QuickBooks Time Tracking: Where to Clock In, Log Hours, and Submit a Week

A recurring question from QuickBooks users is a simple one: the work is done, the hours matter, and no clock appears on any obvious screen. The feature did not vanish. It sits behind the All apps menu in QuickBooks Online, and the standalone QuickBooks Time service labels its screens differently. The steps below follow the accepted solution to that question, and they cover both interfaces.

The symptoms are familiar to anyone who has hit this. The dashboard shows no clock, the submit step hides in its own tab, and a finished week sits unrecorded until someone finds the right screen.

The time clock sits behind the All apps menu

In QuickBooks Online, the clock is three selections deep. You reach it this way:

1. Sign in to QuickBooks Online.
2. Open All apps, then select Time, then Time entries.
3. Select Clock in.
4. Pick a job or customer from the list, then select Clock In. If the list is empty, select Clock In on its own.
5. To move to different work, select Switch jobs.
6. For a pause, select Take break and choose the break type.
7. Select Save to apply your changes.
8. Select Clock out when you finish.

One detail is worth underlining. Job switches and breaks take effect only when you select Save, so an unsaved change can leave hours attached to the wrong job.

How does QuickBooks Time handle the same clock?

The standalone QuickBooks Time service keeps the same functions under different labels, which is where much of the confusion starts. The sequence there:

1. Sign in to QuickBooks Time.
2. Select Time Clock.
3. Choose a job or customer and select Clock In, or select Clock In if none are listed.
4. To change tasks, pick a new job from the list and select Switch.
5. Select Clock Out when your work is complete.

Note the small label difference: Switch here, Switch jobs in QuickBooks Online. The action is the same.

Can you enter hours after the fact?

Yes. You have two backdated paths, and both start from the same Add time dropdown.

For a single entry:

1. Search for the team member.
2. Open the Add time dropdown and select Single time entry.
3. Turn on Set start and end time if you know exact times, or enter total hours instead.
4. Fill in Start date, Start time, End date, and End time.
5. Choose the Customer or Project, plus any fields that apply, such as Service and the billable status.
6. Select Save and close.

For a full week in one pass, the weekly form is faster:

1. Open the Add time dropdown and select Weekly time entry.
2. Select the team member, then use the calendar icon to choose the date range.
3. Choose the Customer or Project.
4. Enter the hours for each day, then select Save.

How do breaks get recorded?

The two interfaces split this task as well. In QuickBooks Online, go to Time entries, select Add time, then Break, and enter either a duration or a start and end time. In QuickBooks Time, go to Time Clock and select Take Break, then select End Break when you return to work.

Fixing a wrong entry and submitting the week

Neither control sits beside the clock, which is why both get missed. To correct an entry in QuickBooks Online, go to Time entries, find the row in the list, and select Edit time in the Action column. Submission lives in QuickBooks Time: open the Submit Time tab and select Submit Week. Editing and submitting are separate actions, so correcting hours does not file the week by itself.

Which plans add scheduling and time off?

The tier split is specific. Time off requests, mobile time entry, and scheduling come with QuickBooks Workforce Premium or Elite. The clock, the entries, and the submission steps above do not depend on those tiers. Admins also choose where to record: their own hours or a team member’s, from QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Workforce. The Workforce mobile app handles schedules and time off requests on a phone.

The pattern holds across every step. The clock and the entries live in one place, submission in another, and the break controls in both under different names. Once you know which screen owns which action, the rest is a series of short menus.