Activity Log App With an Audit Trail You Can Trust
See who logged each hour, who changed it afterwards, and where the clock-in came from. The log is append-only, so nothing quietly disappears.
Free for up to 3 people. No credit card needed.
What an activity log is
An activity log is a dated record of what happened to your time data: who logged an hour, who edited it, who approved it, and where a clock-in was made from. A good one is append-only, which means entries are added and never rewritten. That is what makes it worth anything in a dispute. If the log can be edited, it only tells you what somebody wants you to see.
Teams whose hours get checked by somebody else. That means agencies billing by the hour, contractors on cost-plus work, and any employer who has to show that a payroll figure matches what people actually did.
The hours changed and nobody knows who changed them
- A timesheet gets edited after approval and there is no record of the edit
- A client questions an invoice and you cannot show how the hours were built
- Someone clocks in from home and the timesheet still reads as on site
- A timer ran through lunch, so the day is 45 minutes longer than the work
TimeTracker writes each change to a log that can only be added to. You can see the original entry, the edit, who made it and when.
Start free →What the log gives you
Edits are added to the record, never written over it
Close a period and approved time locks against edits. If something has to change after that, the change is written as a new line in the log with the person and the time on it. There is no delete. The original entry stays exactly as it was logged.
See how approvals work→
Every week has a submitter and an approver on it
Someone submits the week and a manager approves it, asks for changes, or reopens it. The log keeps who did which, so a timesheet is never just a number. It is a number somebody put their name to on a date.
Timesheet approvals→Take the whole record out as CSV
Export time entries, leave and balances to CSV for payroll or for an auditor. It is a plain file you can open in a spreadsheet, so nobody has to log into our app to check your numbers.
What the activity log records
Six things go into the record. The last card is the one worth reading twice, because it is about what we deliberately do not collect.
Time entries as they were logged
Each entry keeps its start, its end and the project and task it was booked to. If rounding is on, the exact duration is stored next to the rounded one, so you can always show what actually happened rather than the tidied version.
Edits after the fact
Change an entry and the change is added to the log with the person and the timestamp. The log has one operation, insert. There is no delete anywhere in it, which is the whole reason it is worth reading in a dispute.
Submissions and approvals
Who submitted the period, who approved it, and who sent it back for changes. Reopening a locked period is itself an event in the log, so a period cannot be quietly unlocked and edited.
Where a clock-in came from
If location rules are on, each clock-in is attested and the log records whether it was allowed or blocked, along with the IP and GPS reading behind that decision. An admin can go back and see what really happened.
Idle time and missed clock-outs
Stop a timer that sat idle and you choose to keep the idle time, discard it, or split the entry. That choice is recorded. If someone forgets to clock out entirely, the app spots the open session and tells them.
What it never records
No screenshots. No screen recording. No log of which programs or websites you used. TimeTracker records what people booked their time to and what changed, and nothing about how they spent the minutes in between.
Turn on a proper activity log in an afternoon
You do not need to change how anyone works. The log fills itself once time is being tracked and periods are being approved.
Create your workspace
Free for up to 3 people to track and submit time. Approvals come with the paid plan.
Set the period and the approver
Pick weekly or fortnightly, and name who signs the period off.
Decide your rounding and idle rules
Round to 6, 15 or 30 minutes, or leave it exact. The raw duration is kept either way.
Close the first period
Approved time locks, and from then on every change is a line in the log.
Questions about activity logs
Straight answers, including the things we do not do.
- What is an activity log app?
- An activity log app records what happened to your time data and keeps that record so it can be checked later. It stores who logged an hour, who edited it, who approved it, and when. The useful ones are append-only, meaning entries are added and never overwritten. You can see how ours handles the approval side on our timesheets feature page.
- Does TimeTracker take screenshots or track which apps I use?
- No. There is no screenshot feature, no screen recording, and no record of which programs or websites you open. None of it exists in the product. We log what people book their time to and what changed afterwards, not how they spent the minutes in between. If you specifically want screen monitoring, we are the wrong tool and you should look elsewhere.
- Can someone delete an entry from the log to cover a mistake?
- No. The audit log has exactly one operation, which is to add a line. There is no delete and no edit anywhere in it. A correction is written as a new line naming the person and the time, sitting alongside the original rather than replacing it. That is the point of the log.
- Does the log show where someone clocked in from?
- Yes, if you turn location rules on. Each clock-in is attested, and the log records whether it was allowed or blocked along with the IP and GPS reading behind the decision. Before a location rule goes live you can preview exactly which people it would restrict, so you are not guessing.
- What happens if a timer runs through lunch?
- When you stop a timer that sat idle, the app asks what to do with the idle stretch. You can keep it, discard it, or split the entry in two. Whichever you pick is recorded, so a shortened day has a reason attached to it rather than looking like someone trimmed their hours.
- Can I get the log out of TimeTracker?
- Yes. Export time entries, leave and balances to CSV and open them in any spreadsheet. CSV is the export format. Payroll tools such as ADP and Gusto need that file imported by hand, because we do not offer a direct payroll connection.
- Is an activity log the same as employee monitoring?
- No, and the difference matters. Monitoring tools watch how someone works, with screenshots, keystrokes or app usage. An activity log records what was booked and what changed to it. One is about trust in the numbers, the other is about surveillance of the person. We only do the first.
- Do I need a paid plan to get the audit log?
- Yes, for the approvals and locking part. The free plan for up to 3 people covers tracking time, submitting a timesheet and clocking in and out. Sign-off and period locking come with the paid plan, at $15 per user a month or $12 billed yearly. You can check the tiers on our pricing page.
- Can I track leave and time off in the same record?
- Yes. Time off runs on real leave policies with accrual, opening balances, requests and approvals, and those approvals sit in the same log as timesheet approvals. See leave and PTO tracking for how the balances work.
- How long is the log kept for?
- For as long as your workspace exists. Because the log is append-only and nothing prunes it, closed periods from two years ago read exactly as they did the day they were approved. If you need the data outside the app, export it to CSV and keep your own copy.
Keep a record that holds up
Track time, approve the period, and let the log fill itself. Free for up to 3 people to track and submit time. Approvals and locking come with the one paid plan.
Start free