Track time on engagements

Accurate time tracking is the foundation of a well-run practice. Every hour logged against an engagement becomes a potential invoice line item, and every hour not logged is revenue that disappears without a trace. Kuberan AI gives you two ways to log time — manual entry and a live timer — and keeps all time entries organised so they are easy to review and bill.

Where time lives in Kuberan AI

Time entries are accessible from two places:

• Inside an engagement — the Time tab on any engagement detail page shows all time logged against that engagement
• Practice > Time Entries — a global view of every time entry across all engagements and all team members

The Time Entries screen shows all logged time across your practice, with filters for date, staff member, client, and billing status.

Method 1: Manual time entry

Manual entry is best when you are recording time after the fact — at the end of the day, or when you finish a block of work.

1. Open the engagement

   Navigate to Practice > Engagements and click on the engagement you worked on.

2. Go to the Time tab

   Click the Time tab on the engagement detail page to see all time entries for this engagement.

3. Click Log Time

   Click the Log Time button. A form opens with the following fields.

4. Fill in the entry details

   • Date — defaults to today; change it if you are entering time retroactively
   • Hours — enter as decimal (e.g. 1.5 for 1 hour 30 minutes) or hours:minutes (1:30)
   • Description — a brief note about what you did (e.g. “Reconciled chequing and savings accounts; categorised 34 transactions; updated bank rules”)
   • Team member — defaults to you; if you are entering time on behalf of someone else, select their name
   • Billing rate — select the applicable rate from your firm’s configured rates
   • Billable — toggle on if this time will be charged to the client; toggle off for internal or write-off time

5. Click Save

   Click Save time entry. The entry appears in the engagement’s Time tab and in the global Practice > Time Entries list.

Method 2: Live timer

The live timer is best when you want to track time as you work, without having to estimate hours later.

1. Start the timer from the engagement

   Open the engagement you are about to work on. In the Time tab, click the Start Timer button (the play icon). The timer begins running and a persistent timer indicator appears in the bottom bar of the screen.

2. Work normally

   You can navigate anywhere in Kuberan AI while the timer runs. The timer indicator in the bottom bar shows the elapsed time and the engagement it is tracking against.

3. Stop the timer when you finish

   Click the stop button in the timer bar. A time entry form pre-fills with the elapsed time, the engagement, today’s date, and your default billing rate.

4. Review and save

   Add a description, confirm the billing rate and billable flag, then click Save. The entry is created exactly as with manual entry.

You can only run one timer at a time

If you start a new timer while one is running, Kuberan AI asks whether to stop the current timer first. It does not allow two simultaneous timers. If you switch between tasks, stop the current timer, create its entry, then start a new timer for the next task.

Setting and choosing billing rates

Billing rates are configured at Practice > Billing Rates. Common rate structures include:

• Role-based rates — One rate per role (Partner, Manager, Senior, Staff, Bookkeeper). Every time entry for a person in that role uses the same rate.
• Service-based rates — Different rates per service type (Tax preparation at $350/hr, Advisory at $400/hr, Bookkeeping at $120/hr). Select the applicable service rate when logging the entry.
• Client-specific rates — Override rates negotiated for specific clients. Set these on the client record under Clients > [Client name] > Billing.

When logging a time entry, the billing rate dropdown shows all available rates. Kuberan AI pre-selects your default rate, but you can change it per entry.

Viewing unbilled time

To see all time that has been logged but not yet invoiced:

1. Go to Practice > Reports
2. Click Unbilled Time
3. Filter by client, date range, or team member as needed

This report is your billing pipeline. It shows exactly how much revenue is waiting to be invoiced. Run it weekly to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Alternatively, open any individual engagement and look at the Time tab — time entries marked as billable and not yet associated with an invoice are highlighted with an “Unbilled” badge.

How time flows into invoices

When you create an invoice from an engagement (see Invoice clients from engagements), Kuberan AI automatically pulls in all unbilled billable time entries for that engagement as draft line items. Each time entry becomes a separate line on the invoice, showing the date, description, hours, rate, and amount.

You can:

• Include or exclude individual time entries from the invoice
• Edit line item descriptions before sending
• Consolidate multiple entries into a single line item (for flat-fee billing)
• Add additional fixed-fee line items alongside time entries

Once the invoice is sent, the included time entries are marked as Billed and will not appear in future invoice drafts.

Building a daily time-tracking habit

The 5-minute end-of-day rule

The most effective time-tracking habit is simple: before you close Kuberan AI at the end of each day, spend five minutes reviewing what you worked on and logging any missing time entries. Memory is reliable for the same day and unreliable for anything older than 48 hours.

Practical habits that work for accounting firms:

• Log time immediately after each task block — do not save it for later; enter it when it is fresh
• Use the timer for longer focused blocks (reconciliation, tax preparation), and manual entry for shorter tasks (client calls, emails)
• Log non-billable time too — internal meetings, training, and firm administration should be logged against internal engagements so you have accurate capacity data
• Review your timesheet weekly — go to Practice > Time Entries, filter to your name and the current week, and verify there are no gaps on working days
• Do not round down aggressively — a 20-minute client call is 0.3 hours, not zero. Consistent under-reporting adds up to significant lost revenue over a year