# Custom fields on time entries

**Category:** [Time Tracking](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/categories/time-tracking)
**Updated:** 2026-08-06

## What they are for

A time entry records who worked, on what project, for how long. Custom fields let you ask for anything else your business needs alongside it — **Work type**, **Client PO number**, **Cost center**, **Billable reason**, **Location**.

The values are stored on the *time entry*, which is what makes them useful later: you can filter and group your reports by them, and export them to CSV.

## Three pieces, and why

- **A field** is one thing you want to collect, with a type (text, number, date, yes/no, picklist, multi-select, URL). Defined once for the whole workspace.

- **A template** is a named, ordered set of fields — the form that appears when time is logged. You can have several.

- **A project** chooses which template applies to time logged against it.

The reason for the middle step is that different clients need different detail. One client's work needs a PO number on every entry; internal work needs none. Without templates you would have to make every field optional and hope people filled in the right ones.

## Defining a field does not start collecting it

A new field arrives **switched off on every template**. That is deliberate: creating a field for one client's template should not make it appear on everybody else's timesheet. Two steps, on purpose — define it, then switch it on where it belongs.

If you have fields that no template collects, the Fields tab says so, because a field that looks configured and quietly does nothing is worse than no field at all.

## Where to find it

Go to **Time Tracking › Custom Fields** (under *Manage*, admins only). It has two tabs: **Fields** and **Templates**.

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## Related Articles

- [Track your time](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/articles/track-your-time)
- [Create a custom field](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/articles/timetracking-create-custom-field-1)
- [Templates, and giving one to a project](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/articles/timetracking-field-templates)
- [Filter, sort and group reports by a custom field](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/articles/timetracking-reporting-custom-fields-1)
- [Custom fields in the API and AI tools](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/articles/timetracking-custom-fields-api-1)

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