Lesson 1 of 6 · 10 min

Recording time entries

Track billable and non-billable time against matters, and price it from your rate cards.

Lesson 1 of 6

Time is the raw material of a fee-earner's bill. MatterFirst captures it two ways — a live running timer and manual entries — and prices every minute from your rate cards.

Before you start

  • A matter to record time against
  • A rate card entry or a firm default hourly rate (Settings → Billing) so billable time can be priced

How a billable rate is resolved

Every entry is priced by walking a fixed fallback chain: first a rate-card entry matching you personally, then one matching your billing rate grade, then the matter's own rate override, and finally the firm's default hourly rate (set on Settings → Billing). If none of these resolves, a billable entry with no explicit amount is refused — mark it non-billable or set a rate. Note there is no 'per matter type' rate; the matter-level rate is a per-matter override.

  1. 1

    Open the Time page

    Time lives on its own page at /app/time, reached from the sidebar. The matter page has a Billing tab, not a 'Time' tab, and there is no timer icon on the matter itself. From the Time page you can start the running timer or add a manual entry.

    Start the running timer or add a manual entry from /app/time — not from the matter page.
  2. 2

    Start the running timer

    Click Start Timer, choose the matter, type a short description, and start. A running-timer banner then shows a live elapsed display with a Stop button; stopping writes the elapsed minutes into a new time entry.

  3. 3

    Log time manually

    Click New Entry to record time after the fact. Pick the matter, describe the work, set the date and duration in minutes, and choose a Category — the field is Category (Attendance, Research, Drafting, Correspondence, Phone call, Court, Travel, Administration, Other), not an 'activity type'. Toggle Billable off for non-chargeable work. A rate preview shows the resolved hourly rate and approximate amount before you save; if no rate resolves, a warning appears and the billable entry cannot be saved.

  4. 4

    Manage rate cards

    Rate cards live at Settings → Rate Cards (/app/settings/rate-cards). Build per-user and per-grade cards; each entry keys an hourly rate to a specific user or a billing rate grade (never a job title). The firm's default hourly rate is set separately on Settings → Billing, and the page's fallback note spells out the exact resolution order.

    Per-user and per-grade rate cards, with the person → grade → matter → firm-default order written out.
  5. 5

    See a matter's time on its Billing tab

    On a matter, open the Billing tab and select the Time Entries section to see time logged against that matter, with a View All link back to /app/time. Time is always recorded on /app/time, but it rolls up here ready for invoicing.

Tips & pitfalls

  • The running timer lives only on /app/time — there is no timer on the matter page itself.
  • Non-billable time is still recorded and reported; it just will not be pulled onto an invoice.
  • If a billable entry is refused, no rate resolved — set a rate-card entry, a matter rate, or a firm default in Settings → Billing.

Key takeaways

  • Time is captured on /app/time, either by the running timer or as a manual entry.
  • Entries are classified by a Category field and can be billable or non-billable.
  • Rates resolve per user, then per billing rate grade, then the matter override, then the firm default.
  • A matter's time rolls up under its Billing tab for invoicing.
Tracking disbursements

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