How time recording works

Time is recorded against a work item — such as a task, email, prepared document, or matter. Each time recording is saved as a time entry, which holds the duration, a narrative, a time code, and a classification.

Time can be captured in two ways:

• Passive capture
  A stopwatch starts automatically when a user opens a work item. When the user closes, pauses, or moves away, the stopwatch stops and a time entry is created. This happens in the background without the user needing to take action.
• Manual entry
  A user creates a time entry directly by selecting New Time Entry from the time list or a time command. They enter the duration, narrative, and other details manually.

Time entry states

A time entry moves through the following states:

• Draft - The entry has been created but not yet submitted. The user can edit it.
• Submitted - The entry has been submitted for approval or billing. Depending on configuration, editing may be restricted.
• Revising - The entry has been sent back to draft after being submitted, so it can be corrected and submitted again.
• Approved - The entry has been reviewed and approved.

Billable time gets lost when users have to remember what they did and write it up later. Passive capture removes the remembering. Clio Operate times the work as it happens and creates the time entry, so a user checks an entry that already exists rather than reconstructing one at the end of the day.

Passive capture works through automatic stopwatches. The two terms describe the same thing, the idea and the mechanism.

Passive time Capture, start to finish

The user does two things, Clio Operate does the rest.

Three of the six steps need no action from the user. Brief visits create no entry, because a minimum duration applies.

1. A user opens a task.
2. A stopwatch starts on its own.
3. They do the work, then close the task, pause, or move away.
4. The stopwatch stops. A time entry is created in Draft, with its codes already filled in from the defaults on the classification.
5. A message confirms the entry was created.
6. The user checks it, adds or edits the narrative, and submits.

Why firms use it

• Captures short pieces of work that rarely get written up, such as reading an email or taking a two minute call.
• Durations and narratives are more accurate, because nothing depends on recall hours later.
• Time lands on the right work item automatically, since the stopwatch is tied to what the user opened.
• Entries arrive already coded, so there is less for the user to complete.

Manual stopwatches

A user can start a stopwatch themselves from the time aspect on a work item. It runs in the background and can be paused or stopped at any time. When it stops, the elapsed time is saved as a time entry. Same result, different trigger.

When stopwatches start and stop

Automatic stopwatches are triggered by system events: opening a work item, closing it, or the work item moving into a particular phase. Triggers are set per work type, so a firm can run passive capture on tasks and emails but not on fixed fee matters. See Configure time recording for a work type. 

Browser close behaviour

If a user closes their browser tab or navigates away while a stopwatch is running, the configured action decides what happens. The stopwatch can pause, stop, or prompt them before the tab closes. Where it is set to stop, the time entry is recorded automatically.

Multiple Stopwatches

More than one stopwatch can run at the same time, for example one for a task and one for a related document. Each one produces its own time entry.

How a time entry gets its codes

Three things decide what a user is asked for when they record time, and a configurator sets up all three. Each one decides the next.

From a user's viewpoint:

1. They choose the kind of time they are recording, billable or non-billable. That choice is the time category.
2. That category decides which fields they are then asked to complete. The group of fields is the time classification.
3. Each field offers a list of codes to choose from. Each list is a time code set.

Time Categories

A category carries a name, a system name, an enabled flag, a billable flag, and the classification to use by default. The default configuration pack creates two categories, Billable and Non-Billable. You may have more.

Rule groups on a category can change which classification the user sees, based on the work item or the matter it sits under. For example, a dispute matter might present a different set of fields from an advisory matter. See Configure time categories and rules.

Categories can also be restricted per work type, with one pre-selected as the default. See Configure time recording for a work type.

Time Classifications

A classification is little more than a name and the fields it presents. Each field defines its label, whether it offers codes or free text, which code set it draws from, whether it is mandatory at entry or at submission, and what an automatic stopwatch should use as its default. See Configure time codes and classifications.

Time Codes

A set is a reusable list of codes. It can be a flat list, or a hierarchy of parent and child codes. For example, Attendance as a parent code with In-person and Video call beneath it.

Codes must be unique within their set, and a set does nothing until a field on a classification points at it. See Configure time codes and classifications.

Time Containers

A time container is the work item that time rolls up to, typically the matter. Rules can run against the closest work item that is a time container, rather than the work item time is recorded against. Which work types are time containers is set per work type, and a work type inherits the setting from its parent type when it is not set directly.

Time targets

Time targets set the expected number of hours a user should record per day. Targets can be set at global level, for a specific team, or for a specific user. Results feed into reporting so managers can track whether targets are being met.

Internal costs

An internal cost is what a time entry costs the firm, based on the recorder's wage rather than the rate charged to the client. Recording both lets a firm report on the profitability of the work it does.

Rates sit on a rate card and are resolved by the user's job role, so a partner's hour costs the firm more than a trainee's. A firm can also set a rate for a specific person where theirs differs from the role. Each internal cost is posted as a transaction in the chart of accounts alongside the time entry.

Internal costs are sensitive, so they display only to users who hold the relevant permission. The feature is optional. 

Book for others

When enabled, users with the appropriate permission can record time on behalf of another user. This is useful where fee earners have an administrator who manages their time entries. The setting must be enabled at global level and the permission must be granted at team or user level.

Time periods

Time periods limit how far back and forward users can record time. A past limit prevents users from backdating entries beyond a set number of days. A future limit prevents users from recording time more than a set number of days in the future.

On-Demand Learning

A training module is available to help you get to know more about Time Recording in Clio Operate on our learning management system, LearnUpon.

Get to know Time Recording in Clio Operate

If you've not used our LearnUpon system before, see On-Demand Learning for details of how to register and access your account.

Time Recording video