Time tracking in monday.com is built on the Time Tracking column, available on the Pro and Enterprise plans of monday work management at the time of writing. Each item gets a start and stop timer, and people can also add or edit entries manually. You can report on hours in dashboards and export time data to Excel for billing or analysis. For internal effort tracking and estimate accuracy, the native column is usually enough. When you need hourly rates, approval workflows, timesheets across many projects or direct invoicing, a dedicated time tracking app or an integration with your invoicing tool is the better choice.

Time tracking comes up in many project and agency implementations we run as part of our monday.com implementation service, and the first question should always be the same: what is the time data for?

Why are you tracking time?

The purpose decides the setup. There are three common reasons:

If you do not know which one applies, you will get lots of data and few decisions. For the general concept, see our wiki on time tracking.

How do you set up the Time Tracking column?

1. Add a Time Tracking column to the boards where work is tracked, ideally in your board template so every project has it.
2. Decide the tracking level. Track on work packages or deliverables, not on every small task, so people actually log.
3. Add supporting columns: an estimate (number column in hours), a billable flag (status or checkbox) and the client or project.
4. Agree on the timer versus manual rule. Timers work for focused work; manual entries at the end of the day are fine for most teams, as long as they are done daily.
5. Build a dashboard with hours per project, per person and estimated versus actual.

How do you handle billable and non-billable hours?

Make it explicit. A “billable” status on the item, or separate items for non-billable internal work, lets dashboards show the billable share per person and per client. For agencies and consultancies, that ratio is one of the most useful management numbers. Our article on monday.com for agencies covers the broader setup.

Where the native setup gets stretched:

• Different hourly rates per person, role or client.
• Approval flows where a manager signs off timesheets before invoicing.
• Weekly timesheet entry across many items in one screen.
• Invoice generation from approved hours.

Those needs are the typical trigger for a marketplace time tracking app or an integration with your invoicing system.

How do you report on tracked time?

Use dashboards, not board scrolling. Useful widgets:

• Hours per project this month against budget, which connects time to budgeting.
• Estimated versus actual per work package, to improve future estimates.
• Hours per person per week, to check workload reality.
• Billable share per team.

Our guide to monday.com dashboards that get used explains how to keep these readable. For billing or deeper analysis, export time data to Excel, for example per entry with item, user and hours.

How does time tracking improve capacity planning?

Planned effort is a forecast; tracked time is the actual. Comparing the two each month shows where estimates are systematically optimistic, which people carry hidden work, and how much non-project time eats capacity. Feed those learnings back into your capacity planning in monday.com and plans get realistic quickly.

Results come from using the data, not collecting it. Measured outcomes also make the case for your setup internally: the 433 case, for example, reports 2,465 hours saved per year on monday.com.

What are the common mistakes?

• Tracking everything at task level, which kills compliance.
• No billable flag, so the most important split is guessed later.
• Timers left running, with nobody reviewing obvious outliers weekly.
• Nobody uses the data, so people stop logging within two months.
• Choosing an app before defining the purpose.

Frequently asked questions

Which monday.com plans include time tracking?

At the time of writing, Pro and Enterprise.

Can you log time manually in monday.com?

Yes, alongside the timer, entries can be added and edited.

How do I track billable hours in monday.com?

With an explicit billable field and dashboards; rates and approvals often need an app or integration.

Can I export time tracking data from monday.com?

Yes, to Excel, for reporting or billing.

Want time data you can actually use?

We design time tracking around the decisions you need to make, from better estimates to cleaner billing. Book a free intro call with Tryve.

Sources

• monday.com Support: The Time Tracking Column
• monday.com Support: The Time Tracking Widget
• Tryve case: 433