ||
| Step 2 | Assign the timer to a specific project, task, and any other required fields | ||
| Step 3 | Save the timer to create a timesheet entry | ||
- Think of timers like a stopwatch—tracking your time minute-by-minute, second-by-second.
- Keep track of total working time. You can start and pause a timer as often as you need throughout the day, and your timer will show the total amount of time logged.
- Track work-in-progress easily with a timer. This is helpful when an unexpected meeting or phone call comes up. Start a timer, then fill in the details later.
- You can only have one timer running at a time. You need to switch the timer to start tracking time for another project.
- Staffers can edit timers until they save the timer to their timesheet and submit the hours for approval. Once the time entry is submitted for approval, the timer will be removed from their Unsubmitted Time list.
Navigating To The Timer
There are two ways to navigate to the timer in BigTime.
Top Navigation Bar
The primary way is to click the TIMER ICON on your navigation bar.
| Log in to your BigTime account ➡ Click the TIMER icon on the main navigation bar |
From the Task Board
Another option is to click TASKS/WORKFLOW…TASK BOARD to get to your task dashboard.
|
Log in to your BigTime account ➡ Click the TASKS tab on the main navigation bar ➡ Select the TASK BOARD subtab from the ribbon ➡ Click the CLOCK icon in the LOG column |
Clicking the TIMER ICON next to a task opens a LOG TIME pop-up window. From there, you can log time directly or click START TIMER, which will start a new timer with the pre-populated task details.
Starting A Timer
| Click the TIMER icon on the main navigation bar ➡ Click the START button |
Cancelling A Timer
| Click the CLOCK icon on the main navigation bar ➡ Click the START button ➡ Click the CANCEL TIMER button in the top right corner |
You can cancel a running timer by clicking the CANCEL TIMER button on the top right corner. Canceling the timer deletes the active timer from your list.
Pausing Active Timers
| Click the TIMER icon on the main navigation bar ➡ Click the START button ➡ Click the PAUSE button when needed to stop the timer temporarily ➡ Click the RESUME button to resume the timer |
You may need to step away from your computer for a while. In this situation, you can stop and restart the timer when you return.
Once a timer has been started, you can pause it by clicking PAUSE.
Click the RESUME button to continue working on the project and restart the timer.
Saving Time Entries
| Click the TIMER icon on the main navigation bar ➡ Click the START button ➡ Click the FINISH button to save time entry ➡ Complete all required fields ➡ Click the SAVE TO TIMESHEET button to confirm adding the time entry to the timesheet |
To save the time entry, first press the FINISH button.
After the timer ends, the Time Entry details screen will appear automatically. Then, you can fill in any details and required fields.
You can add information for each timer you create, such as project, category, and task. This will help you stay organized, and it will be saved to your timesheet
| Note: Depending on how your administrator customizes timesheet entry settings, the fields on your screen may differ from those shown above. |
Press SAVE TO TIMESHEET to save the Time Entry.
Editing Time Entries
| Click the TIMER icon on the main navigation bar ➡ Find the timer you need to edit ➡ Click EDIT to open the form and edit any details |
You will be redirected to the Time Entry Details screen for editing.
Restarting A Previous Timer From The Same Day
| Click the TIMERS icon on the main navigation bar ➡ Find the project on the UNSUBMITTED TIME list ➡ Click PLAY ICON to restart the timer |
To restart a timer from the same day, find it in the UNSUBMITTED TIME list and click the PLAY ICON:
Switching Between Timers
| Pause Active Timer ➡ Start A New Timer / Restart A Previous Timer |
Create as many timers as you’d like and switch between them during your day.
Say you’re working on a project for MMM Media. But then John from ABC Studios calls unexpectedly. Sound familiar? If you need to switch between timers, here’s what you do:
Find the timer associated with the project you need to work on and click on it. In the example below, we’ll click on ABC Studios since we’d like to stop working on MMM Media and start working on ABC Studios.
Then, click START to begin tracking time.
Midnight Roll-Over
To maintain accurate records of hours worked for a specific day, any timer running past midnight will automatically stop, and a new timer will start with the same details (project, task, etc.) for the following day.
For example, if you start a timer on Monday at 4 PM and it runs past midnight, the timer will stop with 8 hours logged for Monday. A new timer will then automatically start logging hours for Tuesday. To save these timers to your timesheet, simply find them in your Unsubmitted Time list and click "Save to Timesheet."
Activity Indicator
If an active timer is running, the timer icon in the main navigation bar pulses. Hovering over the timer activity indicator presents a quick view of the time tracked so far.
Related Articles
Since timers are fundamental for accurately recording work hours, understanding these related workflows ensures better time tracking, productivity, and payroll integration. To learn more about the workflow, go to the links below: