This article explains how freelancers can add manual time to their Upwork work diary for offline tasks or work not captured by the Upwork Desktop App. It emphasizes the need for client approval, outlines how to add manual time via the app or browser, and clarifies that manual hours aren't covered by Hourly Payment Protection or adjusted for local time zones in billing locks – AI helped create this summary
Because we know you and your client might agree that adding manual time is important, we’ve built in the ability to add manual hours to your work diary.
Manual time is often used to bill for work done offline or work that cannot be captured by our Time Tracker using the Upwork Desktop App — such as phone calls, non-electronic research, paper-based sketching, large file transfers, graphics rendering, etc.
Before you can bill for manual time, your client must enable the option (they can disable it at any time, too).
So be sure to talk to them before you work any manual hours to ensure they are willing to pay you for that time. Once enabled, you can add manual time via the Upwork Desktop App or directly in your work diary – it’s simple!
IMPORTANT TO KNOW:
Manual time does not qualify for Hourly Payment Protection.
Add manual time to your work diary
Via your computer:
- Go to your work diary and select the contract from the dropdown menu
- Select the day you want to add hours to and select Add manual time
- Select the time period, add a description of the work, and select Save
Via the Time Tracker in the app:
- Open the Upwork Desktop App and select the contract.
- Choose the Add manual time option.
- Select the date and times, add a description of the work, and select Save.
Manual time can be added to the current billing period before the work diary is locked, and only for intervals that you have not already logged time in.
Understanding time zones and lockout times in the work diary
The default time setting for the desktop app and work diary is UTC. The work diary locks for the previous week when Sunday ends and Monday begins at midnight UTC time.
You can log hours in your own time zone by selecting My time zone from the dropdown time zone menu in your work diary. However, the work diary lockout time will still occur at midnight UTC, not midnight in your local time zone.
Examples:
You enter hours for 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm, Sunday, December 1, in your local time zone, but in UTC that’s 1:00 am to 2:00 am, Monday, December 2. Your time will be recorded for the week that starts on Monday, December 2.
You record time for 12:00 am to 1:00 am, Monday, December 2, in your local time zone, but in UTC that’s 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm, Sunday, December 1. Your time will be recorded for the week that ends on Sunday, December 1.