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Approved hours and what happens when they run out

Most tasks have approved hours: the time an approver agreed the work should take. This article explains where to see them and what happens when you reach the limit.

Where to see your hours​

  • On the task page, the Time Tracking Progress bar compares the time logged with the approved hours.
  • While a timer runs, the timer bar can show the time left, for example "1h 20m left".
  • When you log time by hand, the form shows how much is left, or how far over you would go.

If the task's hours are split per person, the limit is your own share, not the team's total.

A task with no approved hours has no limit.

Screenshot

A task's Time Tracking Progress bar, and the timer bar showing "1h 20m left".

If your workspace limits time to the approved hours​

Your workspace may have Going over approved hours needs approval turned on. If it does:

The timer stops at the limit. The time you tracked up to the limit is saved, and a window says Timer stopped — approved time reached. In the last couple of minutes, the time left in the timer bar turns amber, so the stop isn't a surprise.

In that window you can:

  • add a note under What did you work on? and click Save note;
  • click Request more time to ask for more hours (see Ask for more hours);
  • click Done to close it.

You can't start a timer on a task that's already at the limit. You'll see Already at the approved limit and a notification called Timer not started — at approved limit. Nothing is being tracked until you get more time.

Extra time goes to an approver. Time you log by hand that would go over the limit isn't lost. The button changes to Request approval and the time waits for an approver. The same happens to time that a timer tracked past the limit, for example if your browser was in the background. TaskFlow tells you when this happens.

Urgent tasks​

Urgent tasks are not stopped at the limit. The timer keeps counting and shows how far over you are, for example "30m over approved". The one exception is the main part of an urgent task that has subtasks. It is still capped, so put extra work on a subtask.

If your workspace doesn't limit time​

If the setting is off, you can keep logging past the approved hours. The progress bar still shows when you're over, so your manager can see it.