Overview
Time tracking in TimeLeaf lets employees log their working hours through clock in/out, manual time entries, or weekly timesheets. Managers review and approve timesheets before they flow into payroll. This feature is available on the Professional plan and above.
Clock in / Clock out
Employees can clock in and out from the dashboard or the mobile app. Each clock event records a timestamp and, if enabled, the employee's GPS location.
Enabling GPS tracking
- Go to Settings > Timekeeping > General.
- Toggle Require GPS on clock events to on.
- Optionally set a geofence radius around your office locations. Clock events outside the radius are flagged for manager review.
GPS data is stored alongside the clock event and visible to managers in the timesheet detail view.
Manual time entries
Employees who forget to clock in or work off-site can add manual time entries:
- Navigate to My Timesheets > Current Week.
- Click Add Entry on the relevant day.
- Enter the start time, end time, and an optional note.
- Submit the entry. It appears as "manual" in the timesheet and follows the same approval workflow.
Managers can also create manual entries on behalf of employees from People > [Employee] > Timesheets.
Weekly timesheets
TimeLeaf groups time entries into weekly timesheets. Each timesheet shows:
- Daily hours broken down by clock events and manual entries
- Total regular hours and overtime hours
- Break time deductions (if configured)
- Notes and flags (e.g., missing clock-out, GPS mismatch)
Employees submit their timesheet at the end of each week. Unsubmitted timesheets generate a reminder notification on Monday morning.
Timesheet approval workflow
Submitted timesheets go through a configurable approval flow:
- Employee submits the weekly timesheet.
- Direct manager receives a notification and reviews the entries.
- Manager can approve, reject (with a reason), or request changes.
- Approved timesheets are locked and become available for payroll export.
If multi-level approval is enabled, timesheets route through additional approvers after the direct manager signs off.
Timekeeping settings
Configure time tracking behaviour under Settings > Timekeeping:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Work week start | Day the weekly timesheet begins (default: Monday) |
| Rounding rules | Round clock events to nearest 5, 10, or 15 minutes |
| Auto clock-out | Automatically clock out after a set idle period |
| Break deduction | Auto-deduct break time after a threshold (e.g., 30 min after 6 hours) |
| GPS required | Require location data on clock events |
| Geofence radius | Flag clock events outside the defined radius |
Timekeeping settings cascade from system defaults down to location and team overrides. A team-level setting takes precedence over the system default.
Editing approved timesheets
Only administrators can unlock an approved timesheet. Go to People > [Employee] > Timesheets, select the approved week, and click Unlock. The timesheet reverts to draft status and must be re-submitted and re-approved.