Glossary

The TimoDesk glossary explains the words the help guides use with a specific meaning, such as tracked time, activity, member-day and billable member. It's for everyone in your organization, whatever their role. Each term links to the guide that covers it in full.

Time tracking terms

Desktop app: The TimoDesk desktop app is the time tracker members run on Windows, macOS or Linux. It records time, activity, apps, websites and screenshots, but only while the timer runs. See what the app tracks.
Idle time: Idle time is time without keyboard or mouse input that the desktop app flags once your idle timeout runs out. TimoDesk never adds it to tracked time, and it deletes screenshots taken during it. See how idle detection works.
Manual time: Manual time is work time a member adds by request because the desktop app didn't record it, such as a call away from the computer. Once approved, it counts as worked time, with no screenshots. Activity averages leave it out, except on the dashboard. See how manual time works.
Reviewer: A reviewer is a member who can approve, edit or reject manual time requests. Organizers can always review, and Business Managers and Team Managers review only when the Who can review setting includes them. See who can approve manual time.
Tracked time: Tracked time is the time the desktop app recorded while a member's timer was running, plus approved manual time. Time the app reported as idle doesn't count. See how tracked time is calculated.

Activity and screenshot terms

Activity: Activity is the share of tracked seconds with keyboard or mouse input. The app counts active seconds, not keystrokes, and never records what anyone types. See how activity is measured.
Average activity: Average activity is the activity of a period weighted by time, so longer stretches count more. Two hours at 80% and one hour at 50% average to 70%, not 65%. See how activity is calculated.
Idle timeout: The idle timeout is how long a member can go without keyboard or mouse input before the desktop app asks about the idle time. It's 5 minutes by default, and you can pick 3 to 60 minutes. See what each tracking setting does.
Online now: Online now is the Members page tab that lists members who have the desktop app running right now. It shows the project and task each one is tracking, or Online, not tracking. See the Members page.
Organization default: The organization default is the idle timeout, screenshot interval, screenshot alert or manual time rule that every member uses unless they have their own setting. A member's own setting always takes priority, even if you change the default later. See how member settings and defaults work together.
Screenshot: A screenshot is an image of a member's screen that the desktop app captures at a set interval while the timer runs. Organizers and Business Managers turn screenshots on or off for each member, one at a time or several at once. See how screenshots work.
Screenshot alert: The screenshot alert notifies a member right after the app takes each screenshot. It's off by default, and it doesn't turn screenshots on or off. See tracking settings.
Screenshot interval: The screenshot interval is how often the desktop app takes a screenshot while a member tracks time. The default is every 3 minutes, and you can pick 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 or 60 minutes. See what controls what gets captured.
Time block: A time block is a 10-minute slice of an hour on the Screenshots page, with its screenshots, tracked time and activity. Its activity bar is red below 30%, amber from 30% to 59% and green from 60%. See how to read the time blocks.
Tracking policy: A tracking policy is the set of rules that control how the desktop app tracks a member: tracking and screenshots on or off, idle timeout, screenshot interval, screenshot alert and manual time. Organizers and Business Managers set organization defaults and give members their own settings on the Team Tracking Policy page. Only Organizers change the manual time defaults. See Tracking policy.

Role and member terms

Business Manager: A Business Manager is the role that runs the organization day to day and sees everyone. They manage members, teams, projects, billing and support requests, but can't change storage, organization info, manual time settings or the referral program. See what a Business Manager can do.
Disabled member: A disabled member can't sign in to the dashboard or the desktop app, so they can't track time. TimoDesk keeps their Tracking and Screenshots settings and uses them again when you enable the member. Nothing is deleted, so their time, screenshots, projects and teams stay in your reports. See disable or enable a member.
Invite link: An invite link is one shareable link that lets anyone ask to join your organization. Everyone who joins with it starts as Staff and can't sign in until you approve them. See invite members with a link.
Organizer: An Organizer is the role with full access to everything, including billing, screenshot storage and organization settings. An organization can have more than 1 Organizer. See what an Organizer can do.
Owner: The owner is the Organizer who registered the organization. Nobody can change the owner's role, disable their account or give them their own tracking policy. See the organization owner.
Project leader: A project leader is a Staff member picked to run a project, with extra rights on that project only. It isn't a separate role: leaders see everyone's work on the project, manage its tasks and assign members, but can't edit the project itself. See what a project leader can do.
Staff: Staff is the role that tracks time and sees only their own time, activity, apps, websites and screenshots. On projects they're on, Staff can add tasks for themselves and edit the tasks they created or are assigned to, but they can't set priority, dates or estimates. See what Staff can do.
Team: A team is a group of members that Team Managers can manage and that you can report on together. A member can be on several teams, and team reports use the team's current members. See the Teams page.
Team Manager: A Team Manager is the role that leads 1 or more teams and sees their own work plus the members of those teams. Only people with this role can manage a team, and if their role changes, they stop managing all of their teams. See team managers.

Project and task terms

Archived task: An archived task is hidden from the task board and from members' desktop apps, while its tracked time stays. You can't delete tasks, so archiving is how you remove one. See archive a task.
Estimate: An estimate is the time you expect a task to take, in hours and minutes. The task card then shows tracked time as a percentage of the estimate, or Over once the estimate is passed. See what a task card shows.
Label: A label is a colored tag, such as Bug or Design, that every project in your organization shares. Label names ignore capitalization, and a task can have up to 10 labels. See how to use labels.
Overdue task: A task is overdue when it's still open and its due date has passed in your organization's time zone. Completed tasks are never overdue. See a task's details.
Priority: Priority is a task's urgency level: Default, Low, Medium, High or Urgent. New tasks get Medium unless you pick another level. Tasks that Staff add get Default, and cards don't show Default. See a task's details.
Project: A project holds your team's tasks and decides where tracked time goes. Members can track time only on projects they're assigned to, and you can't delete or archive a project. See the Projects page.
Project member: A project member is a person assigned to a project, which lets them track time on it. Leading a project doesn't make someone a member, and a removed member's past time stays in the reports. See assign or remove project members.
Section: A section is a column on a project's task board, such as To Do, In Progress or Done. A new project starts with one section, To Do, and you can't delete a section. See how to manage sections.
Star: A star marks a task as important for you alone. Only you see your stars, and the Important filter lists them. See mark a task as important.
Subtask: A subtask is a checklist item inside a task. Completing every subtask doesn't complete the task. You can rename or delete a subtask, but you can't delete one that has time on it. See how to use subtasks.
Task: A task is a piece of work your team tracks time against. All tracked time belongs to one project and one task, so members need a task before they start the timer. See how to add a task.
Task status: A task's status is Pending until someone tracks time on it, Ongoing after that, and Completed once someone marks it complete. One click completes the task for everyone on it. See where tracked time shows on a task.

Report terms

Absent day: An absent day is a day on the Monthly Timesheet on which a member tracked no time. Days after today are never absent. See absent days and holidays.
Avg Hours / Member: Avg Hours / Member is the total worked time divided by the number of member-days. It shows the average length of a working day, not an average over the whole range. See the summary widgets.
Clock in and clock out: Clock in is the start of a member's first tracked time on a day, and clock out is the end of their last. TimoDesk doesn't subtract breaks, and a clock out past midnight shows as 11:59 PM. See clock in and clock out times.
Holiday: A holiday on the Monthly Timesheet is a day on which nobody in the grid tracked time. TimoDesk finds holidays from tracked time alone, so there's no holiday list to set up. See absent days and holidays.
Member-day: A member-day is 1 member on 1 date with tracked time. Days when a member didn't track don't count. See the summary widgets.
Previous period: The previous period is the stretch with the same number of days that comes right before the date range you picked on the dashboard. Only the Performance Map uses it: hover over a member to see how their hours a day and activity changed from it. See the Performance Map.
Top Performers: Top Performers is the report that ranks members with the highest first, by time and activity together, by time alone or by activity alone. Low Performers shows the same ranking from the bottom. See how to choose the ranking.
Worked day: A worked day is any day on which a member tracked some time, even a few minutes, including approved manual time. The Monthly Timesheet counts them in the Worked Day column. See the timesheet grid.

Billing and settings terms

Account credit: Account credit is your organization's TimoDesk balance, used to pay invoices. It comes from credit you add, referral credit and any changes the TimoDesk team makes, and you can't withdraw it. See how account credit works.
Billable member: A billable member is a member who tracked time in the billing cycle, billed at $1 per month. Only time from the desktop app counts, not approved manual time, and there's no proration: 5 minutes costs the same as a full month. See how billing works.
Billable client: A billable client is a client assigned to at least 1 project that had time tracked with the desktop app in the billing cycle. Each one costs a monthly price set by TimoDesk, shown in the Invite a Client popup, and the Billing card on the dashboard lists them as Billable clients. Manual time alone doesn't count, and disabling a client doesn't stop the charge. See how clients are billed.
Billing cycle: The billing cycle is the month up to your next bill date. Your first cycle starts when the free trial ends, and each invoice covers the month before it. See how the free trial works.
Discount: A discount is a percentage off your invoices from a coupon you entered when you created your organization. It applies to a set number of invoices or to every invoice, and each discounted invoice shows its own line. See how discounts work.
Free trial: The free trial is the first 15 days of a new organization, when TimoDesk doesn't bill tracked time. You don't need a payment method to start it. See how the free trial works.
Late fee: A late fee is a charge of 20% of the invoice amount that TimoDesk adds to an invoice left unpaid for 72 hours. Each invoice gets it only once. See what happens if an invoice stays unpaid.
Organization time zone: Your organization's time zone sets when each day starts and ends in reports and on the dashboard. TimoDesk sets it from your location when you create the organization, and only the Organizer can change it. See organization settings.
Referral code: Your referral code is the part of your referral link that connects a new organization to yours. TimoDesk gives each organization a random 6-character code, and when you change it, your old link stops working. See your referral link and code.
Referral credit: Referral credit is a flat amount, currently $10, added to your account credit when an organization you referred makes its first successful payment. You earn it once per referred organization, and nothing if the organization is credited to a TimoDesk Partner instead. Unlike a partner commission, it can only pay your TimoDesk invoices, and you can't withdraw it. See when you earn referral credit.
Referral link: Your referral link is the address you share so other organizations can sign up through you. A sign-up counts only when they create their organization in the same browser within 72 hours of opening the link. See how a sign-up is linked to you.
Storage: Storage is where TimoDesk saves your organization's screenshots: TimoDesk storage by default, or your own S3-compatible bucket or FTP server. Only 1 storage is active at a time, and you can enable only a verified one. See switch between storages.
Suspension: Suspension locks an organization with an invoice still unpaid 7 days after it was sent. Members can't track time, and TimoDesk reactivates the organization automatically once no unpaid invoices are left. See what happens if an invoice stays unpaid.
Week start: Week start is the first day of the week on the Time Calendar, the Weekly Worklog and the date pickers. It's Sunday by default, and TimoDesk sends the weekly summary email on that day. See organization settings.

Client terms

Client: A client is a person outside your organization, such as the customer the work is for. You invite them to the client portal to follow their projects. Clients aren't members: they have no role, don't track time and can't change anything. Only Organizers and Business Managers manage them, and you can disable a client but not delete one. See Clients.
Client invitation: A client invitation is the email that brings a client into the client portal. Its link works for 7 days and only once, and resending it makes the old link stop working. Member email invites are different: they last 48 hours. See resend, copy or revoke an invitation.
Client portal: The client portal is a separate, read-only website at client.timodesk.com where clients see the work on the projects you assign them. It never shows task comments, who is online now or who didn't track time, and it has no two-factor sign-in. See what the client portal is.
Portal access: Portal access is the set of 11 switches that decide which screens a client can open. Every client also has the Dashboard, which you can't turn off. Screenshots, App usage and Websites & URLs start off, and turning off Team members hides the names and photos of the people doing the work. See how to choose what a client can see.

Partner program terms

Campaign: A campaign is a partner's tracking link, with its own name, code and destination page. Every partner gets a campaign named Default, and sign-ups with the partner's coupon count toward it. See how to create a campaign.
Minimum deposit: The minimum deposit is the total a referred team has to pay TimoDesk before its partner earns a commission. Several smaller payments add up. TimoDesk sets the amount, and the partner dashboard shows it. See when a partner earns a commission.
Partner: A partner is anyone TimoDesk approves in the Partner program. Partners have their own account at partner.timodesk.com, separate from any TimoDesk organization, and they're paid for the teams they send. See how to apply.
Partner commission: A partner commission is the fixed amount, set by TimoDesk, that a partner earns once for each referred team that reaches the minimum deposit. It goes into the partner's balance, which they withdraw with a payout method. Unlike referral credit, it isn't account credit and doesn't pay TimoDesk invoices. See the partner balance.
Partner coupon: A partner coupon is a discount code TimoDesk gives a partner to share. A new team enters it in the coupon field when it creates its organization, gets the discount and is credited to the partner, unless it came through another partner's link first. See how partner coupons work.
Partner program: The TimoDesk Partner program pays partners a commission for the teams they send to TimoDesk through campaign links and coupons. It's separate from the Referral program, and when a sign-up is credited to a partner, no organization gets referral credit for it. See how it differs from the Referral program.
Qualified referral: A qualified referral is a team credited to a partner that has paid TimoDesk at least the minimum deposit. At that moment, the commission goes into the partner's balance. See how to follow your referrals.
Sub-ID: A sub-ID is a label a partner adds to a campaign link to tell placements apart, such as a newsletter and a video. A link can carry up to 3 sub-IDs, and the performance report splits clicks by them. Sub-IDs live only in the copied link, not on the campaign. See how to track placements with sub-IDs.