Creating time entries is how you turn your tracked work activity into billable records in Laurel. You have several options for creating entries, from using Laurel's AI-powered Work Groups to building entries manually from scratch. This guide walks you through all available time entry creation methods so you can choose the approach that works best for your workflow.

This is the fastest method for creating time entries.

Go to the Groups tab in your Work Activity panel. Look for work groups that show a matter (project, initiative) prediction - these appear as grouped activities with a suggested matter (project, initiative).

Click the "+" (plus) button next to the predicted matter (project, initiative). This immediately creates a new time entry using both the grouped activities and Laurel's matter (project, initiative) prediction.

The more you use and release time from Laurel, the better this method becomes as Laurel's AI learns your work patterns and improves its predictions.

Use this method when you want control over which specific work activities to include in an entry.

Open the Work Activity panel and select either the Groups tab for AI-organized work Groups or the All tab for a chronological (or reverse chronological) list of your activities.

Click to select one or more work groups or individual work activities. You can select multiple items by clicking their checkboxes or using Shift + click to select a range.

After making your selections, click the "Create Entry" button that appears at the top of the Work Activity panel.

Use this method to build entries from scratch without using tracked activities.

Click the "Create Entry" button at the top of your Timesheet panel.

The Create Entry modal will open. You'll need to input all details yourself, including matter (project/initiative), duration, narrative (description), and billing codes.

If you want to create a manual entry using a specific start and stop time, you can do this using "Add Activity" panel in the Create Entry modal (it's on the right). Add Activity allows you to enter the start and stop time of a work activity, and an optional description of what that activity was. That description does not populate the narrative (description) portion of the time entry; you will still need to add your narrative.

This method works well for matters (projects, initiatives) you work on frequently.

Look at the bottom of the left panel where your Recent and Starred Matters (projects, initiatives) are listed.

Click the "+" (plus) button next to any matter (project, initiative) in these lists. This opens the Create Entry modal with that matter already selected.

When you use Laurel's Timer feature, entries are automatically created on your Timesheet.

Click the "Timers" button in the far left-hand panel of the Laurel Web App to open your Timer Board.

Create and start a timer for your work. The running timer will appear as a draft entry on both your Timer Board and Timesheet.

Save time when creating similar entries by copying existing ones. Please note: Duplication of released entries is not available at all firms.

Using the date picker or the forward and back arrows in the Timesheet Header, navigate to the date of the entry or entries you wish to duplicate.

Click the checkbox beside the time entry or entries you wish to duplicate. An Action Bar will appear at the top of the Timesheet panel.

With your entry or entries selected, click on the "Duplicate" button in the Action Bar that appears at the top of your Timesheet. The "Duplicate" button looks like two pieces of paper overlapping each other.

After you've clicked "Duplicate," the Select Duplicate Dates modal will appear on your screen. Use the date picker to select one or more dates to which you'd like to assign a copy of the selected entry or entries. Use the forward and back arrows at the top of the modal to navigate to a different calendar month. After you've selected the desired date or dates, click the "Create X entries" button to finish.

Once you've followed the above steps to duplicate your time entry or entries, a copy of each selected entry will appear on the Timesheet for any dates you selected. Aside from the date, all entry details, including the matter (also called project or initiative), increment, narrative (also called description), and billing codes, will be identical to those on the original entry or entries.

Tip: Unreleased time entries can also be duplicated from the Edit Entry modal. Click on an unreleased entry to open it for editing, then click the "Save & Duplicate" button in the top left corner of the modal.

Regardless of which creation method you use, you'll finish the process of preparing an entry in the Create Entry modal.

Check any suggestions Laurel has provided for matter (project, initiative), duration, description, and billing codes. Make sure everything looks accurate for your work.

Fill in any missing required information such as billing codes, billing increments, descriptions, or other mandatory fields your organization requires.

When everything looks correct, click the "Save" button to add the entry to your Timesheet.

Your new time entry will appear on your Timesheet where you can edit it as needed. When you're satisfied that the entry is accurate and complete, you can release it to your firm's PMS.