Time Tracking

Log every working hour and turn tracked time directly into invoices -- built for professional accountants managing multiple clients.

Activating Time Tracking

This capability is included with the Professional tier license and higher. Once activated, all time data is stored in your local PostgreSQL database and works even when you are offline.

1. Open Settings and go to the Features tab
2. Switch on Time Tracking
3. Optionally set a default hourly rate that will prefill on new entries

Logging Time Manually

1. Select Time Tracking from the sidebar
2. Press New Time Entry
3. Provide the following details:
   • Date: The calendar date the work took place
   • Customer: The client this time should be attributed to
   • Service: The category or nature of the work performed
   • Hours: Total duration spent on the task
   • Description: A brief summary of the activity
   • Billable: Tick this box if the hours should appear on an invoice
4. Press Save to record the entry

Live Timer

Prefer to measure time as you go? Use the built-in stopwatch:

1. Hit Start Timer
2. Assign a customer and service type
3. Carry on with your work
4. Hit Stop once you are finished
5. Kantivo generates the time entry for you automatically

Distinguishing Billable from Non-Billable Hours

• Billable: Hours that will ultimately be charged to the client on an invoice
• Non-Billable: Internal effort such as administrative work, team meetings, or training

Each time entry has a Billable checkbox you can flip on or off at any point.

Converting Time into Invoices

1. Navigate to Time Tracking
2. Narrow the list to a specific customer using the filter
3. Check off the unbilled entries you want to include
4. Press Create Invoice
5. Every selected entry becomes a line item on the new invoice
6. Verify the details, then send the invoice to your client

After an entry has been placed on an invoice, Kantivo flags it as billed so it no longer shows up in the unbilled queue.

Billing Traceability

Every invoice line generated from a time entry is linked back to its source record. The link survives edits -- you can adjust the quantity, rewrite the description, or write off hours, and the original timer entry stays connected for the audit trail.

When you reopen an invoice in the editor, Kantivo displays a small, staff-only caption beneath each linked line showing the timer's start time, stop time, and total duration (for example: Timer: 4/22/2026, 10:04:12 AM → 10:18:47 AM (14m 35s)). This caption is visible to your team only -- it never appears on the PDF sent to the client.

Timer stamps are stored with second-level precision, so very short durations (even under a minute) record the exact amount of time and bill correctly rather than rounding to zero.

Billing Detail Report (Internal Use Only)

Each invoice in the list has a 📋 button that opens a confidential Billing Detail view. The report is clearly marked CONFIDENTIAL -- INTERNAL USE ONLY at the top and is intended for your records, fee-dispute responses, bar inquiries, and trust-accounting audits. It is never delivered to the client.

The report includes, for every time entry behind the invoice:

• Work date
• Description and project
• Timer start and stop timestamps
• Duration and derived hours at four-decimal precision
• Hourly rate and line amount
• Which user recorded the time

Use the Print / Save PDF button in the footer to produce a paper or PDF copy for your file.

Punch Clock - Module Overview

Kantivo Accounting Desk now bundles a full time-clock module that replaces standalone tools like QuickBooks Time and When I Work. Hourly employees and 1099 contractors can clock in either from a shared kiosk (a tablet or computer placed at the workplace) or from their own phone. Every clock-in captures a photo, a GPS reading, and an optional project assignment, giving you tamper-resistant punch records that flow straight into payroll.

Configuring the Time Clock Rules

1. Open Settings → Time Clock.
2. Under the Rules tab, decide which inputs are mandatory at clock-in (photo, location, project) and whether notes are required at clock-out.
3. Configure the overtime threshold (federal default 40 hours/week → 1.5x) plus the day your workweek begins.
4. Pick your PIN lockout policy (defaults: 5 wrong attempts → 15-minute lockout).
5. Click Save Settings to persist the configuration.

Pairing a Kiosk Device

For shared-device punching:

1. From Settings → Time Clock → Kiosk Devices, choose + Pair New Device.
2. Enter a descriptive name (for example, "Reception tablet") and an optional location label.
3. Generate the token. The full token string is shown once - copy it immediately, as it cannot be retrieved later.
4. On the kiosk hardware, open yourapp.com/kiosk.
5. Paste the token and tap Pair Kiosk. The device is now linked.
6. The pairing persists across reboots; use Unpair on the settings page to revoke it.

Assigning Employee PINs

1. Go to Settings → Time Clock → Employee PINs.
2. Click Set PIN next to the relevant employee.
3. Type a custom 4-8 digit PIN, or leave the field empty to generate a random one.
4. The PIN appears once in a highlighted callout - share it with the employee at that moment; the stored value is one-way hashed.
5. Use Reset to issue a new PIN; Remove to disable punching for that employee entirely.

Punching In and Out

From a kiosk:

1. Worker taps their tile on the employee grid.
2. Enters their PIN on the touch keypad.
3. For clock-in: the camera counts down 3-2-1 and captures a selfie; GPS is recorded; the worker picks a project (when required); tap Clock In.
4. For clock-out: live elapsed time is displayed; the worker can add notes about the shift; tap Clock Out.
5. A confirmation appears and the kiosk returns to the employee grid after roughly 5 seconds.

From a personal device: The signed-in worker opens Kantivo on their phone, taps Time Tracking, and uses the punch panel at the top of the view. The on-screen flow matches the kiosk - photo, GPS, project on the way in; notes on the way out.

Reviewing & Approving Punches

1. Navigate to Time Tracking → Approvals.
2. A weekly grid lays out one row per employee × seven day columns, plus the weekly total.
3. Overtime totals are tinted orange; rows with pending punches show a blue counter.
4. Tap an employee row to drop down the punch list with photo thumbnails, mappable GPS links, project tags, and shift notes.
5. Per-punch controls: Approve (creates the time-entry row with regular/OT split), Reject (with a reason field), Edit (adjust in/out times, switch projects, leave a manager note).
6. Use the checkboxes plus Approve Selected for bulk approval, or hit Approve Week next to one employee's row.
7. Move between weeks with Prev Week / Next Week / This Week.

Overtime Calculation

Kantivo handles US federal overtime out of the box: any time exceeding 40 hours within a single workweek is paid at 1.5x. As you approve each punch, hours land in either the regular_hours or overtime_hours field according to where the employee sits in their week.

• The 40-hour threshold is the default; change it on the Rules tab for shops with custom OT policies.
• The workweek begins on Monday by default; reset it to match your pay cycle.
• If an employee already has 38 approved hours for the week and you approve another 5-hour punch, Kantivo books 2 hours as regular time and 3 as overtime.

Sending Hours to Payroll

1. From the Approvals view, click 📤 Export to Payroll.
2. Pick a pay period start and end (defaults to the visible week).
3. Choose the export format - Gusto-compatible or ADP-compatible.
4. Keep Mark as exported checked to lock those entries against further changes.
5. Hit Download CSV and upload the file to your payroll provider.

Only entries marked as approved and not yet exported are included in the file. Every export is recorded in the export log so the audit trail is intact.

Independent Contractors

The punch flow is identical for 1099 contractors. The difference is at year end: contractor hours roll into the built-in 1099 Center, so you can issue 1099-NEC forms without exporting to a separate tool.

1. Create the contractor's employee record with employment_type = Contractor.
2. Either set a PIN (for kiosk punching) or link a login user (for personal-device punching).
3. Approve their hours each week alongside your W-2 staff.
4. At year end, the 1099 Center totals the contractor's approved hours and multiplies by their pay rate.