---
title: "Time your work with the timer"
description: "Start a timer on a ticket or project task, follow it in the header from any browser, and stop it to log the time with the minutes you choose."
url: "https://support.outpostplatform.com/msp/timesheet-timer/"
product: "depot"
type: "how-to"
status: "draft"
ai_summary: "MSP plan. One timer per technician, held by the server, so it follows them across browsers. Start timer on a ticket or task; Switch timer here stops and logs the running one first. The header pill warns Running since yesterday or Over 10 hours and offers Stop and log, Discard, and Open ticket. Opening a ticket does not start a timer."
availability:
  plans: ["msp"]
  permission: "ticket:write"
  preview: false
source: "https://gitlab.com/outpostplatform/docs/-/edit/main/src/content/docs/msp/timesheet-timer.md"
license: "CC BY 4.0"
---

# Time your work with the timer

The timer measures work as you do it, so you log what you did instead of
estimating it afterward. You have one timer, and it is kept by your Outpost
rather than by your browser: start it on a ticket at your desk and you can
stop it from your laptop. Stopping it logs the time on the ticket or task it
was started on, and the time appears on your
[timesheet](/msp/timesheets/).

## Before you begin

- You are on the MSP plan and hold `ticket:write`. To time a project task, you
  also need `project:time`.
- Opening a ticket does not start a timer. You start it yourself.

## Start the timer

1. Open the ticket and select the **Time** tab, or open the project task.
2. Select **Start timer**.

The button is replaced by **Timer running** and the elapsed time, and the
timer appears in the header.

A timer can't start while this week's timesheet is approved, because its time
could never be logged. Starting one shows **This week's timesheet is approved.
Ask a manager to reopen it.**

### Move the timer to other work

You have one timer at a time. When it is running on something else, the
ticket or task shows **Switch timer here** instead of **Start timer**.

Selecting **Switch timer here** stops the running timer, logs its full
elapsed time on the ticket or task it was running on, and starts the timer on
this one. If the stop fails, the timer keeps running where it was and nothing
starts, so no time is lost between the two.

:::tip
To log less than the full elapsed time on the old work, stop it from the
header first, as described in [Stop the timer and log the time](#stop-the-timer-and-log-the-time),
then select **Start timer** here.
:::

## Follow the timer in the header

While your timer runs, the header shows it with the elapsed hours and minutes
and what it is running on, such as **1:05 #1051 VPN drops**. It is the same in
every browser and on every device you are signed in on. A timer started
elsewhere appears within a minute, or as soon as you return to the window.

The timer gets a warning when it has probably been forgotten:

| Warning | When |
| --- | --- |
| **Running since yesterday** | The timer started before midnight today. |
| **Over 10 hours** | The timer has run for more than 10 hours. |

Check a timer with a warning before you log it.

## Stop the timer and log the time

1. Select the timer in the header, then **Stop and log**.
2. The **Stop and log time** dialog shows what the timer was on and when it
   started. **Time to log** holds the elapsed time. Change it to the time you
   worked, as hours and minutes, such as `1:15`, or minutes, such as `75`,
   between `0:01` and `24:00`.
3. Select **Stop and log**.

The time is logged as one billable entry on the ticket or task the timer was
on, dated the day the timer started. On a ticket, it takes the agreement's
default charge type. To mark it not billable, edit it afterward on the
ticket's **Time** tab, on the task, or in the timesheet cell.

A timer that ran for more than 24 hours cannot be logged as it is. Enter the
time you worked in **Time to log**.

The timer is cleared only after the time is logged. If logging fails, the
dialog says the time could not be logged and the timer is still running, and
you can try again.

If the timer started in a week whose timesheet is approved, stopping it is
refused with **This week's timesheet is approved. Ask a manager to reopen it.**
Discard it, or ask an approver to reopen that week.

## Discard the timer

To throw a timer away without logging anything, select the timer in the
header, then **Discard**. The **Discard this timer?** dialog shows how much
time is on it. Select **Discard** to confirm.

## Open the ticket the timer is on

Select the timer in the header, then **Open ticket**. A timer on a project
task has no **Open ticket**. Open the task from your timesheet or from
**Projects** > **My work**.

## Verify

- While the timer runs, it shows in the header in every browser you are
  signed in on.
- After you stop it, the entry is on the ticket's **Time** tab, or the task's
  time, and on your timesheet for the day the timer started.

## Next steps

- [Fill in and submit your timesheet](/msp/timesheet-week/)
- [Time tracking and dispatch](/msp/time-and-dispatch/)