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.
| Permission | Description in the product | What it governs |
|---|---|---|
| Time - Read | Restricts access to all time views across the application | Seeing time entries anywhere: list views, the time nav bar and the time entry blade. Without it, a user sees no time at all. |
| Time - Create | Restricts access to time recording | Recording time, by stopwatch or by hand. |
| Time - Update | Restricts access to time recording | Nothing today, despite the name. Editing an entry is governed by the state of the entry and by update access to the matter. Withholding this permission does not stop a user changing their time. |
| Time - Delete | Restricts access to time recording | Deleting an entry while it is in Draft or Revising. A user can delete their own entries. Deleting someone else's also needs Time - Finance Admin. |
| Time - Finance Admin | Can reverse time entries and manage time actions that have financial impact | Returning a submitted entry to Revising so it can be corrected, and editing or deleting time belonging to another user. Owning an entry is not enough to un-submit it, so this is the only route to correcting submitted time. In the default configuration pack it is granted to the System Admin permission set alone. |
| Time - Record for others | Can book time for other users | Recording and editing time on behalf of another user. Has no effect unless Allow booking time for other users is also enabled in the global feature. In the default configuration pack it is granted to the System Admin permission set alone. |
| Time - View Fee Costs | Can view Fee costs for time records | Seeing the fee cost, what the client is charged, on a time record. |
| Time Internal Costs - Read | Restricts access to Time Internal Costs views across the system |
Seeing internal costs, what the work costs the firm, on time entries, in time entry list views and on financial transactions. This is sensitive data - only assign to users who need to see internal costs. |
| Time Targets - View | Can view time targets | Seeing time targets. Also required for the two time target settings to display in the global feature. |
| Time Targets - Update | Can update time targets | Setting and changing time target values. |
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
| To do this | A user needs |
|---|---|
| Edit their own entry, in Draft or Revising | Update access to the matter the time is recorded against. No separate time permission gates this today. |
| Edit another user's entry, in Draft or Revising | Time - Finance Admin and Time - Record for others, with Allow booking time for other users enabled, and update access to the matter. |
| Move a Submitted entry back to Revising | Time - Finance Admin. Owning the entry is not enough, so a user cannot un-submit their own time. |
| Edit or reverse an Approved entry | Not possible, for anyone. Approved time is frozen. |
Matter access: A user who holds every time permission still cannot touch time recorded against a matter they cannot update. Anyone correcting time across the firm needs update access to those matters as well.
Default grants
From the default configuration pack. Any environment that has been live for a while may differ, so confirm what a firm's permission sets actually hold.
| Permission set | Time - Finance Admin | Time - Delete |
|---|---|---|
| System Admin | Yes, the only set that has it | Yes |
| Fee Earners | No | Yes |
| Support Staff | No | Yes |
| Team Leaders | No | Yes |
| Case Admin | No | Yes |
| Finance | No | Yes |
| Client Case Handler | No | No |
For how permission sets are created and assigned, see Global Permissions and Role-based Permissions.
Check the environment rather than the defaults. A live environment may have been changed since, so confirm what a firm's permission sets actually hold before advising on them.
What to think about when assigning
- 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.