Start stop timers per task, manual time entries, pause/resume sessions. One active timer per user enforced. View total vs estimated hours variance. Dashboard widget for live tracking overview.
TARO's time tracking runs inside every task no separate app, no context switch. Start, pause, stop, or log manually. The hours flow directly into the variance view and the dashboard widget.
Track
Every task has a start timer button directly in the task detail panel and in List view. Clicking it starts a session tied to that task and that user. TARO enforces one active timer per user at all times if you start a timer on a new task while one is already running, the previous session is automatically stopped and logged before the new one begins. No split sessions, no double-counting, no ambiguity about what you were working on.
Log
Time logged via a running timer isn't the only way to record work. TARO supports fully manual time entries add any duration to any task with a date, a start time, and an optional note. Every entry is labelled as timer tracked or manual so the log stays auditable. For longer work sessions with natural interruptions, Pause suspends the running timer without stopping the session you resume exactly where you left off without creating a disconnected entry.
Analyse
Every task with an estimated hours field shows a live variance the gap between what was estimated when the task was created and what has actually been logged so far. Tasks that are running over their estimate are highlighted immediately so leads can reassign, descope, or adjust the sprint commitment before the overrun becomes a missed deadline. Tasks tracking under estimate reveal capacity that can be used elsewhere.
Monitor
The Time Tracked dashboard widget shows every team member with an active timer who is working, which task they are on, and how long their current session has been running alongside the day's total hours logged, estimated hours for the sprint, and the current variance. Leads get a live overhead view of team activity without asking what is everyone working on? The widget updates in real time as timers start, pause, and stop.
Time tracking that lives inside the task not in a separate app nobody opens is the only kind that gets used consistently enough to produce meaningful data.
The start timer button is in the task detail panel and in List view. There is no separate time-tracking app to open, no browser extension to install, no tool to switch between. The friction of starting a timer is one click from where the work already is.
Starting a new timer automatically stops the previous session and logs it. One user, one clock, one task at a time. The rule is enforced at every entry point task detail, List view, the dashboard widget so logged hours are always clean and attributable.
Not every work session starts with a timer click. Calls, planning, deep work that started before the laptop opened all of it can be logged manually with a duration, date, start time, and note. The log marks it as manual so the audit trail stays honest.
A 20-minute standup or a Slack rabbit hole shouldn't bloat the time logged to a task. Pausing the timer suspends the session without stopping it the elapsed time holds and the session resumes exactly where it left off when work restarts.
Every task with an estimate shows its live variance logged hours against estimated hours in real time. A task that's two hours over estimate on day 3 of a 5-day sprint is a visible, actionable signal. The same task discovered at sprint close is a post-mortem.
The Time Tracked widget shows every active timer, every paused session, and today's total hours across the full team in one panel. Leads see who's working, on what, and for how long without messaging anyone to ask.
The start timer button is in the task detail panel and in List view. There is no separate time-tracking app to open, no browser extension to install, no tool to switch between. The friction of starting a timer is one click from where the work already is.
Starting a new timer automatically stops the previous session and logs it. One user, one clock, one task at a time. The rule is enforced at every entry point task detail, List view, the dashboard widget so logged hours are always clean and attributable.
Not every work session starts with a timer click. Calls, planning, deep work that started before the laptop opened all of it can be logged manually with a duration, date, start time, and note. The log marks it as manual so the audit trail stays honest.
A 20-minute standup or a Slack rabbit hole shouldn't bloat the time logged to a task. Pausing the timer suspends the session without stopping it the elapsed time holds and the session resumes exactly where it left off when work restarts.
Every task with an estimate shows its live variance logged hours against estimated hours in real time. A task that's two hours over estimate on day 3 of a 5-day sprint is a visible, actionable signal. The same task discovered at sprint close is a post-mortem.
The Time Tracked widget shows every active timer, every paused session, and today's total hours across the full team in one panel. Leads see who's working, on what, and for how long without messaging anyone to ask.
Start a timer on any task. TARO does the rest.
Engineering teams use time tracking to calibrate sprint estimates sprint over sprint. Agencies use it to build invoices from real data. Project managers use it to see whether the sprint is burning hours at a sustainable pace. The common thread is the same in every case: you cannot improve what you cannot measure, and you cannot measure what nobody recorded while it was happening.
800+
trusted teams
Active timer per user
Manual entries per task
Variance view per task
Extra apps needed
Engineering teams use variance data in retrospectives to calibrate future estimates. When the Payments API task was estimated at 4 hours and logged 6h 54m, that gap isn't a failure it's data. Next sprint the team estimates authentication work more accurately, commits to fewer tasks with confidence, and finishes sprints instead of carrying them over. Time tracking turns retrospective guesswork into estimation science.
Logged hours power TARO's velocity calculations, workload intelligence, and over budget alerts turning raw time data into sprint decisions and risk signals.
Logged hours feed directly into sprint velocity calculations. Time per task data from completed sprints makes next sprint's capacity estimates progressively more accurate.
The Over Budget alert uses logged time entries converted at the workspace's hourly rate. When a project's time spend hits 80% of budget, the alert fires — driven by real tracked hours, not manual cost entries.
Daily logged hours per team member feed the workload distribution view — so overloaded members are flagged not just by task count but by actual hours being spent, giving a more accurate picture of real capacity.
The Time Tracked dashboard widget surfaces live active timers, today's total, and sprint variance in one view giving leads a real time overhead of team working activity without any manual check ins.
Logged hours feed directly into sprint velocity calculations. Time per task data from completed sprints makes next sprint's capacity estimates progressively more accurate.
The Over Budget alert uses logged time entries converted at the workspace's hourly rate. When a project's time spend hits 80% of budget, the alert fires — driven by real tracked hours, not manual cost entries.
Daily logged hours per team member feed the workload distribution view — so overloaded members are flagged not just by task count but by actual hours being spent, giving a more accurate picture of real capacity.
The Time Tracked dashboard widget surfaces live active timers, today's total, and sprint variance in one view giving leads a real time overhead of team working activity without any manual check ins.
Common questions from engineering leads, agency PMs, and contributors evaluating TARO's time tracking.
TARO automatically stops and logs the running session before starting the new one. The previous session is saved with its exact elapsed time, end timestamp, and task association as if you had manually clicked Stop. You are shown a brief confirmation: Stopped [task name] logged Xh Ym. Starting new timer on [new task]. This enforcement is applied at every timer start point task detail panel, List view inline, Kanban card, and the dashboard widget shortcut. There is never a state where TARO believes two timers are running simultaneously for the same user. The one-active-timer rule is a hard constraint, not a soft warning.
Start a timer. Log manually. See the variance. It's all in the task.