In brief: In Progress tasks accept any time, Completed tasks accept only missed time dated on or before completion, and Draft, Backlog, and Archived accept none.

Applies to: Everyone in the workspace who logs time. The Job's state overrides the task's.

See also: My Time: Log Your Effort and Fix What You Missed covers logging and correcting entries, and Job Tasks: Assignees, Allocations, and Statuses covers moving a task into a status that can take time.

Time in Net Net always belongs to a real task, and not every task can take it. In Progress tasks accept both a timer and manual time. Completed tasks accept manual missed time only, dated on or before the day they were completed. Draft, Backlog, and Archived tasks never accept new time. The Job the task sits in has a say too.

These rules apply everywhere you can log time: the time bar, task rows in My Tasks, and duplicating an entry in My Time.

Which task statuses can accept time

In Progress. Everything is available. Start a timer, or enter time manually. This is the normal case and it's why the task picker shows In Progress tasks by default.

Completed. Manual time only, and the date has to be on or before the day the task was completed. You can't start a live timer on a finished task.

Backlog. No new time. The work hasn't started, so there's nothing to log against yet. Move it to In Progress first.

Draft. No new time. It isn't a real commitment yet.

Archived. No new time, ever. Archived tasks are history. Their existing time stays reportable, but nothing new gets added.

The Job rules

Task status isn't the only check. The Job the task belongs to matters too, and both have to pass. Job Lifecycle: Pending, Active, Completed, Archived explains each of those Job states in full.

Active Job. Normal rules apply, exactly as above.

Completed Job. Still accepts time against tasks that are otherwise eligible. The delivery timeline stopped, but people are still catching up on what they forgot to log, and that correction should be honest rather than blocked.

Archived Job. Blocks all new time, no matter what state the child task is in. Archiving is the strongest signal in the product, and it overrides everything below it.

Pending Job. No time yet. The plan isn't active, so there's nothing to spend effort against.

Finding a completed task in the picker

By default the task picker only shows In Progress tasks assigned to you, so the list stays short and useful.

Turn on Show completed in the picker to add finished tasks to the list. That's how you log the two hours from Thursday that you never got around to entering.

The switch is temporary. It resets the next time you open the tracker, so the list always returns to In Progress only. That's deliberate: adding missed time should be a decision you make on purpose, not the default state of your tracker.

When a completed task still needs real work

Missed time is for effort you already spent and forgot to log. It isn't for new work.

If the task genuinely isn't finished, reopen it to In Progress rather than piling manual entries onto a completed task. That keeps the status honest, restores the timer, and means the Job's performance reflects work that's actually still open. Changing a task's status is covered in Job Tasks: Assignees, Allocations, and Statuses.

Correcting old time is different from adding new time

Worth separating, because it trips people up.

Correcting an existing entry in My Time is about fixing the record. You can adjust the duration, the notes, and the date on an unlocked entry, even after the task is completed. The one limit is that the date can't move past the task's completion date.

Creating anything new has to pass the rules above. That includes Duplicate in the ⋮ menu, since duplicating makes a fresh entry, and it includes relinking an entry to a different task. You can't relink time onto a Draft, Backlog, or Archived task, or onto a task inside a Pending or Archived Job.

Entries that belong to archived work show a LOCKED badge. They stay on screen so history isn't hidden, but they can't be edited.

Why the rules exist at all

These are integrity boundaries, not punishment.

Net Net's whole promise is that effort rolls up honestly: time into tasks, tasks into Deliverables, Deliverables into the Job's performance. That only holds if time can't be attached to work that hasn't started or was closed months ago. A Job you archived last quarter shouldn't quietly grow new hours.

At the same time, people genuinely forget to log. So Net Net leaves the honest correction path wide open, and only closes the doors that would make the numbers lie.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which task statuses can accept time?

In Progress tasks accept both a timer and manual time. Completed tasks accept manual missed time only, dated on or before their completion date. Draft, Backlog, and Archived tasks accept no new time at all.

Why can't I start a timer on a completed task?

A completed task means the work is believed to be finished, so it can't run a live timer. It can still take manual missed time for effort you already spent. If work is genuinely continuing, reopen the task to In Progress instead.

How do I add time I forgot to log on a finished task?

Open the time bar, turn on "Show completed" in the task picker, choose the task, and use Manual Time. The date has to be on or before the day the task was completed. The toggle resets the next time you open the tracker.

Can I log time to a task in a completed Job?

Yes. A Completed Job still accepts time against tasks that are otherwise eligible. This exists so cleanup and missed time stay honest even after delivery has wrapped.

Why is time blocked on a task that's still In Progress?

Check the Job. An Archived Job blocks all new time regardless of task status, and a Pending Job doesn't accept time yet. Both checks have to pass, and the Job's state overrides the task's.

Can I still fix old time entries after a task is completed?

Yes. Correcting an existing unlocked entry is different from creating a new one. You can change the duration, notes, and date, but the date can't move later than the task's completion date. Entries tied to archived work show a LOCKED badge and can't be edited.

Does Duplicate follow the same rules?

Yes. Duplicating a time entry creates new time, so it has to pass the same task and Job checks as manual entry. It won't work against Draft, Backlog, or Archived tasks, or tasks inside Pending or Archived Jobs.

Related articles

Day to day you log and correct effort in My Time: Log Your Effort and Fix What You Missed, and start most timers straight from a row in My Tasks: Every Task Assigned to You, in One List. If a task is in the wrong state to take time, Job Tasks: Assignees, Allocations, and Statuses covers moving it to one that works. When you need the workspace-wide picture of logged effort instead of one task's, Time Report: See Every Time Entry Your Team Logged is where it's gathered.

Updated on: 08/04/2026