User Guide

BriefSpec

Introduction

Time Entry is the BriefSpec feature used to record effort spent on project work. It captures who worked, which Activity and Item the work belongs to, the date, hours, whether time is billable, and optional notes. Entries start as Pending and can be Approved or Rejected by a Timesheet Approver.

Time Entry is available from the main sidebar Time Entry item (multi-project workspace) and from a project under Project Admin → Time Entry. Where enabled, time can also be logged inside an individual Service Request. On projects with Track Financials turned on, new time logs are typically recorded against Financial Plan tasks. On other projects, time can be logged against plan tasks, backlog items, phase requirements, test cases, test cycles, defects, service requests, action items, key decisions, RAID logs, and boards.

Logged time supports effort tracking, billable versus non-billable review, and—when Track Financials is on—Financial Plan actuals from approved hours. Only users who are project team members (with Time Entry privileges) can use project Time Entry. There is no separate Submit step: saving an entry leaves it Pending for approval.

Accessing Time Entry

There are two primary ways to open Time Entry.

From the sidebar

Select Time Entry in the left-hand sidebar. This opens the multi-project Time Entry workspace for projects you can access. Use project filters to focus on one or more projects.

From a project

Open the project and go to Project Admin → Time Entry. The tab is shown based on project configuration (Time Entry module active), plan entitlement, team membership, and your Time Entry view privilege.

Understanding the Time Entry Screen

The Time Entry workspace (sidebar or project) shows summary chips, a toolbar, a period selector, filters, search, and a table of saved entries. On the project tab you can also switch to Setup Estimates for planned hours. Note: older screenshots in this guide may show a previous layout; the behaviours below match the current workspace.

Summary chips

The workspace shows Billable Hours, Non-billable Hours, and Total Hours for the current filter and period. Setup Estimates mode (project tab) still uses estimated hours and variance when comparing planned versus actual effort.

Whose entries you see

What you see depends on Time Entry view privileges (own entries versus all users) and filters. Approvers can use My pending approval to focus on Pending entries waiting for their review. Project and user filters are available on the multi-project workspace.

Period

Use the period control to view Day, Week, Month, Range, or All. Move previous/next within the selected period, or pick a custom range when Range is selected. Default period is typically the current month.

Filters and tools

Use Advanced filters to build rules (for example Activity, Status, Project, User, dates) with AND or OR. Active filters appear as chips. Toolbar actions also include Refresh, Export time entries, Add Time Entry, and Weekly time entry. Only Activities you are allowed to log against appear when creating entries.

Search

Search finds rows by visible values such as Item, Activity, Sub-activity, notes, or related text in the current list.

Pagination

The table supports page navigation and page-size selection for large result sets.

Activities and Work Items

Activities categorize the work being logged. BriefSpec seeds the default Activity list for each tenant so users can log time consistently across project modules.

Plan – project plan tasks and milestones.

Financial Plan – Financial Plan tasks when the project has Track Financials enabled (often the only Activity available for new logs on those projects).

Backlog – backlog requirements and RTMs.

Phase – phase requirements and sprint stories.

Test Case – generated or authored test cases.

Test Cycle – test cycle scripts and tester assignments.

Defect – project defects assigned to or created by the user.

Service Request – service requests assigned to, requested by, or created by the user.

Action Item – project action items assigned to or created by the user.

Key Decisions – key decision items involving the user.

RAID Logs – risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies involving the user.

Boards – project board cards assigned to or created by the user.

The Item field is populated from the selected Activity. The list is searchable and scoped to the project and user context. Closed or unavailable items may be blocked.

Creating a Time Entry

Click Add Time Entry on the toolbar to open the Add Time Entry panel (slide-in drawer). Complete the required fields, then choose Add to save or Add & New to save and start another entry. From the Add menu you can also open Weekly time entry to log a week of hours in a grid. After save, the entry is Pending until a Timesheet Approver reviews it.

Activity

Select the type of work being recorded. On Track Financials projects, Activity is typically Financial Plan. On other projects, choose Plan, Backlog, Defect, Service Request, Test Case, and similar Activities you are allowed to use. The selected Activity determines which Items appear.

Item

Select the project item that the work relates to. Use the item search field to find items by ID or title.

Sub-Activity

Enter or select the specific kind of work performed. Default sub-activities are provided for each Activity, such as Planning, Backlog grooming, Defect triage, SR analysis, or Board review. A newly entered sub-Activity is saved and becomes available for reuse.

Date

Select the date on which the work was performed. A valid date is required.

Hours

Enter the effort in hours. For project-level time entries, the value must be at least 0.25 and cannot be more than 24 for a day. The value is saved to two decimal places.

Billable

Use the Billable toggle to mark the entry as Billable or Non-billable. This supports reporting and billing review.

Notes

Enter optional notes to explain the work performed. Notes are searchable in the project-level Time Entry table.

After saving, BriefSpec confirms the entry and refreshes the list and summary chips. The new entry appears with status Pending.

Setup Estimates

On the project Time Entry tab, turn on Setup Estimates to capture expected effort for an Activity and Item. This mode uses the estimates form and table (separate from the main time-log workspace). Estimates help compare planned effort with actual logged hours.

This helps the team compare planned effort with actual logged effort.

Setup estimates are currently optional in the frontend configuration for an Activity & Item.

Activity

Select the Activity for the estimate.

User

Select the user whose estimate is being captured.

Item

Select the item being estimated.

Estimated Hours

Enter the expected hours. The estimate must be at least 0.25 hours.

Saved estimates appear in the Setup Estimates table. The estimate table shows Activity, Item, Estimated Hours, User when applicable, and Actions when the user has update or delete privileges.

Approval and Timesheet Approvers

New time entries are created as Pending. There is no separate Submit action. A Timesheet Approver for the project reviews Pending entries and Approves or Rejects them.

Timesheet Approver

Timesheet Approvers are configured on the project (Team / project settings). Candidates are users with the approve-entries privilege; they must also be listed as Timesheet Approvers on the project to approve or reject. This is separate from Budget Approver, which is used for Financials contract review—not timesheets.

Reviewing entries

Approvers can open Time Entry and use My pending approval to list Pending work. Approve or Reject from the row actions, or select multiple rows and use bulk review. Rejection requires a comment. Approved entries are locked for normal edit; Pending entries can be edited or deleted when you have privilege. Rejected entries follow product rules for re-edit.

Approved hours on Financial Plan tasks feed Actuals on the Financial Plan when Track Financials is enabled. Create and edit hours in Time Entry—not inside the Financial Plan panel.

Viewing, Editing and Deleting Time Entries

Saved entries appear in a table with columns such as Activity, Sub-activity, Item, Project (on the multi-project view), User (when viewing others), Date, Hours, Billing, Status (Pending, Approved, Rejected), Notes, and Actions. Financial rate columns may appear when you have financial visibility or are a Timesheet Approver. Users with update or delete privileges see row actions when the entry status allows them.

Click Edit to open the entry in the Time Entry panel. Update details and Save. The same validations used during creation apply. Approved entries cannot be edited through the normal edit path.

Click Delete to remove an entry after confirmation. Deletion is generally limited to Pending entries. Bulk delete may be available for multiple Pending rows. Approved and Rejected entries cannot be deleted in normal use.

Role privilege conditions may limit editing or deleting to entries owned by the current user. If a user does not have permission, the action is disabled.

Service Request Time Entries

Time can also be logged inside an individual Service Request when the Time Entries tab is visible and the user has permission. This view is focused on the selected service request rather than the full project.

The Service Request Time Entries tab displays Total Logged, Billable, Non-Billable, Estimated, and Variance cards. The Estimated value comes from the service request’s Estimated Hours field. The Variance shows the difference between actual logged time and the estimate.

Filters

Use All Entries, Billable Only, Mine, and This Week to narrow the service request time entries. Entries are grouped by date and each date group shows the total hours for that day.

Add Time Entry

Click “+ Add Entry” to open the form. Enter Date, User, Hours, Billing, and Work Description, then click “Save Entry”.

Date

The date is required and defaults to today when starting a new entry.

Hours

Hours are required and are accepted up to two decimal place in the service request time-entry form. The value must be greater than zero.

Billable

Use the Billable toggle to mark the service request time as Billable or Non-Billable.

Notes

Work Description is optional. It describes the work performed.

Only users with the required Service Request time-entry privilege can add or edit entries. The backend also enforces ownership for edit and delete operations, so only the creator can edit or delete a Service Request time entry.

When a Service Request time entry is saved, BriefSpec records the action in the Service Request Activity stream and updates the service request time-entry list. Actual effort is reflected from the saved time entries.

Other Time Entries

Time for Activities such as Action Items, Defects, RAID logs, Boards, and Test Cases is logged through the same Time Entry workspace using the matching Activity and Item. On Track Financials projects, prefer Financial Plan tasks for billable delivery work unless your process says otherwise.

Permissions

Time Entry uses role-based privileges and plan entitlement (Time Entry module). Project-level features include View, Add, Update, Delete, and Approve entries. Each may be available for all entries or limited to the user’s own entries, depending on project role configuration. Approve also requires the user to be listed as a Timesheet Approver on the project.

If View is hidden or not Read and Edit where required, users cannot access the Time Entry screen. If Add is read-only or hidden, users cannot create entries. If Update or Delete is restricted, edit and delete actions are limited accordingly (and further limited by entry status). The project Time Entry tab also requires team membership and an active Time Entry module on the project template.

Service Request time entries use the Service Request time-entry feature privilege. Users may see the Time Entries tab as read-only, may be able to add entries, or may be blocked from acting on entries they do not own.

Validation and Common Messages

The system validates required fields before saving. Missing or invalid fields display a message so the user can correct the entry.

Select an Activity – shown when Activity is missing on a project-level entry or estimate.

Enter or select a sub-Activity – shown when a project-level time entry does not include sub-Activity.

Select a date – shown when the entry date is missing.

Hours must be at least 0.25 – shown for project-level entries or estimates below the minimum.

Hours cannot be more than 24 – shown for project-level entries above the daily maximum.

Date and hours are required for a time entry – shown on the service request time-entry form when either value is missing.

You do not have permission to edit this time entry – shown when a user attempts an action outside their permission scope.

Approved entries cannot be edited or deleted – shown when an action is blocked by status.

Rejection comment is required – shown when rejecting a Pending entry without a comment.

Recommended Usage

Use a specific Activity and Item whenever possible so time can be traced back to the Project artifact that drove the work.

Use clear sub-Activity names such as Defect triage, SR implementation support, Review support, or Test data preparation. Consistent naming improves reporting and reduces duplicate sub-activities.

Enter hours on the day the work is performed, or use the date filter to review and update recent entries. Avoid using one large entry for unrelated work across multiple artifacts.

Use Setup Estimates on the project tab when the team needs planned-versus-actual tracking for important items. Review Pending entries promptly if you are a Timesheet Approver so Financial Plan actuals and billing views stay current.

Review Billable and Non-billable totals regularly with the project lead or billing owner. On Track Financials projects, confirm hours are logged to the correct Financial Plan tasks before approval.