Time Tracking Software That's Automatic

Now that you have your computer, phone, and meeting time entries captured, you can move them to your Timesheet.  The Timesheet is located beneath the Unbilled Time section on the Time – Summary screen.

Like the Unbilled Time section, the Timesheet date range can be modified using the date selector in the upper-left portion of your screen.

Moving Unbilled Time Entries to Your Timesheet

You can move time entries to your Timesheet by assigning them to a Project.

As you categorize and annotate time entries, your Timesheet will be automatically populated.

Categorizing Entries From the Summary

To categorize a time entry:

1. Check the box to the left of the entry in the Unbilled Time section
2. Select the Move To Project dropdown
3. Select the appropriate project for categorization.

Tip: Select multiple consecutive entries at once by selecting the first entry, holding down the Shift key, and selecting the last entry you want. Each entry in between the two will also be selected.

First, check the box to the left of the entry.

Then click the Move To Project dropdown to select the project for this time entry.

Use the auto-complete field to filter your client/project list – just start typing, and it will pare down your list.

You can also setup a Keyword-Based Rule to perform this action automatically for you.  Please see: Setting Up Keyword-Based Rules for Automatic Categorization

This rule will automatically categorize entries with the keyword “SMUD” to your Timesheet.

Categorizing From the Timeline

You can also categorize time entries directly from the Timeline (Time – Timeline) by checking the box to the left of the entry, selecting the Move To Project dropdown, and then selecting the appropriate project for categorization to your Timesheet.  The Project column, located on the far-right side of the table, will update accordingly.

Use the Move To Project dropdown to categorize entries from the Timeline to your Timesheet.

Multiple consecutive entries categorized to the same Project.

Annotations on Your Timesheet

The Timesheet combines time entries with “like” annotations.  If items are sent to the Timesheet with an Annotation, they will be nested within this Annotation.  If the entries were only categorized to the Timesheet, they will display under the Unannotated Time for that Project.

Here, two time entries are combined under the annotation “Preparing notes for panel discussion”.  The Client is “Public Speaking”, and the project is “Guerrilla PR for Startups”.

This annotated and categorized entry originally consisted of two unique, but obviously related, time entries.

Here is what Unannotated Time looks like on a Timesheet.  We do have a shortcut available for annotating all entries categorized to a given Project on a Timesheet.  Click the Annotate Time mouseover button located just to the right of the Unannotated Time label.

Click the Annotate Time button to give all subsequent unannotated entries the same annotation.

Adding Manual Entries to Your Timesheet

You can add a manual time entry directly to your Timesheet by using the Manual Entry mouseover button, located just to the right of your Client – Project name (when you move your mouse over it).  It’s the + button shown here just to the right of the Project name:

The “+” button allows you to add a manual entry directly to the Timesheet under a Project.

This will bring up the Create Time Entry popup, with the Project prepopulated for you.  Enter a Description, Duration, Start Time, Date, Device, and click Save.

Popup for adding a manual time entry to your Timesheet.

Exporting Your Timesheet to Printable Format and/or Excel

You can export your entire Timesheet to a printable format, or you can export one project at a time.

To export your entire Timesheet to printable format, click the Print button located to the right of the Timesheet label (second button from the far right).

To export just one project from the Timesheet to printable format, mouse over the settings menu to the right of the project name, and select Printable Version.

The same goes for Excel – to export your entire Timesheet to Excel, click the Export to Excel button located to the right of the Timesheet label:

To export just one project to Excel, mouse over the settings menu to the right of the project name, and select Export to Excel.

Exporting Your Timesheet to an Integrated Third-Party System

Once you have your Timesheet completed, you can export it to a third-party system with a single click.  For our current list of integration partners, please click here.

(And we do take requests, so let us know if your favorite accounting, billing, or project management system is not yet listed).

As a first step, you’ll want to setup the integration.  Please click here for specific instructions on how to integrate your system with Chrometa.

Once the integration is enabled, you will be able to export your Timesheet to this system via a new shortcut button displayed in the Timesheet header, and the Project settings.

To export your entire Timesheet, click the Export to… button located to the right of the Timesheet header:

To export one project at a time, mouse over the settings menu to the right of the project name, and select Export to…

For more details on your particular integration, please visit our Integration Tutorials here.

Sending Your Timesheet to an Invoice

You can also create invoices directly from the Timesheet view.  To bulk create invoices for ALL clients and projects in your Timesheet, click the Create Invoices (All Projects) button displayed to the right of the Timesheet header:

To create an invoice for a particular project, mouse over the settings menu to the right of the project name, and select

You’ll be taken directly to the New Invoice screen with your invoice already started (and perhaps nearly completed!) for you.  This screen is fully editable, and the table that contains your time entries behaves like a spreadsheet, so that you can conveniently make any final modifications needed to the invoice.

Please click here for a full guide to Invoices.

Default Annotation and Rounding Settings

You can set a default annotation (for unannotated entries) and a rounding setting by clicking the Annotation and Rounding Settings button, located to the far right of the Timesheet label.

Click here to set a default annotation and establish a rounding setting.

Configure your Unannotated Description and Rounding setting in this popup.

You can annotate a time entry – or a series of them – by using our annotation feature.  Annotations allow you to add more “human” descriptions to the time entries that were captured by Chrometa.  These descriptions can then be ported directly to your Timesheets, Invoices, and/or other Billing systems.

Another advantage of annotations is that we can combine “like” annotations into one larger entry.

How to Annotate a Time Entry From the Summary

There are two ways to annotate time entries from the Summary – one at a time, or in bulk.

Annotating Individual Time Entries

Mouse over the entry itself (from the Time – Summary view), and you’ll seen an Annotate button appear. Click this button to bring up the Add/Edit Annotation popup. Click Save to store your annotation.

When mousing over an individual time entry, you can click the Annotate button to add your own description.

This Add / Edit Annotation popup window will then appear.  Enter your description and click Save.

I entered “Preparing notes for panel discussion” as the annotation.  Here is what the annotated entry will look like.

Our new annotation will now appear at the front of the entry, with the details that were captured by Chrometa being moved afterwards and placed in parenthesis.

Had we annotated this entry from the Timesheet, rather than the Unbilled Time section, the original details would instead be moved underneath the annotation.

Annotating Time Entries in Bulk

Select the checkbox at the beginning of the time entry, or entries (on the left-side). Then click the Annotate button, located in the horizontal blue toolbar (just to the right of the Personal dropdown). This will also bring up the Add/Edit Description popup.

Annotate button – for annotating one or more time entries at once.

How to Annotate & Categorize; Timeline, Too

You can annotate time entries while you categorize them from the Summary or Timeline by checking the box to the left of the entry, selecting the Move To Project dropdown, and then selecting the appropriate project for categorization.

Use the & Annotate button in the Move To Project dropdown located to the right of the Project you are categorizing the entries to, to annotate and categorize at the same time.

Multiple consecutive entries categorized to the same Project.

The “& Annotate” button (lower-right) will allow you to annotate entries as you categorize them.

You can annotate entries from the Timeline without categorizing them by checking the box to the left of the entry, clicking the blue Annotate button (with pen icon), and entering an annotation in the resulting popup.

Annotate button.

Add / Edit Annotation popup window.

Annotations on Your Timesheet

As mentioned earlier, annotated entries on your Timesheet will combine all entries with “like” annotations that are assigned to the same Client and Project.  From our example earlier, had we given our two time entries the same annotation and category, they would appear as Timesheet entries like this:

This annotated and categorized entry originally consisted of two unique, but obviously related, time entries.

We have a shortcut available for annotating all entries categorized to a given Project on a Timesheet.  Click the Annotate Time mouseover button located just to the right of the Unannotated Time label.

Click the Annotate Time button to give all subsequent unannotated entries the same annotation.

How to Annotate Multiple Time Entries

Select the checkboxes at the beginning of the time entries you want to annotate. Then click the Annotate button to bring up the Add/Edit Description popup.

Tip: You can select multiple consecutive entries using our Shift + Left-Click keyboard shortcut. To do this, left-click on the checkbox of the first entry you want to select. Then hold down Shift while you left-click on the final entry in your sequence. All entries in between will then be selected.

How to Modify or Remove Annotations

To modify an annotation, follow the same steps you used to create an annotation. Your new annotation will overwrite the old one.

To remove an annotation, also follow these steps, and delete your previous annotation. After you click Save, your previous annotation will be removed, and you’ll be back to your starting point (which will display the time entry info that Chrometa captured automatically).

The latest release of Chrometa — automatic timekeeping software — enables you to create an accurate timesheet with virtually no effort.

First, Chrometa passively captures your time entries from your computer-based (and quite soon, mobile) work.

Then Chrometa uses keyword-based rules to assign your time entries automatically to the appropriate client/matter, and rounds it up to the 6-minute increment.

Take a look at this short demo video and sample timesheet to see how it works.

Please start using Chrometa’s new automatic timesheets feature now

(Free 14-day trial included, for Mac and PC)