Capture your team's time right where you bill, then turn it into invoice-ready work without re-entering a thing. Learn how to record time with a timer or a manual entry, link it to the right client and service, and send it to WIP for billing review.
Before you begin
Time is linked to a client's accepted service, so the client needs an accepted service that covers the work. The work date must also fall within that service's agreement dates.
Record your time
Start a timer
Start a timer when you begin the work, and choose a recent client or select a new one. For internal work, you can start the timer without a client.
Stop the timer when you finish. Ignition saves it as a draft so you can complete the details before submitting.
Enter time manually
Select Enter time to log work you've already done.
Complete the entry
Open the draft or new entry, then:
Choose the client, then the accepted service that covers the work.
Mark the time as billable or non-billable, or select Internal work.
Add the work date, minutes worked and a description.
[Screenshot from Ryan's draft doc: "Edit time: choose client, accepted service, billable status, date, minutes, and work description before submitting to WIP."]
Note: If an entry has no client or service, it stays unallocated. Resolve it before you treat the work as ready to bill.
Submit time to WIP
When the entry is ready, submit it. Ignition adds the time to WIP and values it at your practice's charge-out rate. For example, one hour at $200 per hour adds $200 of WIP. Submitting doesn't create an invoice. It makes the work available for review in WIP, where you decide what to bill.
What happens after you submit
Billable hourly time moves to Ready to invoice once it's mapped, valued and not on hold.
Time on a fixed-fee service is checked against the agreement. It doesn't create a second invoice for work you already bill through the agreement.
Non-billable time stays visible but doesn't create billable WIP.
Internal time stays separate from client billing.
Review your team's time
My time shows your week of entries by client and accepted service.
Team time shows submitted entries by team member, with the date, status, duration and billable state. Use Time approvals to review or approve entries before they're included in billing.
Give team members time-only access
Assign the Time Entry role to people who only need to log their time, like contractors or part-time staff. You can assign roles from Settings → Users, and people with this role land on Time when they sign in.
People with the Time Entry role can:
Create manual or timer-based entries
Choose a client and accepted service, and mark time billable or non-billable
Add a work date and description, save drafts and submit entries
Edit or delete their own entries until they're submitted
They can't view or edit teammates' time, approve time, change submitted entries, map imported WIP, mark time as billed, write time off or create invoices.
Troubleshooting
I can't find the service I need
Only the client's accepted services appear, and the work date must fall within the service's agreement dates. If the work isn't covered yet, add the service for the client first, for example as an additional service.
My time isn't showing in Ready to invoice
Check that the entry was submitted, has a client and accepted service, and is marked billable. Time on a fixed-fee service is reviewed against the agreement instead, and some entries may be waiting in Needs decision or on hold.
An entry shows No client or No service
Open the entry and add the missing client or accepted service. Until you do, the time stays unallocated and isn't ready to bill.
Related articles
[Link: How WIP billing works]
Still have questions? Reach out to our support team via the chat bubble and we'll be happy to help.