Configuring Timekeeping

Timekeeping is a transformative feature on Clarra that can be customized extensively, and even repurposed should your company choose to prioritize different needs. Time Tracking can be enabled or disabled, and configured in different ways depending on that initial choice. Let’s go over a few scenarios to better understand which route would best suit your company.

Enabling Time Tracking is most obviously useful for companies that track billable hours. It adds another layer to the all-in-one workflow Clarra offers, and can be linked with the Accounting Features and Payment Integration to generate and send invoices, track expenses, and create revenue forecasts. Timeslips are also well-organized by Activity Codes and Task Codes, making it easier than ever to group billing records. Tracking the workflow of a Matter and its related Events within the Clarra platform, especially with the running timer feature, simplifies the more menial and arduous tasks of manual timekeeping and boosts efficiency and transparency. 

Some companies, however, have their own time management systems and operate based on retainers and flat fees. In these situations, you can disable Time Tracking and reconfigure it to serve a different purpose. The Timekeeping interface is essentially a timed log of records, which is still effective in recording and describing tasks even without the Time Tracking feature.

Should your company disable Time Tracking, the Timekeeping section can be turned into a Notes section or Activity Log. With this change, you can still link activities and tasks completed to Matters, use custom codes to organize these records effectively, and take advantage of every aspect of the highly cohesive and configurable Clarra platform.

Configuring Timekeeping with Time Tracking Enabled

With Time Tracking enabled, you can:

• Rename Timekeeping
  • Changing the name doesn’t change its functionality, so you can use whichever term you prefer
• Choose whether or not to allow Zero Duration Timeslips
  • Not allowing Zero Duration Timeslips can function as a failsafe for timeslips accidentally submitted without logged hours
• Customize Billing Increments
  • The default Billing Increment is 6 minutes, or .1 hours. This can be customized to any value your company prefers, and impacts how logged time is rounded up when using the timer feature.

To rename Timekeeping across Clarra:

• Click on your Profile Icon and select “Properties” in the dropdown menu
• Go to the “Global” tab
• Select the three dots to the right of “Timekeeping”
• Press “Configure”
• Write the new term in “Change To”
• Press “Save”

To choose whether or not to allow your users to save Timeslips with Zero Duration:

• Click on your Profile Icon and select “Properties” in the dropdown menu
• Go to the “Global” tab
• Select the three dots to the right of “Timekeeping”
• Press “Configure”
• Choose “Allow” or “Allow after user confirmation” or “Do not allow” from the dropdown menu under “Zero Duration Timeslip”
• Press “Save”

To adjust the Billing Increment:

• Click on your Profile Icon and select “Properties” in the dropdown menu
• Go to the “Global” tab
• Select the three dots to the right of “Timekeeping”
• Press “Configure”
• Scroll down to “Billing Increment”
• Enter your preferred increment into “Minutes”
  • Companies that bill by every 6 minutes would leave the default value
  • Companies that bill by every 15 minutes would enter 15 into Minutes
  • Companies that bill by every 30 minutes would enter 30 into Minutes
  • Companies that bill by the hour would enter 60 into Minutes
  • Companies that bill by the day would enter 1440 into Minutes

Configuring Timekeeping with Time Tracking Disabled:

With Time Tracking disabled, you can adjust how Timekeeping appears to better fit your new use of the feature. You can:

• Rename Timekeeping
  • Some users turn Timekeeping into “Notes” to have a centralized note database within Clarra
  • Others turn Timekeeping into an “Activity Log” to record actions in a chronological sequence, without tracking how long each activity takes
• Choose a Custom Icon Design after Disabling Time Tracking
  • You can select a new icon that aligns with the new functionality of the renamed feature

To rename Timekeeping across Clarra:

• Click on your Profile Icon and select “Properties” in the dropdown menu
• Go to the “Global” tab
• Select the three dots to the right of “Timekeeping”
• Press “Configure”
• Write the new term, such as “Notes”, in “Change To”
• Press “Save”

To disable Time Tracking Capabilities:

• Click on your Profile Icon and select “Properties” in the dropdown menu
• Go to the “Global” tab
• Select the three dots to the right of “Timekeeping”
• Press “Configure”
• Choose “Disable” from the dropdown menu under “Time Tracking Capability”
• Select your preferred Icon Design
• Press “Save”

It’s important to know that whether you choose to enable or disable Time Tracking, Activity Codes and Task Codes can be customized to fit your use of the Timekeeping feature. 

• With Time Tracking enabled, Activity Codes help describe the broader category work is being done for, and Task Codes indicate the specific task completed.
• With Time Tracking disabled, Activity Codes and Task Codes can still be customized to categorize the information being recorded, helping you effectively organize the new Notes or Activity Logs you’ve created.

Learn more about Customizing Activity Codes and Task Codes.