# Kimai

> Time tracking for projects and clients, with timesheets, reports, and invoices.

- Web page: https://documentation.federated.computer/apps/kimai/
- Category: Business operations
- Use instead of: Toggl Track, Harvest, Clockify, Timely
- Typical address: `kimai.example.com`
- Project website: https://www.kimai.org/
- Official docs: https://www.kimai.org/documentation/

## Overview

Kimai records how much time your team spends on each client, project, and type of work. Use it for billing clients, understanding project costs, or simply knowing where the week went.

Main capabilities:

- One-click **start and stop** timers, and manual entries.
- A hierarchy of **customers**, **projects**, and **activities**.
- **Hourly and fixed rates** per user, customer, project, or activity.
- **Budgets** on customers and projects, in money or hours, with warnings.
- **Teams** to control who can see and book time to which projects.
- **Reports** by user, project, month, and more, and **exports** to Excel, CSV, and PDF.
- **Invoices** generated from tracked time using customizable templates.
- An API and browser-friendly mobile layout (it can be installed as a web app on your phone).

### What it replaces

Kimai replaces Toggl Track, Harvest, Clockify, and similar time trackers, without per-user subscriptions.

## Signing in

Open your Kimai address and sign in with your organization account or the Kimai account created for you.

## Track time

### Start a timer

1. Choose **Start** (the play button) in the top bar.
2. Pick the **customer**, **project**, and **activity**, and optionally add a description and tags.

   ![The Kimai dialog for starting a timer, with project, activity, description, and tags fields](https://documentation.federated.computer/screenshots/kimai/start-timer.png)

   *The dialog that opens from the play button.*

3. Choose **Start**. The running timer shows in the top bar. Stop it with the stop button.

Your recent activities appear in the top bar's dropdown for one-click restarts.

### Add time after the fact

Go to **My times** and choose **Create**. Enter the date, start and end time (or duration), and the project and activity.

### Fix a mistake

In **My times**, open the entry's menu to edit or delete it. Entries may be locked after a period closes, depending on your organization's settings.

## Set up clients and projects

Administrators and team leads:

1. Create a **customer** under **Customers**, with currency and an optional budget.

   ![The Kimai form for creating a customer](https://documentation.federated.computer/screenshots/kimai/new-customer.png)

   *Creating a customer under **Administration**, **Customers**. Shown on the public demo. Your server may look slightly different.*

2. Create **projects** for that customer, with optional budget, order number, and start and end dates.
3. Create **activities**: global ones (such as "Meetings" or "Development") that apply to every project, or ones specific to a project.
4. Set **rates** on the customer, project, activity, or user. The most specific rate wins.

## Reports and exports

- **Reporting** has ready-made reports, such as weekly hours per user and monthly totals per project.
- **Export** turns filtered timesheets into Excel, CSV, PDF, or HTML. Mark exported entries so they aren't billed twice.

## Create invoices

1. Under **Invoices**, filter by customer and date range.

   ![The Kimai Create invoice screen with filters for time range, customer, and project](https://documentation.federated.computer/screenshots/kimai/create-invoice.png)

   ***Invoices**, **Create invoice**: filter the time entries to bill. Shown on the public demo. Your server may look slightly different.*

2. Choose a **template** (configure your company details and payment terms under **Invoices**, **Templates**).
3. Preview, then create the invoice. Kimai keeps a numbered invoice archive and can mark the time entries as exported.

## Administer Kimai

- **Users**: set roles (User, Teamlead, Admin, Super-Admin), hourly rates, and preferences.
- **Teams**: connect users to customers and projects to restrict visibility.
- **Settings**: time rounding, lockdown periods for completed months, and default work hours.

## Superpanel settings

- **Access**: choose which groups can sign in to Kimai.
- **Administrators**: choose who gets the Super-Admin role.

> **You host only**
>
> Kimai plugins from the store are installed by copying them to the server and running `bin/console kimai:reload`. You host customers can do this themselves; others can ask Federated Computer support.
>
> Command-line access is available only when Federated Core was installed with the You host option. [What this means](https://documentation.federated.computer/getting-started/command-line-access/)

## Further reading

- [Kimai documentation](https://www.kimai.org/documentation/)
- [Invoices](https://www.kimai.org/documentation/invoices.html)
- [Kimai plugin store](https://www.kimai.org/store/)