Time, billing and actions on a ticket
Read the SLA chip and time entries, set the billing status, ask Elise about the ticket, and know why a delete can be blocked.
What you will have
- Know what the SLA chip and each time entry's small left-hand icon are telling you.
- Change a ticket's billing status and understand what happens to its time.
- Use Elise on a ticket, including turning a short reply into a full one.
- Edit a reply after sending it.
- Know exactly why a delete can be refused.
- Attach a quote you already wrote onto a ticket instead of starting a new one.
Why it works this way
The SLA chip counts up from when the ticket was created, not down to the deadline, so it can turn amber or red on a busy ticket well before the deadline shown in its tooltip is actually close.
Changing the billing status re-sorts the ticket's existing time for you: time that came from a real action follows the new status, and time the tracker caught on its own never bills unless a tech promotes it by hand.
A delete is refused only for billed work, invoiced items or locked time, never just because a ticket carries time or charges that have not been billed yet.
Steps
Look at the SLA chip in the ticket's field row before anyone has replied.
It reads Respond by and counts up on its own while the ticket waits for a first reply, moving from green to amber to red the longer that wait runs. This ticket was only a couple of minutes old when this was captured, and its chip was already red - the color tracks how long the wait has run, not literally how close the clock is to the deadline shown in its tooltip.
Look at the SLA chip in the ticket's field row before anyone has replied. After a reply carries time, open the Time Entries card and expand the tech's row to see each entry's own icon.
A small icon sits on the far left of every entry, clear of the edit, delete and dollar icons on the right. A chat bubble, like the one boxed here, means the time came in on a reply. A pen means a tech typed it by hand. A clock means the timer caught it. A down arrow means it synced in from another system.
After a reply carries time, open the Time Entries card and expand the tech's row to see each entry's own icon. Check the same SLA chip again after the first reply goes out.
It switches from a live countdown to a fixed circle icon: a check if the reply landed inside the SLA, an X if it missed. This reply came in slower than the excellent and good thresholds the platform uses, so the check rendered amber rather than green or blue.
Check the same SLA chip again after the first reply goes out. Open the Billing field in the ticket's field row.
It starts on None until you pick a status. Opening it lists every active billing status configured for the tenant.
Open the Billing field in the ticket's field row. Read the small line under a billable status for its rounding rule.
On this tenant the Out of Scope status reads 1 hour increments, per-tech rounding: each tech's own logged time on the ticket rounds up to the nearest hour on its own, so two techs who each log a partial hour can bill two full hours between them, not one shared hour. This status also showed as disabled here because it has no QuickBooks item mapped to it yet - only a status wired to a QuickBooks item can actually be picked.
Read the small line under a billable status for its rounding rule. Pick a status to save it immediately, with no confirm step.
This ticket only had one selectable status today (In Scope, the tenant's default), so that is what was picked. In Scope means the plan covers the work: no invoice is made when the ticket closes, though the time still counts in reports. Picking a status also re-sorts the ticket's existing time to match it right away.
Pick a status to save it immediately, with no confirm step. Open Elise from the ticket and ask it something.
Elise already has this ticket's context the moment it opens, with a few suggested questions to start from. Every answer it gives about a ticket gets Add to Notes and Prep KB underneath it: Add to Notes saves a summary of the conversation as an internal note on the ticket, and Prep KB drafts a KB article from it. Elise also takes a pasted screenshot, and typing a slash opens a menu of quick commands such as setting the status or logging time.
Open Elise from the ticket and ask it something. Write a short, rough reply and click Expand with Elise instead of finishing it by hand.
The button only shows up for a short, non-empty draft; a longer one hides it. Its label reads Expand with, then your AI assistant's own name - Elise on this tenant. Elise rewrites the note into a full, polite reply that keeps your meaning, and an Undo link takes it back if you would rather send the short version.
Write a short, rough reply and click Expand with Elise instead of finishing it by hand. Click the pencil on a reply you already sent, then use the Internal note toggle to change who can see it.
Staff can edit the text of any reply, including a client's own message, and can flip it between internal and public here too. If the reply already went out by email, that email stays sent; flipping it only changes what shows in the portal from now on.
Click the pencil on a reply you already sent, then use the Internal note toggle to change who can see it. Save the edit and look at the reply again.
It now carries an Internal tag next to its channel, and an (edited) label. The history on the reply logs the edit itself; nothing about it goes away quietly.
Save the edit and look at the reply again. Try to delete a ticket that carries a locked time entry, from the kebab menu in the ticket's Actions column.
The confirm dialog itself warns that a delete is refused when any item is invoiced or any time entry is locked, and that the block is permanent. This ticket had one time entry manager-locked from Time > Today (the same lock an invoiced or period-closed entry would carry), so the delete came back refused with the exact count, and the ticket was never touched.
Warning: A ticket delete is permanent and, once blocked by billed or locked work, that block cannot be undone from the ticket - void the invoice behind it first if it was never paid.Try to delete a ticket that carries a locked time entry, from the kebab menu in the ticket's Actions column. Know what happens when a ticket closes with unusually high time on it.
When a ticket closes, the platform compares the minutes a tech typed against the time the tracker actually saw on that ticket. If the largest entry looks implausibly high for the work described, it gets flagged for confirmation and is held out of invoice totals until a tech confirms it as-is or corrects the minutes - the platform never trims anyone's logged time on its own.
Note: This check runs a moment after the ticket closes and only flags a clearly implausible entry, so it will not fire on every close.Know what the already-invoiced warning on a time entry means.
Logging time with a date that falls in a month already invoiced for that client saves the entry - nothing is blocked - but shows a warning that the time is not on the invoice that already went out, so add a line later or bill it next month on purpose. Logging a manual time window that overlaps time you already logged for yourself shows the same kind of warning, as a check against a duplicate entry.
Open the ticket's Quotes card and click Attach Existing instead of starting a new quote.
The picker that opens lists that client's own quotes still sitting as a draft or already sent that are not on a ticket yet. This client had four: two drafts and two sent. A quote already on another ticket, or one already accepted, rejected or converted, is left off this list on purpose - it is a one-click accident being prevented, not a rule being enforced.
Open the ticket's Quotes card and click Attach Existing instead of starting a new quote. Pick one to join it to the ticket right away, with no confirm step.
The quote drops into the Quotes card exactly like one created from this ticket would. The tie runs both ways: open the quote's own page and its Ticket field, blank a moment ago, now links straight back to this ticket instead of offering Link a ticket.
Pick one to join it to the ticket right away, with no confirm step.
Other ways to do this
Lock a time entry by hand
Open Time > My Time (or another tech's Today view with permission), open the kebab on any unlocked entry, and choose Lock entry.
If it did not work
- If a billing status shows greyed out in the Billing field, it has no QuickBooks item mapped to it yet and cannot be picked until it does.
- If Expand with Elise does not appear, the draft is either empty or already long; write a short rough line first.
- If a delete keeps getting refused after voiding the invoice, check whether the block is a locked time entry instead - voiding an invoice does not unlock the time it carried.
Questions this page answers
What does the icon on the far left of a time entry show?
It tells you where the entry came from. Hover it to see when the work happened. A chat bubble means time that came in on a reply. A down arrow means time synced in from another system. A pen means a tech typed it. A clock means the tracker caught it. It always sits on the far left. That keeps it clear of the edit, delete and $ icons on the right.
What do the SLA badges mean?
The badge shows how much first reply time is left. Before anyone replies it is a live timer. It counts up and moves from green to amber to red. Once someone replies it turns into a check or an X. Green means a fast first reply. Blue means a solid one. Amber means it met the SLA but ran slow. A red X means the first reply missed the SLA. If the ticket sits on a status that stops the SLA clock, you get a "Paused" chip instead. Set the targets at Settings > Service Levels > SLA Policies.
Can I change the billing status on a ticket?
Yes. The ticket toolbar has a Billing field. Pick any active billing status there. You can pick In Scope again if the work turns out to be covered. The change saves at once. There is no confirm step. Time that came from a real action is re-sorted to match. That means time you typed, timer time, or a slice on a reply. Time the tracker caught on its own never bills by itself. It stays non-billable unless a tech promotes that slice with the $ icon on the Time Entries card. Entries that are locked, invoiced or rolled up never move.
How is billable time worked out for each tech?
Time rounds up for each tech on its own. The Billing Unit sets the size of the step. Say the unit is 2 hours. Tech A logs 1 hour. Tech B logs 1 hour. Each one rounds up to 2 hours. So the ticket bills 4 hours, not 2. This way each tech meets the smallest billing step.
What happens if a ticket is set to In Scope?
In Scope means the plan covers the work. No invoice is made when the ticket closes. The time is still logged for reports. In Scope is on every ticket, whatever the plan says.
What can the AI chat do on a ticket?
The chat sits in the corner of every page. Open it on a ticket and it already knows that ticket. You can paste a screenshot into it. Use "Add to Notes" to save a summary as an internal note. Use "Prep KB" to draft a KB article from the chat. Type a slash to see quick commands, like set the status or log time.
How do I turn a short reply into a full one?
The reply box has an expand button. Its label reads Expand with, then the name of your AI assistant. Write a short reply and click it. The AI fills it out into a full, polite answer. It keeps your meaning and your tone.
Can I edit a reply after I send it?
Yes. Staff can edit the text of any reply. That includes the first reply and a client's own message. The history logs the edit and the reply gets an edited tag. Nothing goes away quietly. You can also flip a reply between internal and public. If it already went out by email, that email stays sent. The flip only changes what shows in the portal from now on. Internal replies are never shown to the client.
Why can I not delete this ticket?
A ticket locks once its work has reached an invoice. That means an invoiced line item, or a locked time entry. Time can be locked by an invoice, a closed period, or a manager. If the invoice was never paid, void it. That frees the ticket. A paid invoice can never be voided. So a ticket with paid work stays locked for good. Line items and billable time that were never invoiced do not block a delete.
Why does a time entry ask me to confirm its minutes?
When a ticket closes, we check the minutes each tech typed. We compare them to the time the tracker saw on that ticket. If the largest entry looks high, we flag it. We never trim your minutes. A flagged entry is kept out of invoice totals until you confirm it. That way a bad number cannot bill on its own. Confirm it to bill it as is. Or edit the minutes if they were wrong.
Why did I get an already invoiced warning on my time?
You logged time into a month this client was already invoiced for. Nothing was blocked and the entry saved. But it is not on the invoice that went out. The warning is your cue to sort out the gap on purpose. Add a line later, or bill it next month. You get a like warning when a manual window overlaps time you already logged. Check that it is not a double entry.
Can I put a quote I already wrote onto a ticket?
Yes. Open the ticket's Quotes card and click Attach Existing. It lists that client's quotes that are still a draft or already sent and are not on a ticket yet. Pick one and it joins the card. Two kinds are left out of that list on purpose: a quote already sitting on another ticket, and one the client has answered or you voided. Neither is blocked, they are just not a one-click choice here. Link either from the quote's own page, on its Ticket row. You can also start a fresh one from this card with New Quote.
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