Hubstaff Integration Task Write-Back (Task log interval)

Hubstaff Integration Task Write Back

Some Hubstaff integrations allow for time entries to be posted directly to the site. What this means is that time tracked to tasks, tickets, issues, etc through Hubstaff is automatically synced with the third party site.

However, this is not possible with all the integrations as not all of them support time entries. Keep in mind that in order to export time back to the third-party site first the end-user must connect the integration in their Hubstaff user account settings.

Task Logging Interval

You can choose how often the integrations will write the time back in the settings on the integration page. Navigate to Settings & policies > Integrations > click on the integration name, then go to the integration’s SETTINGS page.
Our integration system currently has two modes of operation in regard to synchronizing time to your task management system. (Either we synchronize time daily or we synchronize time when the task is closed in Hubstaff.)

  1. Daily– The time gets synced once per day. (The data gets sent back at midnight UTC.)
  2. Hourly – The time gets synced once an hour.
  3. Delayed – Delays your syncing time by a day, to allow for time manual edits.
  4. Complete– The time will be pushed back to the integration tool once the task is marked as Complete, please note that not all integrations support task completion. (See the bottom of this page for a list.)
  5. Off– Will disable synchronizing task time for customers who really do not want it synced. (For customers who do not want the comments added to their tasks with the time information).
Whenever anytime is synchronized to an external system (be it a task system like Asana, a payroll system like Quickbooks, our internal team payments) we mark it as synced to that system and it becomes locked. We do this as we cannot easily reverse the time in the remote tool and customers want the time in the two systems to match up. If we were to allow you to unmark time as locked then the time would end up being re-synchronized to the remote system and double-logging the time.
Depending on the task system we either log the time as a comment or as native time entries (many of our other integrations support this).

Time Entries

The following integrations will allow time tracked to the tasks to be automatically logged at the site itself as time entries:

  • ActiveCollab
  • Breeze
  • Freshdesk
  • Freshbooks (Doesn’t support task completion, will only sync daily)
  • Jira (Doesn’t support task completion, will only sync daily)
  • LiquidPlanner
  • Mavenlink
  • Paymo
  • Redmine
    • When Hubstaff records time to Redmine we use the default time entry activity. If a project disallows that activity from being used, then we can not log time to that project.
    • Redmine does not support seconds in their time tracking API. So Hubstaff rounds the seconds. And this means any record that is less than 30 seconds does not get recorded in Redmine.
    • Make sure that the time logging is enabled on Redmine. You can enable /disable for each project in the Modules section of the new project form, or the Settings tab of an existing project.
  • Teamwork PM
  • Unfuddle
  • Wrike (Make sure the role of the assignee in Wrike whose time is being exported supports time tracking)

An example of a time entry logged through Hubstaff (Freshdesk)

Time Entries as Comments

The following integrations do not support time entries, but they do allow time entries to be logged in the form of a comment:

    • Asana
    • ClickUp
    • Github
    • Gitlab
    • Insightly
    • Monday.com
    • Pivotal Tracker
    • Podio
    • Redbooth
    • Trello
    • Zendesk
    • Zoho Projects
integration and task write back

An example of a time entry logged as a comment (Asana)

Task Completion

In addition to logging time entries, the Hubstaff task writes back now supports closing or completing tasks directly through the app. Your team will see a button that allows them to finish their assigned task (the language on the button will vary depending on what the project management service uses – examples are Close, Complete, Solve, etc).

 

In order for this feature to work, the user must first connect their personal Hubstaff account with their account at the third party service. If they try to complete a task before doing this, they will receive a message letting them know. The message will also provide a link where they can authenticate their account.

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After clicking the More info button, you will be taken to where you can connect your account:

After connecting or re-authenticating, try completing the task from the Hubstaff application once more. The task will be completed and any time logged will be posted (assuming the site supports it).

Tasks can be completed outside of Hubstaff in the project management tool to have the time synced as well.
Please note that not all integrations support task completion (either because of how the API works or due to how the third party project management functions as a whole). The following don’t feature task completion in the desktop app:

  • Trello
  • FreshBooks
  • JIRA
  • Redmine

Delayed sync is currently not supported for Quickbooks.

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