Time Tracking

Track billable and non-billable time on a matter. Flow prices each entry at the right rate, in the matter's currency, and adds it to the matter's unbilled work, ready for your next invoice.

Time tracking lives on each matter under the Billing tab → Time.

Logging Time#

Open a matter, go to the Billing tab, and click Add time. You can also use Log time at the top of a matter, or Log time on the Home page and pick the matter. Each entry has:

Date: today on your device by default. Dates more than a day ahead are refused
Duration: type it the way you think of it. 1h30, 1 h 30, 90 min, 1.5, 1,5, 1.5h, 1:30 and 2 heures all work, and a plain number means hours. One entry holds at most 14 days
Narrative: the description the client reads on the invoice
Billable: starts on or off as set in New time billable by default (Settings → Invoicing & rates). Switch it off for internal work. Non-billable time is counted separately and never invoiced
Rate override: leave it on Auto to use the rate rules below, or type a rate in the matter's currency. 0 is allowed for pro bono work

Click Save entry. Everyone except viewers can add time. You can edit or delete your own entries until they're billed; once an entry is on an issued invoice it is locked. Owners and admins can't edit or delete a colleague's time entry from the screen, so ask the colleague to correct it.

Add time dialog with the date, a duration of 1h30, a narrative, the Billable switch on and Rate override on Auto — The Add time dialog. "1h30" is read as 1.5 hours.

The Timer#

Instead of entering a duration by hand, click Start timer on the matter's Time tab. You can run one timer at a time. While it runs, a bar at the top of every page shows the matter, the elapsed time and Stop & save, so you won't lose it when you move around the app.

Stop & save, in the bar or on the matter, opens the Stop timer and save dialog with the elapsed time filled in. Adjust the duration, write the narrative, then:

Save entry stops the timer and saves the entry in one step
Keep running closes the dialog and leaves the timer going
Discard timer asks you to confirm, then throws the time away

A timer stopped within seconds saves one minute. A timer left running for more than 14 days can't be saved as it is: enter the time you actually worked. If the timer was already stopped somewhere else (another tab, for example), nothing is saved and Flow tells you.

Stop timer and save dialog with a duration of 45 min, a narrative and the Discard timer, Keep running and Save entry buttons — Stop timer and save: the elapsed time is filled in.

Tip

If a timer has been running for more than 8 hours, the bar turns red and asks if you're still working, which helps you catch a timer you forgot to stop.

Draft with AI#

In the time entry dialog, type a rough note in Narrative, then click Draft with AI. Flow turns the note into a clean billing narrative, using the matter's title and description for context. You review and edit the result before saving, and entries saved with an AI draft show an AI badge. It uses AI credits.

How Rates Are Decided#

When the rate is on Auto, Flow uses the most specific rate that exists:

A rate typed in Rate override on the entry
The client's rate for that fee earner
The client's default rate
The fee earner's staff rate
The firm's default hourly rate

Owners and admins set the firm's default rate, currency and staff rates in Settings → Invoicing & rates. Client rates are set on the client's contact page, in the Billing rates card (see Client Accounts).

A rate only applies in its own currency. Firm and staff rates are in the firm's currency, and client rates in the client's currency. If a matter bills in pounds and your rates are in euros, its time shows Needs rate and a banner says so; Flow never relabels a €250 rate as £250. Set client rates in that currency, or type a rate override on each entry.

The rate is saved on the entry when you log it, so changing a rate later doesn't reprice past time. To reprice one entry, type a rate override.

Note

A billable entry with no rate shows Needs rate and is left out of invoices rather than billed at zero. When Settings → Invoicing & rates, a client's Billing rates or its Client currency are saved, entries that had no rate get one, and the confirmation says how many.

Increments and Rounding#

In Settings → Invoicing & rates you can set the Billing increment (1 min, 6 min or 15 min) and Rounding (Round up, Nearest, or No rounding). Billable time is rounded to the increment when you save the entry, and the time you actually worked is kept as well. At 6 minutes rounded up, 7 minutes bills as 0.2 hours.

Entry Status#

Status	Meaning
Draft	Logged, not invoiced yet. It goes on the next invoice if it is billable, has a rate and is in the matter's currency. This has nothing to do with a draft invoice
Billed	On an issued invoice and locked. If that invoice is voided, the entry goes back to unbilled

Flow also has Approved and Written off statuses, but there is no button to set them in the app, so you will rarely see them. Approved time bills like Draft time.

Matter Time tab with unbilled time and value at the top and entries marked Draft or Billed — The Time tab: unbilled hours and value at the top, and each entry with its status.

Unbilled Work#

The Time tab shows running totals for the matter:

Unbilled time: billable hours not yet on an issued invoice, after rounding
Unbilled value: what that time is worth at the rates saved on each entry. Time recorded in another currency is shown next to it, never added in
Non-billable: hours logged as non-billable

Unbilled time and expenses together are the matter's work in progress (WIP), which an invoice is built from. See Invoicing.

Note

On a matter whose fee arrangement is Flat fee or Contingency, time is recorded but never billed. Use Hourly or Hybrid if time should be invoiced.

Looking for how to pay for Lawzana Flow itself, your subscription and seats? That's covered in Billing & Plans.