The task timer

Starting a Timer

A timer always belongs to a task, and only open, unpaid tasks billed as Hourly can be timed:

1. Open the task from the Tasks page, or from the project it belongs to
2. In the detail panel, click "Start timer"
3. The elapsed time counts up beside the button
4. Click "Stop timer" to stop

You can also start one without opening the task: "Start timer" in the top bar of your dashboard lists your most recent open hourly tasks, with "View all tasks" for the rest. When you are signed in to the Squarepaste widget in the Squarespace editor, the widget has a timer in its header and a play button on each open hourly task.

One Timer at a Time

Only one timer runs at a time per person. Starting a timer on another task stops whatever was running before it, so two pieces of work can never be billed for the same hour. A timer left running stays visible as you move around the dashboard, and "Discard time" in the panel throws away an entry you started by mistake or forgot to stop.

How the Hours Are Counted

Each start and stop is stored as its own entry, and the hours shown on a task are added up from those entries rather than kept as a running total. Correcting or discarding an entry therefore updates the task's hours immediately – there is no stale figure left behind.

Turning Time Into a Price

Tracked time never changes what a client owes on its own. When you want the work priced from the clock, click "Apply" in the panel (it shows the amount, for example "Apply $120.00"):

• Squarepaste multiplies the time logged on that task by your hourly rate
• The result becomes the task's cost, which you can still edit by hand
• The figure is recalculated on the server from the entries themselves, so it always matches the time actually logged

Applying needs both an hourly rate and some stopped time: without a rate Squarepaste asks you to set one for the project or your account first, and a task with nothing logged yet has no time to price. Apply the time before you request payment: payment is requested on the task's cost.

The Time Page

Time in the sidebar lists every entry across all your projects, with the task, when it started, how long it ran and what it cost. You can delete an entry with the bin icon on its row, unless its task has already been paid.

Where Your Rate Comes From

Squarepaste looks for an hourly rate in this order:

1. The rate set on the project itself, if it has one (on the project, open Actions → Billing → "Change for this project")
2. Your account rate, under Settings → Payout settings → "Hourly rate"

A rate on a project always wins, which is what lets one client be billed at a different rate from the rest.

Who Can See It

The timer controls are designer-only, by design: only your own account can start, stop or discard time. Your clients never see a running timer. On an hourly task they do see the hours logged and the cost at your rate, in the widget and in the client portal.

Tip: Start the timer from the task itself rather than keeping time elsewhere. Once the hours live on the task, pricing the work is one click, and the task carries its own record of what it took.