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napffel
Community Member

how do i enter my hours

I am new to upwork. I worked 4 hours for a client. but the upwork desktop app wont let me enter hours. it says i need permission to enter hours manually. I see a current session button on the desktop app. Am i really expected to turn that on and wait for 4 hours and then turn it off again to log my 4 hours?

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Nathan:

Are you familar with the saying "it takes a thief to catch a thief"?

 

Your problem may be that you are insufficiently dishonest to fully appreciate the value of Upwork's screenshot-collecting, keystroke-counting, time-tracking app.

 

There are many Upwork clients who work only with honest freelancers and have no need for the time-tracker app. But there are other Upwork clients who have experienced freelances who are less trustworthy than yourself. They value the features of the time-tracker app, and these clients' interests are why this has been a feature of the Upwork system from the beginning, since even before the company was Upwork.

 

And this isn't just about clients trusting or not trusting freelancers.

Keep in mind that Upwork ACTUALLY PAYS FREELANCERS OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKET for hourly work if the client fails to pay them. Think about that for a moment. This is an extraordinary practice, and not something you will find many places. So the time-tracker helps Upwork verify that a freelancer was actually working, rather than just claiming to have spent time on a project. This helps to prevent freelancers from trying to defraud Upwork itself.

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10 REPLIES 10
prestonhunter
Community Member

Nathan:

Here is what we do:

We launch the desktop time-tracker app when we start working on the project. We click the slider "on/off" button:

Screen Shot 2020-03-03 at 11.05.17 AM.png

 

So that it looks like this:

 

Screen Shot 2020-03-03 at 11.05.29 AM.png

 

Then we work, with the app logging our time and taking occasional screenshots. When we are done working, we click that slider again, turning tracking to "off."

 

 

re: "...but the upwork desktop app wont let me enter hours. it says i need permission to enter hours manually."

 

Whoops!

That means you are not allowed to enter manual time. In order to enter manual time, you will need to talk to the client and ask him to authorize manual time. IT IS HIS CHOICE whether or not to allow this or not.

 

If you worked on the project and did NOT log your time with the desktop time tracker for a contract that does not allow manual time, it means that you made a mistake.

But that's okay! You can learn from your mistakes and not make the the same mistakes next time.

 

re: "Am i really expected to turn that on and wait for 4 hours and then turn it off again to log my 4 hours?"

 

No.

For one thing, that won't work. The time-tracker is designed to NOT record time if it is just left running.

Another problem is that freelancers get suspended for doing that sort of thing.

Another problem is that if you leave the time-tracker running while doing other things, then the screenshots won't show you working on the client's project, and the client may choose to not pay you for that time.

 

So what you want to do now is send a VERY BRIEF note to the client stating that you did 4 hours of work but forgot to use the time-tracker application, and ask him if he can either authorize manual time, or pay you for that work using the client-side Pay Bonus tool.

 

Very short and simple. You're giving the client a clear choice, and respecting his decision. Remember: He doesn't ACTUALLY need to pay you at all for this work. But most all Upwork clients are honest an professional people and will work with newbies such as yourself to make sure you get paid for your work.

Thanks for your response. This certainly seems like a flawed system. Treating freelancers like untrustworthy children can't possibly help things work better. I will have to consider this when deciding to use this service in the future.

petra_r
Community Member


Nathan A wrote:

I am new to upwork. I worked 4 hours for a client. but the upwork desktop app wont let me enter hours. it says i need permission to enter hours manually.

 

That means the client mad an informed and conscious decision to NOT allow any manual time. As manual time is allowed by default, unless the client changes that setting, the client must have disabled it.

 

The standard way we bill clients, unless previously agreed between client and freelancer otherwise, is to track your time using the time tracker. Not doing so also means the client can decline to pay for the time, manual time is never protected in any way. If the client decides not to pay, you do not get paid.

 

napffel
Community Member

Thanks for your response. I will have to specify that clients enable manual time submition if I decice to use upwork again. I'm not very happy with the idea that the system is somehow checking on me as I work. It's ludacris really. 


Nathan A wrote:

Thanks for your response. I will have to specify that clients enable manual time submition if I decice to use upwork again. I'm not very happy with the idea that the system is somehow checking on me as I work. It's ludacris really. 


In that case you should only work fixed rate contracts.

That sounds like good advice

petra_r
Community Member


Nathan A wrote:

Thanks for your response. I will have to specify that clients enable manual time submition if I decice to use upwork again


You do understand that clients never have to pay for manual tine, right?

 


Nathan A wrote:

 It's ludacris really. 


"ludacris" is not a word.

napffel
Community Member

Yes, I think i understand. My issue is with the the session timer thing. As if i can't be trusted to enter my hours honestly.  I get the time clock consept but i'm afrade it's missing the mark for modern frelancing. 

 

Thanks for the spelling correction. I meant ludicrous haha. I even googled that word and still failed. But ludacris is a word. It's the name of a rapper. 

 

"tine" is also a word. I chalange you to use it in this contex. 

Nathan:

Are you familar with the saying "it takes a thief to catch a thief"?

 

Your problem may be that you are insufficiently dishonest to fully appreciate the value of Upwork's screenshot-collecting, keystroke-counting, time-tracking app.

 

There are many Upwork clients who work only with honest freelancers and have no need for the time-tracker app. But there are other Upwork clients who have experienced freelances who are less trustworthy than yourself. They value the features of the time-tracker app, and these clients' interests are why this has been a feature of the Upwork system from the beginning, since even before the company was Upwork.

 

And this isn't just about clients trusting or not trusting freelancers.

Keep in mind that Upwork ACTUALLY PAYS FREELANCERS OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKET for hourly work if the client fails to pay them. Think about that for a moment. This is an extraordinary practice, and not something you will find many places. So the time-tracker helps Upwork verify that a freelancer was actually working, rather than just claiming to have spent time on a project. This helps to prevent freelancers from trying to defraud Upwork itself.


Nathan A wrote:

Thanks for your response. I will have to specify that clients enable manual time submition if I decice to use upwork again. I'm not very happy with the idea that the system is somehow checking on me as I work. It's ludacris really. 


I'm with you, Nathan. Most of my contracts are hourly. And, 99% of them allow for manual time to be entered. For my first year on Upwork and first 20 or so contracts, I never used the tracker, and never had an issue., I always got paid. I had one issue ONCE, where Upwork was having an issue with the client's credit card, so Upwork (not the client) had taken the funds away from me. Luckily it was only $50. But after that experience I use the tracker with all new clients, then after I build a relationship with the client, after a number of projects, and know I can trust them, and they come to me for all of their design work, I will use the manual tracker. Because like you, I don't like big brother watching over my shoulder. 

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