Getting started with Time entries

November 3, 2026

Time entries record the time you spend on a matter, such as calls, meetings or drafting, so you can bill it to the client or track it.

Table of contents

Add a time entry

To open the Add Time Entry panel, click Add Time in the Activities module, in the Activities tab of a matter dashboard or in the Time Tracking panel. In the Matters list, you can also click the arrow at the end of a matter row and click Add Time Entry. You can also add a time entry with the + next to Time Entries in the UnBilled Balances card of a matter dashboard, while you create or edit a quick bill, or with Save and Associate Time Entry when you save a note, event or task linked to a matter.

  1. Select “No Matter” time entry if the time isn’t related to a matter. See Time not related to a matter.
  2. In Duration (required), enter the time spent. You can use formats such as 1h 2m, 72m or 01:12:00. A plain decimal number such as 0.1 isn’t accepted.
  3. Or click the play button next to Duration to time the work as you do it. While it runs, the panel shows Timer active and the timer counts up from the current duration. Click stop to write the new duration into the field.
  4. Select the Matter (required). Closed matters aren’t listed. When you add the entry from a matter, the matter is already selected and can’t be changed.
  5. Select the Activity Category (required). If the category you need isn’t listed, create it first.
  6. Check the Date (today by default).
  7. Check the Firm User who bills the time.
  8. Check the Rate (required). Maatdesk fills it in when you select the matter and user. See How the rate is set.
  9. In Description, enter a short note about the work.
  10. Turn on Non-Billable if the time won’t be billed, or Non-Charge to show the time on the invoice without charging the client. Non-Charge is available only when Non-Billable is off.
  11. Click Save, or click Save and add another to save and start a new entry.
Add Time Entry panel with No Matter time entry, Duration, the timer, Matter, Activity Category, Date, Firm User, Rate, Description, Non-Billable and Non-Charge and the Save buttons highlighted
The Add Time Entry panel.

The time entry is saved with the status Unbilled, or Non-Billable if you turned that option on, and the matter’s time entry balance is updated.

Note. Non-Billable is on by default when the matter isn’t billable or its billing method isn’t hourly. You can’t add time entries to closed matters.

Use a “No Matter” time entry to track time that isn’t billed to a client, such as internal meetings:

  1. Select “No Matter” time entry.
  2. Matter is no longer available.
  3. Rate is no longer available.
  4. Description becomes required.
  5. Non-Billable is turned on and Non-Charge isn’t shown.
Add Time Entry panel with No Matter time entry selected, the disabled Matter and Rate fields, the required Description and Non-Billable turned on highlighted
A “No Matter” time entry.

How the rate is set

When you select the matter and the Firm User, Maatdesk fills in the Rate with the first rate it finds, in this order:

  1. A rate for the user in the matter’s Billing Rates. To set matter rates, edit the matter and, in Billing Preferences, select Matter is billable, the Hour type and Add custom rate; then click Add billing rate and select a user or group and the amount.
  2. A rate for a group the user belongs to in the matter’s Billing Rates.
  3. A rate for the user in the client’s Billing Rates (edit the person or company and open Payment Profile > Billing Rates).
  4. The user’s default Rate in Settings > Users.

The Activity Category doesn’t set the rate. If no rate is set, the rate is 0.00 and you enter it yourself. You can always change the rate on the entry.

Track time with timers

Timers record time while you work. Only one timer runs at a time: starting one stops the others, and you can keep using Maatdesk while it runs.

  1. Click the timer button (00:00:00) in the top bar to start a new time entry; it turns into a red stop button. When you stop it, the Edit Time Entry panel opens with the rounded Duration, an empty Matter and Activity Category and a rate of 0.00, so you can fill in the missing fields and click Save.
  2. The Time Tracking button opens the Time Tracking panel.
  3. The timer buttons in the Duration column of the Activities list keep timing an existing entry. When it stops, Maatdesk updates the entry’s Duration.
Top bar with the timer and the Time Tracking button, and the timer buttons in the Duration column of the Activities list highlighted
The timers.

Warning. The top bar timer creates the time entry as soon as you stop it. If you click Cancel in the Edit Time Entry panel, the entry stays in Activities as an Unbilled “No Matter” entry. Edit it to complete it, or delete it.

A timer on an entry starts only if the entry isn’t billed and you are the user who bills it. A timer can also be started from the My Tasks section of the dashboard, for a time entry linked to a task.

In the Time Tracking panel:

  1. Select the date range of the entries to show (today by default).
  2. Active Timer shows the timer that is running, and Total Time the total time of the entries shown.
  3. Click Add Time to add a time entry.
  4. Each entry is shown as a card with Started by (user and date), the matter (or Uncategorized) and the description. Use the play button to time the entry, the pencil to edit it and the trash icon to delete it. Use the pagination at the bottom to see more entries.
Time Tracking panel with the date range, Active Timer and Total Time, and Add Time highlighted
The Time Tracking panel.

Add a time entry from a quick bill

While you create or edit a quick bill, click + in the Time entries section to open Add Time Entry:

  • The Duration is 1h30m by default and you can change it.
  • The matter of the bill is selected and can’t be changed. The Rate is filled in from the matter and user.
  • Only Non-Charge is available: the entry can’t be Non-Billable or “No Matter”.

Click Save (or Save and add another). The message Time entry successfully saved. appears and the entry is added, already selected, to the bill’s Time entries table.

Edit or delete a time entry

  1. In the Activities module or the Activities tab of a matter dashboard, click the pencil at the start of the time entry row, or click the arrow next to it and click Edit. You can also edit an entry from the Time Tracking panel.
  2. In the Edit Time Entry panel, change the fields as needed. If you change the Matter or the Firm User, Maatdesk sets the Rate again. You can also use the timer next to Duration to add time to the entry.
  3. Click Save, or Cancel to discard your changes. To delete the entry, click the red Delete button in the edit panel, or click Delete in the actions menu of the row, and confirm.

Note. You can edit or delete only Unbilled and Non-Billable time entries of matters that aren’t closed. To change a billed entry, edit the draft bill that contains it.

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