Choose your team's time tracking style
Learn the difference between VibeTime and traditional timesheets. You can pick the right mode to make time tracking faster and more accurate for your team.
This guide explains the two time tracking modes available in AtomicSam. Choosing the right one helps your team record their time accurately and with less effort.
Different jobs require different levels of detail. AtomicSam lets you select a time tracking mode for your whole organization, a specific client, or even an individual job. This flexibility ensures your team has the right tool for the task.
Compare time tracking modes
AtomicSam offers two ways for your staff members to log their hours. Use this table to decide which mode is best for your jobs.
| VibeTime | Traditional Timesheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Jobs that require quick daily hour entry with minimal notes. | Jobs that require detailed notes for compliance or billing. |
| Input style | A visual grid where you enter hours for a job on a specific day. | A list of individual time entries, each with its own date, job, hours, and notes. |
| Notes | Notes are optional and apply to the entire day for a given job. | Notes are added to each individual time entry and can be made mandatory. |
| View | Presents a weekly grid view for fast, at-a-glance entry. | Presents a weekly list view that highlights details for each entry. |
Before you start
- You need Administrator or Manager permissions to change time tracking settings.
Set the time tracking mode
The time tracking mode is set at the Organization level by default. You can override this setting for a specific client or for an individual job. The most specific setting always wins.
- Navigate to the settings area for the level you want to change.
- For your whole organization, go to Settings → Organization Settings.
- For a single client, open that client and go to the Settings tab.
- For a single job, open that job and go to its Settings tab.
- Find the Time Tracking section.
- In the Mode dropdown, select either
VibeTimeorTraditional Timesheet. - Click Save to apply the change.
How staff members track time
When a staff member opens their timesheet, they will see the mode that has been set for the job they are working on. They cannot choose their own mode.
Using VibeTime
VibeTime shows a visual grid of the week. Staff members can quickly add time to jobs they worked on each day.
- Go to the Time section.
- Find the correct job in the list on the left.
- Click the grid cell that corresponds to the job and the day you are logging time for.
- Enter the number of hours worked.
- Click outside the cell to save the entry.
Using the Traditional Timesheet
The traditional timesheet provides a list-based view for the week. Staff members add a new line for each time entry, which is ideal for adding detailed notes.
- Go to the Time section.
- Click Add Time Entry.
- Select the Job and confirm the Date.
- Enter the number of hours, or use the start and end time fields.
- Write your notes in the Description field.
- Click Save Entry.
⚠️ Heads up: If you make the Description field required in a job's settings, staff members will not be able to save a time entry without adding notes.
Good to know
- You can switch the time tracking mode on a job at any time. All existing time entries are preserved, no matter which mode you used to create them.
- A setting at the Job level always overrides a Client-level setting. A setting at the Client level always overrides the Organization-level setting.
- Staff members see the time tracking mode that is active for the job. They cannot override this setting themselves.