Time Tracking Setup | Timers & Manual Entry
Enable GitScrum time tracking: timers, manual entry, rounding rules, required fields. Compare estimated vs actual time to calibrate estimation accuracy.
6 min read
Time tracking provides essential data for estimation, capacity planning, and understanding where time actually goes. GitScrum's time tracking is designed to be unobtrusive while capturing accurate data that helps teams improve their planning and execution.
Time Tracking Benefits
| Benefit | How It Helps |
|---|---|
| Accurate estimates | Compare actual vs estimated |
| Capacity planning | Know team availability |
| Billing accuracy | Precise client invoicing |
| Process improvement | Find time sinks |
| Workload balance | Identify overloaded members |
Initial Setup
Project Configuration
TIME TRACKING CONFIGURATION
═══════════════════════════
PROJECT SETTINGS → TIME TRACKING:
Basic Settings:
├── Time tracking: ✓ Enabled
├── Timer feature: ✓ Enabled
├── Manual entry: ✓ Allowed
└── Mobile logging: ✓ Enabled
Requirements:
├── Require task link: ✓ Yes
├── Require description: Optional
├── Minimum entry: 5 minutes
└── Maximum entry: 12 hours
Rounding:
├── Round to: 15 minutes
├── Rounding type: Nearest
└── Display format: Hours:Minutes
Access:
├── View own time: All members
├── View team time: Project admins
├── Edit time: Own + Admins
└── Delete time: Admins only
Task-Level Settings
TASK TIME SETTINGS
══════════════════
ESTIMATE FIELD:
├── Enabled: ✓
├── Format: Hours or Story Points
├── Required: Optional
└── Track variance: ✓
TIME LOG ON TASK:
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Task: Implement search feature │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Estimate: 8h │
│ Logged: 6h 30m │
│ Remaining: 1h 30m (auto-calculated) │
│ │
│ [Start Timer] [Add Time Entry] │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Time Log: │
│ ├── Mar 10: 2h 30m - Initial implementation │
│ ├── Mar 11: 3h 00m - Testing & refinement │
│ └── Mar 12: 1h 00m - Code review fixes │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Logging Methods
Timer Method
TIMER WORKFLOW
══════════════
START:
1. Open task
2. Click "Start Timer"
3. Timer begins counting
4. Work on task
PAUSE (optional):
├── Click "Pause"
├── Timer stops
├── Resume when ready
└── Multiple pauses OK
STOP:
1. Click "Stop Timer"
2. Review duration
3. Add description (if required)
4. Adjust if needed
5. Save entry
FEATURES:
├── Timer visible in header
├── Shows current task
├── Reminder if forgot to stop
├── Browser notification option
└── Mobile sync
Manual Entry
MANUAL TIME ENTRY
═════════════════
QUICK ADD (from task):
├── Click "Add Time"
├── Enter duration
├── Date defaults to today
├── Description optional
└── Save
FULL ENTRY (from time log):
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Add Time Entry │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Task: [Search/Select] │
│ Date: [Calendar picker] │
│ Start time: [Optional] │
│ Duration: [Hours : Minutes] │
│ Description: [Text area] │
│ Billable: [✓ Yes / ○ No] │
│ │
│ [Cancel] [Save Entry] │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
BULK ENTRY:
├── Time log view
├── Add multiple entries
├── Copy previous day
├── Quick fill templates
└── Weekly view entry
Time Views
Personal Time Log
MY TIME LOG VIEW
════════════════
WEEK OF MARCH 10-16:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │ Mon │ Tue │ Wed │ Thu │ Fri │ Sat │ Sun │ TOTAL │
├───────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼───────┤
│ Proj A│ 4.0 │ 3.5 │ 5.0 │ 2.0 │ 4.5 │ - │ - │ 19.0 │
│ Proj B│ 2.0 │ 2.5 │ 1.0 │ 3.0 │ 2.0 │ - │ - │ 10.5 │
│ Proj C│ 2.0 │ 2.0 │ 2.0 │ 3.0 │ 1.5 │ - │ - │ 10.5 │
├───────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼─────┼───────┤
│ TOTAL │ 8.0 │ 8.0 │ 8.0 │ 8.0 │ 8.0 │ - │ - │ 40.0 │
└───────┴─────┴─────┴─────┴─────┴─────┴─────┴─────┴───────┘
DAILY DETAIL (click day):
├── 4h - Task: Search feature
├── 2h - Task: Bug fix #234
├── 1.5h - Task: Code review
└── 0.5h - Meeting (no task)
Team Time View
TEAM TIME REPORT
════════════════
PERIOD: March 2024
BY MEMBER:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Member │ Logged │ Target │ Variance │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Sarah Chen │ 168h │ 160h │ +8h │
│ Mike Johnson │ 155h │ 160h │ -5h │
│ Lisa Park │ 162h │ 160h │ +2h │
│ Tom Wilson │ 140h │ 160h │ -20h ⚠ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
BY PROJECT:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Project │ Hours │ Budget │ Status │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Website │ 245h │ 300h │ On track │
│ Mobile App │ 180h │ 200h │ On track │
│ API v2 │ 200h │ 150h │ Over ⚠ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Estimate vs Actual
Tracking Accuracy
ESTIMATE ACCURACY REPORT
════════════════════════
SPRINT 15 ANALYSIS:
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Task │ Est │ Actual│ Variance │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Search feature │ 8h │ 6.5h │ -19% ✓ │
│ User auth │ 16h │ 22h │ +38% ⚠ │
│ Dashboard widget │ 4h │ 5h │ +25% │
│ Bug fixes │ 8h │ 7h │ -12% ✓ │
│ Code review │ 4h │ 4.5h │ +12% │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ SPRINT TOTAL │ 40h │ 45h │ +12% │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
TREND (last 5 sprints):
├── Sprint 11: +25% over
├── Sprint 12: +18% over
├── Sprint 13: +15% over
├── Sprint 14: +10% over
├── Sprint 15: +12% over
└── Trend: Improving ✓
Best Practices
For Time Tracking
Anti-Patterns
TIME TRACKING MISTAKES:
✗ Tracking for surveillance
✗ Punishing accurate logging
✗ Forgetting for days
✗ Padding time entries
✗ Not linking to tasks
✗ Ignoring the data
✗ Expecting 100% utilization