# Logging time with custom fields

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

## On the web

On **My Time**, the extra fields appear under the usual row. Change the **Project** and the fields change with it, because each project can carry a different template. Required fields are marked with a red asterisk.

If a required field is missing, the entry is not saved and the page says which field is needed. This is checked on the server, not just in the browser — a rule that only exists in the form is not a rule.

## In the mobile app

The app is told which fields each project asks for and draws them the same way. A manual entry missing a required field is refused, and the response names the field so the app can point at it.

## Stopping a timer is never blocked

If you stop a running timer and a required field has not been filled in, **the timer still stops and the time is still saved**. The elapsed time is real, and refusing would leave the timer running with nothing you could do about it.

Instead the entry is saved and flagged as still needing that field, so you can fill it in afterwards. Creating an entry by hand does refuse, because at that point nothing has been lost.

## Changing an entry's project later

Values already collected are **kept**, even if the new project's template does not ask for that field — move the entry back and they reappear. Only the current template's fields are shown and checked, so a leftover value is invisible rather than wrong.

Moving an entry to a project with a stricter template is checked against the stricter template, so you cannot sidestep a required field by logging elsewhere first.

## Locked entries

Once a timesheet is approved or an entry has been invoiced, the entry is locked and its custom fields can no longer be edited, the same as the rest of it.

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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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