The timer widget makes it easier to record time entries in real time. There are alternative ways to record time, but for heavy billable users, the timer will often be the best fit. The timer is a draggable widget that overlays Filevine pages during a session. On narrower pages, the timer opens as a separate page, allowing users to use the timer on mobile devices.

• View Settings
• Interacting with the Timer
• Timer Page

View Settings

The timer widget will appear for any member of an Org with Billing enabled. The timer will first appear in “minimal mode,” as a clock icon in the top left of your Filevine screen, next to the main menu icons.

To open the timer, click on this icon. Once you have interacted with the timer, for all subsequent logins, it will display in the view that the user last had it in: either minimal or opened.

The opened timer can be minimized again by clicking on the “minimize” button in the header bar on the top right of the time. The timer will continue to be active if minimized. Click the icon to open the timer again.

An active timer will automatically load, so after refreshing or logging out and back in, the clock will continue as if it had been running in the background. The clock continues running if you close the browser or log out of Filevine, but will not continue in the incognito mode of a browser.

Moving the Timer

The open timer can be moved to any location on the Filevine screen. Dragging and dropping the timer will save its position on the screen for subsequent uses, though the timer may shift if the window size is changed. The timer cannot be dragged offscreen.

When you start dragging, a backdrop will appear with six “snap points.” These snap points are six areas that have been identified as prime locations for the timer to keep it out of the way of content.

The two snap points in the middle will always keep the timer centered, the two on the right will always keep it aligned to the right edge, and the three on the bottom will always keep it aligned to the bottom, even after resizing the window.

Interacting with the Timer

When the timer is opened, you will be able to interact with it. This section will go over the different pieces of the timer, how to use them, and what they are for.

Searching for a Project

The project box is where you will select the project where the time will be recorded. The project box will display the text “search for a project” or the name of the selected project. To choose a project, begin typing in the project box and select your project from the dropdown.

When a project is selected and time has not yet begun recording, you can click the project box again to search for a new project. Once the timer is active or has begun recording time, the project selector cannot be changed until the recorded time has been saved or reset.

Switching Between Projects

If you have selected a project in the timer and have navigated to another, a quickswitch button will display and flash over the selected project. Hovering over this button will display the new project to the right.

Pressing the quickswitch button will automatically save the current timer's time entry, switch to the new project, and start the timer in the new project. A description must be entered to save the first time entry before the quickswitch is clicked.

Using the Controls

The timer controls include the play/pause button, the reset button, the checkmark, and the vertical ellipses options menu.

The play/pause button will allow you to start, pause, and restart the time, depending on the current state of the timer. The red reset button will reset the timer and clear all information except the selected project. When you click on the reset button, you will be prompted to confirm.

The checkmark button will become clickable only when the timer has recorded time and has a description. Clicking the checkmark button will save the current timer to the project as a time entry. After a successful save, the timer will clear. If you are on a project page, that project will be auto-selected in the project box.

The vertical ellipses options button is a dropdown with the option to Save, Edit, or open/close Advanced options. 

The save option in this dropdown follows the same rules as described above for the checkmark button. Clicking the Edit option will open the Add a Time Entry window, allowing you to edit the following:

• team member
• date
• time
• description
• billing Codes
• Save as Draft option
• Billable and Chargeable options

Learn more about time entries.

Writing the Description

The description box appears below the project box and controls. A time entry must contain a description, so a time entry cannot be saved without a description added.

The description box can be edited at any time, but the edits will only be saved if the timer is active. A small colored dot in the upper left corner serves as a status indicator: green for successfully saved, yellow for has unsaved changes. A red status dot indicates that the description is required for saving the timer or that there was a save error.

To edit the description when the timer is not running, you will need to restart the timer or click on the Edit option in the vertical ellipsis menu and edit the description there. 

Expanded Options

For billing codes, billable and chargeable options, or the option to save as a draft, click the caret at the bottom of the timer to expand. 

If you’ve added billing codes for time entries, you can enter the codes in the fields here. 

If you’d like to save the entry with a draft status, meaning that the entry must be reviewed and saved to become available for invoices, select the Save as Draft option here.

By default, entries are marked as billable and chargeable. If you’d like the entry to be unbilled or not chargeable, toggle these options off.

Timer Page

If you open the billing timer on a window or screen narrower than 768 pixels, like a mobile screen, you will automatically be taken to the timer page, rather than to the timer widget.

This page makes it easier to fill out and manage a time entry on a smaller screen. The screen includes all the same fields as the expanded timer, and you can start, pause, and finish time entries just as you would when using the timer widget. However, the timer page does not include the quick switch option between projects.

Mobile Shortcut

If you are using this page frequently on your phone, you can create a shortcut to this page, so you can open the timer page directly from your home screen.

To create this shortcut, navigate to the timer page and follow the instructions for adding mobile shortcuts. Name the shortcut “Timer” or something similar to make it easy to find.

Once you’ve created the shortcut, you’ll be able to open the timer page from your home screen, the way you would an app, and start, pause, and add time entries from this page. 

When to Use

The timer page makes it easier to use the timer on mobile devices, so that you can add time entries while on the go. However, you can also navigate directly to the page by typing in the page's URL, which is your usual Filevine url with #/billingtimer added to the end.

The timer page provides less context than the timer widget and does not include the project quick switch option. Therefore, if you are frequently switching between time entries for different projects, or would like the additional context of Filevine in the background, the timer widget would be a better choice. However, if you do not frequently switch between projects and would prefer the timer in a separate page, you may prefer to use this page on your normal desktop.