Track Time in a Task

In LadVen OS, time tracking shows how much work was planned and how much was actually spent on a task. It is not needed for formally filling a card, but for managing workload, estimating future tasks, preparing reports, and accepting the result honestly.

When to track time

Track time if the task affects team workload, work cost, reporting, project planning, or a client agreement. Time is especially important for tasks where plan and actuals must later be compared: how much was promised, how much was actually spent, and why a difference appeared.

Time tracking is useful when:

• the work takes a significant part of a day or week;
• the task relates to a client, project, contract, or reporting period;
• effort must be confirmed to a manager or customer;
• the task requires a preliminary estimate;
• several participants work on the task;
• the result is closed only after effort is checked;
• similar tasks will be planned again.

Do not enable time tracking as an extra ritual for short actions where plan versus actuals changes nothing. If a task takes a few minutes and is not used in reporting, it is enough to record the result in a comment or checklist.

Planned time

Planned time is an estimate of the work volume before execution. It helps agree in advance how much effort is expected and see overload before the task becomes overdue.

Fill in planned time when creating or editing a task if:

• the deadline depends on the work volume;
• the assignee must confirm the estimate before starting;
• the manager needs to see workload by people;
• the task is part of a project or client report;
• the result cannot be accepted without understanding how far the task exceeded the estimate.

Planned time should not be a punishment for an inaccurate estimate. Its purpose is to make expectations explicit. If it becomes clear during work that the estimate is wrong, update the plan or leave a comment explaining the difference.

A good estimate answers the question: “How much working time is needed for the result with the current understanding of the task?” It should not include waiting for a client answer, pauses between approvals, or calendar time if no work is actually performed during those periods.

Deadlines, planned time, and risks

Planned time and the task deadline answer different questions. Planned time shows effort: how many hours or minutes are needed for the result. The deadline shows the calendar boundary: by what moment the result must be ready.

For example, a task may require two hours of work but have a deadline in three days because data from the client is needed. Or the opposite: a task requires six hours and is due today, which is already a risk for the manager.

Compare the deadline and planned time before work starts:

Situation	Risk	What to do
Planned time is larger than the available work window before the deadline	The assignee physically cannot finish without redistributing workload.	Change the deadline, split the task, add a co-assignee, or remove less important work.
The deadline is close, but planned time is not filled in	The manager does not see the real volume and cannot assess overdue risk.	Ask for an estimate before the start or record a preliminary estimate.
Planned time is small, but the task depends on an external answer	Delay may come not from the assignee’s work, but from waiting.	Record the dependency in a comment and defer the task if needed.
Actual time quickly approaches the plan, but the result is not ready	Scope grew or the estimate was too low.	Discuss the reason, update expectations, and decide whether a new deadline is needed.
Actual time already exceeded the plan, but the deadline is still far away	The task may consume the budget before the calendar date.	Check the scope, stop unnecessary work, or move the new request to a separate task.

For a manager, this is an early risk signal. Do not wait for the final delay: if plan versus actuals and deadline already conflict, the task should be rebuilt by scope, deadline, or owners.

Actual time

Actual time is the real effort spent. It can come from the timer or manual time entry if that scenario is available in the interface and allowed by user permissions.

Actual time is needed to:

• see the real cost of the task;
• explain deviation from the plan;
• prepare a report by project, client, employee, or period;
• check that the task is not closed with unfinished time tracking;
• improve estimates for similar future tasks.

Actual time should reflect work on this task, not the whole calendar interval. If you switched to another task, pause or stop the timer, then start tracking where you actually continue working.

Timer

The timer is used to track work at the moment it is performed. It is convenient when the assignee starts the task now and does not want to reconstruct time later.

Usually the timer supports three basic actions:

Action	What it means	When to use
Start	Begin tracking actual time for the task.	When you really started working on this task.
Pause	Temporarily stop tracking without finalizing the time entry.	When you switched to a call, waiting, another task, or a break.
Stop	Finish the current time entry.	When the work segment is over and can be saved as actual time.

If a task already has an active timer, do not start another tracking entry without checking the context. An active timer means actual time is already growing and will affect plan versus actuals.

Before starting the timer, check that:

• the correct task is selected;
• you understand the expected result;
• the preliminary estimate, if required, is filled in or agreed;
• you have time tracking permissions;
• the task is not in a status where execution is already completed, canceled, or blocked.

The team should agree on what counts as working time for a task. The timer should record meaningful work on the result: preparation, analysis, a task-related call, review, or corrections. Waiting for an answer, pauses between approvals, and switching to another task should not silently increase actual time.

If plan and actuals regularly diverge for the same task type, use it to improve the process: update the template, clarify the checklist, change the preliminary estimate, or distribute work differently. Time tracking in LadVen OS is useful not by itself, but as a basis for more accurate planning.

Start, pause, and stop

Timer start should match the beginning of real work. Do not start the timer in advance “just in case”: actuals become unreliable and reports get worse.

Pause is needed when work is interrupted but the task is not finished. For example, you are waiting for clarification, switched to an urgent task, went to a meeting, or stopped working with the task materials.

Stop records a completed time segment. After stopping, check that the entry appeared in time history and the total actual time changed. If LadVen OS shows a saving state, wait for it to finish before closing the task or refreshing the page.

If the timer was started by mistake, stop it as soon as possible and correct the entry if the interface allows editing or deletion. If correction is unavailable, record the issue in a comment or contact the process administrator so the report is not explained by guesses.

Manual time entry

Manual time entry is needed when work was performed without a running timer or the timer does not reflect the real segment. Use it only if the UI supports manual time and the user has the required permissions.

Manual time is appropriate when:

• you forgot to start the timer but can accurately reconstruct the duration;
• work happened outside LadVen OS: meeting, call, document review, field work;
• the timer stopped because of a technical error;
• co-assignee time must be added if the process allows it;
• the report requires detail by several work segments.

When entering manual time, specify only the actual work duration. If a time-entry comment is available, write a short explanation: what was done and why time was added manually.

Do not use manual time to force actuals to match the plan. If actual time differs strongly from the estimate, explain the reason in a task comment: scope changed, corrections appeared, waiting turned into extra work, or source materials were missing.

Time history

Time history shows separate entries: who logged time, when it was added, how it appeared, and how long it lasts. Depending on permissions and task state, a user may edit or delete separate entries.

Check history if:

• total actual time looks unexpectedly high or low;
• the task is closing after several work segments;
• several participants worked on the task;
• you need to understand who worked and when;
• a report requires confirmation by people or dates.

Editing and deleting entries changes actual effort. Do it only to correct an error: wrong duration, wrong task, accidentally left timer, or duplicate entry. If an entry has already been used in a report, first agree on the correction with the person responsible for reporting.

Active timers in the list

The task list may show an active timers block and a filter for tasks with an active timer. This helps quickly return to current work and find time tracking that remained enabled.

Use active timers in the list to:

• continue a task that is already being worked on;
• check whether a timer was left running by mistake;
• find tasks where actual time continues to grow;
• prepare plan versus actuals before a report;
• control the assignee’s or team’s work queue.

If the list shows an active timer for a task nobody is currently working on, open the task and check time history. Do not close the task until the active timer is stopped or corrected.

Plan versus actuals

Plan versus actuals compares planned time with actual time. It is not only a reporting number, but also a signal for task management.

Possible situations:

Situation	What it means	What to do
Actual is below plan	Work took less than estimated or is not finished yet.	Check task status and result completeness.
Actual is close to plan	The estimate generally matched execution.	Use the task as a reference for similar estimates.
Actual is above plan	Scope grew, the estimate was too low, or tracking was inaccurate.	Record the reason for the difference and check whether future task plans should be updated.
No plan, but actual exists	Work was done without a preliminary estimate.	Add a plan if the task is still active, or explain the missing estimate in a comment.
Plan exists, but no actual	Work has not started, the timer was not used, or actual time was forgotten.	Check status and execution history before a report or closing.

For reports, not only the number matters, but also the explanation of deviation. If the task exceeded the plan because of new scope, client clarifications, or a technical problem, record this in a comment. Then plan versus actuals helps analyze the process instead of searching for someone to blame.

When actual time exceeds the plan, the manager should turn the signal into action: check the reason, refine the remaining estimate, rebalance or reassign work, and record the conclusion in the task.

Manager control

A manager does not need to check every time entry manually. The main thing is to see exceptions where time tracking helps make a management decision.

Regularly look at:

• tasks due today or tomorrow with a large amount of remaining planned time;
• tasks with an active timer running too long without new comments or result;
• tasks where actual time exceeded the plan and the reason is not explained;
• tasks without planned time if they matter for a client, project, or report;
• tasks with a plan and deadline but no actual time, although work should have started;
• tasks in review or control where time is not yet closed;
• recurring tasks where actuals consistently differ from the plan.

Good control is not reduced to “why did you spend so much?” The right questions are:

• did the task scope change;
• was there waiting that is not effort;
• did other urgent tasks interfere with the assignee;
• can the current result be accepted or is a new deadline needed;
• should a new request be separated into a related task;
• will the actual time from this task help plan similar work more accurately.

If a task matters for a client or department budget, the comment explaining plan versus actual deviation should be understandable not only to the assignee, but also to the process owner: what changed, why it affected effort, and which decision was made.

Connection with reports

Task reports can use planned and actual time from the list, task card, and time-entry history. Before export or a reporting meeting, check that time tracking is complete and the data belongs to the right period, project, client, and assignee.

To prepare a report:

1. Open the task list.
2. Configure filters by project, client, assignee, department, status, or period.
3. Enable planned and spent time columns.
4. Use the active timer filter if unfinished tracking must be found.
5. Refresh the list before export.
6. Check several tasks with unexpected plan versus actuals.
7. Export the current page or the full found set if the needed report supports it.

If a report is built by client or project, make sure tasks are correctly related to that context. Time logged in a task without a project or client may not appear in the expected slice or may require manual explanation.

Connection with task closing

Before closing a task, check time tracking the same way you check the result, files, and checklist. A closed task should have a clear state: active timer stopped, actual time saved, and plan versus actual deviation explained if it matters for acceptance or reporting.

Do not close a task if:

• an active timer is still running;
• required manual time has not been added yet;
• the latest time entry is in an error or saving state;
• plan versus actuals show a strong difference without explanation;
• the reviewer must accept effort, but has not seen time history yet;
• the task requires a preliminary estimate, but the estimate was never agreed.

If the result is ready but time tracking needs correction, first correct the time or leave a comment with the reason. Then move the task to review, control, or complete it according to the normal closing process.

Limitations

Time tracking availability depends on permissions, task status, and process settings. The interface may hide or block actions if the user cannot edit the task, is not a participant, lacks rights to time entries, or the task is in a state where execution is stopped.

Typical limitations:

• a timer cannot be started without task permissions;
• a timer cannot be started if required preliminary estimate is not filled in;
• other people’s time entries cannot be edited or deleted without special rights;
• time cannot be logged in a closed, canceled, or blocked task if the process forbids it;
• several timer actions cannot be started in a row while LadVen OS is still processing the previous action;
• a new active timer cannot be created if time tracking is already active for this task or user;
• some actions may be available only for viewing, not editing.

Do not bypass interface limitations with comments containing “approximate time” instead of tracking. If time must enter a report, use the supported scenario: timer, manual entry, or entry correction with the required permissions.

Errors and conflicts

Time tracking errors should be corrected immediately; otherwise they enter plan versus actuals, reports, and task acceptance.

What can go wrong:

• the timer did not start because of permissions, status, or required estimate;
• the timer does not start because an active entry already exists;
• pause or stop was not saved because of network or temporary service error;
• manual time was not added;
• the time entry was added to the wrong task;
• time history did not update after a change;
• actual time in the list differs from the card because of stale data.

What to do:

1. Check the error message near the timer, time entry, or in the notification.
2. Refresh the task and list to exclude stale state.
3. If there is an active timer, stop or pause it before retrying.
4. Check permissions and task status.
5. If the error is related to a required estimate, fill it in or agree it.
6. Retry the action once after refreshing.
7. If incorrect actual time already entered history, correct the entry through editing or deletion if available.
8. If it cannot be corrected, record the issue in a comment and pass it to the process owner or administrator.

Do not make several quick repeated clicks on start, pause, or stop. Wait for the previous action result, otherwise time tracking may become unclear and require manual review.

How to do it in LadVen OS

Plan time

1. Open task creation or editing.
2. Find the planned time or planned effort field.
3. Enter the estimate in the format accepted by the interface: hours, minutes, or another available representation.
4. If the task requires a preliminary estimate, agree it before starting execution.
5. Save the task.
6. Check that planned time is visible in task details and, if needed, in the list column.

Start the timer

1. Open the task from the list, kanban, schedule, or active timers block.
2. Check the title, assignee, status, and expected result.
3. Make sure there is no required unapproved estimate.
4. Click timer start.
5. Make sure the interface shows an active timer.
6. Work on the task.
7. When taking a break, click pause.
8. When the work segment is finished, click stop.
9. Check that the entry appeared in time history and total actual time updated.

Add manual time

1. Open the task.
2. Go to the time block or time tab if it is separated.
3. Choose manual time entry if the action is available.
4. Enter duration and, if available, date or comment.
5. Save the entry.
6. Check time history and total actual time.

Check active timers

1. Open the task list.
2. Look at the active timers block above the list if it exists.
3. Enable the active timer filter if needed.
4. Open the task with active tracking.
5. Continue work, pause the timer, or stop it.
6. Refresh the list and check that the active timer disappeared or remains only where work continues.

Result check

After tracking time, check not only the number, but also the task state.

• planned time is saved and visible in task details;
• actual time changed after stopping the timer or adding a manual entry;
• the active timer is shown only for the task actually being worked on;
• time history contains expected entries, employees, and durations;
• erroneous or duplicate entries are corrected;
• plan versus actuals are explainable for the assignee, requester, and report;
• after refresh, the task list shows the same actual time as the task card;
• before closing the task, there is no active timer or unsaved time entry;
• the reporting list contains the needed planned and spent time columns.

Good practices

• Separate deadline and effort: deadline is for calendar discipline; planned time is for workload and cost.
• Start the timer only when you really began working on the task.
• Pause the timer when switching context.
• Stop the timer before closing the task, sending it for review, or taking a long break.
• Add manual time right after work while duration can still be reconstructed accurately.
• Explain major plan versus actual deviations in a comment.
• Update the plan or record the reason for deviation if task scope changes before completion.
• Check tasks with close deadlines and large remaining plans before they become overdue.
• Move new requirements to separate related tasks if they change the original scope.
• Check active timers in the list at the end of the day or before a report.
• Do not mix work on different tasks in one time entry.
• Use planned time to agree on scope, not to pressure the assignee.
• For recurring tasks, use actuals from previous tasks as a guide for future estimates.
• Before export, refresh the list and check tasks with unexpected actuals.

Common mistakes

Starting the timer on the wrong task. Before starting, check the title, context, client, or project. If the mistake already happened, stop the timer and correct the entry.

Leaving the timer running after work. The active timer continues increasing actual time and distorts the report. Check the active timers block in the list.

Logging waiting as work. If you are waiting for an answer and not performing the task, pause the timer. Calendar waiting and effort are different things.

Not adding manual time after work outside LadVen OS. A meeting, call, or document review can also be actual work if the task is used in reporting.

Forcing actuals to match the plan. Plan versus actuals is for analysis. If the estimate was wrong, record the reason instead of distorting time.

Closing a task with an active timer. Before completion, cancellation, or final acceptance, time tracking must be stopped or corrected.

Ignoring saving errors. If stop, pause, or manual entry did not save, after refresh actual time may differ from what the user saw locally.

Mixing several people’s work in one entry. If reporting is by employee, each participant should log their own time through the supported method.

Not checking report context. Time in a task without project, client, or correct assignee may not enter the needed report slice.

Confusing deadline and planned time. A deadline in a week does not mean the task takes a week of work. Conversely, an eight-hour task due today almost always requires a management decision.

Waiting for overdue instead of early control. If actual time already exceeded the plan and the result is not ready, the risk is clear before the deadline. Discuss scope and next actions immediately.

Closing deviation silently. If plan versus actuals matter for a report or client, the reason for deviation should remain in the task comment, not in a verbal explanation.

Adding new scope to the old estimate without recording it. When a new request appears during work, it must be agreed separately: update the plan, create a related task, or explain why it belongs to the current result.

Needed screenshots

For public documentation, it is useful to prepare these screenshots:

• task card with planned time field, deadline, and assignee;
• timer block in a task: before start and active timer state;
• time history with several entries from different participants;
• task list with deadline, planned time, and actual time columns;
• active timer filter or block in the task list;
• example task where actual time exceeded the plan and the reason is explained in a comment;
• screen before closing a task showing that the timer is stopped and actual time is saved;
• reporting or export list with task plan versus actuals.

Related scenarios

• Create a task
• Task list, filters, and views
• Review and close a task