Working cross-platform, AutoTime comprehensively tracks activities performed in LEAP.

While AutoTime tracks activities recorded away from LEAP Desktop, you can only view them in LEAP Desktop and not via the mobile and web versions of LEAP.

There are various settings that need to be configured correctly to be successful in using AutoTime. It is worth considering creating a trial matter to ensure the behaviour is as expected once configuration is complete. 

Navigate to the LEAP Application Settings. Under General, select the number of Minutes per Billing Unit. This will turn any activities captured into units, and given the high accuracy of AutoTime, it is recommended that 1 is chosen as opposed to the traditional 6 minute unit used when recording time manually. It is also possible to set the default Billing Rate to be something other than A.

Next navigate to AutoTime then choose Time Entry Settings under the Accounting menu.  This is the area where the default behaviours for the activities captured by AutoTime are set. In this example, whenever a user uses an app on a matter, AutoTime will capture the activity with the Activity Code of att, and insert the App Name, Staff Initials and Date Created fields into the entry.  It will also capture the time at 1 Minute per Billing Unit.

It is important to note that this will override the General setting previously entered.

The next step is to ensure that the staff members are enabled for AutoTime. Navigate to Firm then Members under Staff. Under the AutoTime Enabled column, ensure the slider is switched to green.

This is an individual setting as not all staff members or departments may wish to use AutoTime.

The final setting for AutoTime is on a Matter.

In the Accounting tab of Matter Details, there are two selections available under Billing Type; Time Recorded and Fixed Fee. Leaving this field empty will not enable AutoTime.

Time Recorded will capture activities and convert them into time entries based on the Time Entry Settings. 

Fixed Fee will capture activities but not create time entries. This enables the calculation of the profitability of fixed fee work.

Under the Activity Billing tab there is the option to enable or disable individual staff members who can use AutoTime on the matter. All those enabled in the Members area of Application Settings will be automatically enabled, but they can be toggled off here.  Only staff members that are enabled for AutoTime in the Members area can be enabled. If the staff member is toggled off, they will only be able to record time using manual methods, such as the Timesheet.

AutoTime will capture the elapsed time in the background without intervention, provided it is one of the tracked activities, and will intelligently recognise when focus is elsewhere and stop recording.  In most activities there is a toggle to mark something as billable, meaning the activity will be tracked and saved to LEAP. How this appears in LEAP depends on the Billing Type setting on the matter, with Time Recorded matters also creating the corresponding time entry based on the Time Entry Setting. To change whether something is billable, simply toggle this from on to off. 

This example is from Outlook but works the same across all activities.

On/Enabled	Off/Disabled

This toggle can be used to prevent activity tracking on the artefact at runtime, such as reviewing a previously generated document. It is also available at the top of each matter but also in apps, like Call Logging - just toggle the Activity Billing or Billable slider to the left to disable it.

Think of this toggle as the pause button in a manual time entry. It is also possible to pause the timer by minimising the document or email as AutoTime recognises when it loses focus.

In Microsoft Office, it is also possible to overwrite the time captured using the small arrow pointing down and to the right - this launches the Activity Properties, where the Staff and elapsed time can be changed.

Time Entries

A new time entry will be created for each activity recorded per day per staff member if the matter is set to Time Recorded. If the same document, email chain or correspondence item is worked on the same day by the same staff member the events for the same correspondence will then be grouped together under the same time entry.

When staff members attend appointments or meetings, all attendees will have a separate activity created to accommodate their individual time and attendance in the meeting or appointment. Users can adjust their individual time and billing description.

Entries recorded from the LEAP Mobile will also be grouped by the same activity performed on the same day by the same fee earner. Activities include:

• Making phone calls
• Sending SMS
• Scanning Documents
• Recording voice memos
• Making video calls

To edit AutoTime entries, open the Timesheet to find the entry then make the necessary changes.

Activities

When using AutoTime every Activity is saved to the matter in the Activities area of Time & Fees.

The list of activities can be filtered by date range, staff, and billing status to help users narrow down and view specific entries. The Date Range filter allows users to set a custom time frame to display only activities recorded during that period, with the default range showing the last 30 days. The Staff filter enables users to view activities created by either all staff or a selected individual. The Billing Status filter provides several options for refining the list.

For Time Entry billing, users can choose from:

• Billable - Next Invoice - entries marked as billable for the next invoice
• Billable - Later Invoice - entries billable for a later invoice
• Not Billable - entries with the billable toggle off
• Billed - entries that have already been invoiced

For Activity billing, the options include:

• Billable - activities on time entries marked as billable
• Not Billable - activities on time entries not marked as billable
• No Status - activities not associated with any time entry
• Deleted - activities that have been removed

Additionally, users can choose to include tax by selecting the appropriate tick-box.

It is also possible to edit recorded activities, including toggling the Billable option on or off to indicate whether the activity should be billed, modifying the Time Spent to reflect the correct duration, and adjusting the Units to update the number associated with the activity.

Users can also bulk select multiple entries by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on the desired items. Once selected, they can apply bulk changes such as setting all chosen items to Billable or Not Billable.

Additional amendments can be made, including moving an activity to another staff member. If the selected staff member already has a time entry on the same date, the activity will link to that entry; if not, a new time entry will be created and linked. Activities can also be moved to a different matter, though it's important to note that activities cannot be moved to matters where the Billing Type is set to Fixed Fee.

The associated time entry can be accessed from the Activity if the matter is set to be Time Recorded.

Reports

The Fee Earner Performance Module provides a comprehensive summary of billable activity for fee earners, including both manually recorded hours and hours captured through the AutoTime system, along with equivalent values for fixed fee work.

The primary objective of this report is to highlight the effectiveness of AutoTime in capturing more billable hours compared to manual entries and to offer insights into the profitability of fixed fee matters. This is achieved by comparing the AutoTime-recorded hours to manually entered hours and their equivalent values in fixed fee arrangements.

The module includes several filters, such as Start Date and End Date, to narrow down results. Key report fields include the fee earner's name, role (as defined in Staff Settings), and whether AutoTime is enabled. It also shows the number of active days based on the staff member's recorded activity.

For Time Recorded Matters, the report displays both manually recorded time and AutoTime hours, along with the variance between them.  For Fixed Fee Matters, it includes the total billed amount, average billing rate, and effective hours worked, with AutoTime hours calculated by dividing the fixed fees by the average hourly rate. The average rate per hour is derived either from the staff member’s actual time entries, their assigned rate (Rate A), the firm's overall average, or defaults to £100 if no data is available. The Total Hours section combines auto-recorded and manually recorded time across all matter types, offering a complete view of each fee earner's time contributions.