How to Track Billable and Non-Billable Worklog Hours per Requester in BoldDesk

Tracking billable and non-billable worklog hours is important for accurate customer billing, technician time analysis, and audit reporting. In BoldDesk, you can create custom dashboard widgets that summarize worklog hours by Worklog Type and requester for a selected billing period.

This setup helps administrators, managers, and agents compare billable versus non-billable effort, identify requesters with logged work, validate monthly invoice data, and export requester-wise worklog details for billing or auditing.

Customers may notice discrepancies in monthly billable hours when worklog reports are filtered using Worklog Created Date instead of Worklog Date.
This occurs because a worklog can be created on a different date than when the actual work was performed. For example, an agent may create a worklog on August 2 for work completed on July 31. When a report is filtered by Worklog Created Date, the worklog is included in August. However, when filtered by Worklog Date, the worklog is correctly included in July, which reflects the actual billing period.
To ensure accurate monthly billing and reporting, use Worklog Date as the report filter.

Prerequisites

Before creating the dashboard widgets, make sure:

Worklogs have been added to tickets or activities.
The worklogs have the correct Worklog Date.
The worklogs are marked with the appropriate Worklog Type, such as Billable or Non billable.

Create a Dashboard to Track Billable and Non-Billable Worklog Hours

To create a custom dashboard for monitoring worklog hours:

Go to the Reports module.
Open the dashboard where you want to add the worklog widgets.
- To create a new dashboard, click Create Dashboard, enter the required details, and click Create.
- To use an existing dashboard, click the More options icon next to the dashboard and select Edit Dashboard.
Click Add Widget.
In the Add Widget page, select Worklog from the module dropdown.
Click Create New.

Create a Chart to Compare Billable and Non-Billable Worklog Hours

Create a chart widget to compare total billable and non-billable worklog hours for the selected billing period.

This widget displays the total time spent for each Worklog Type, such as Billable and Non billable. Use this widget to quickly compare billable and non-billable effort for the selected date range.

Configure the Billable vs Non-Billable Summary Widget

To create the billable versus non-billable summary widget:

In the custom dashboard, click Add Widget.
Select Create New.
In the widget settings page, enter a widget name.
Configure the widget settings as follows:
- Module: Worklog
- Widget Type: Chart
- Chart Type: Column
- Aggregation: Sum
- Values: Time Spent
- Sort by: Value
- X Axis: Worklog Type
- Data Format: Value
Enable Show data labels if you want the chart to display the total time on each column.
Add the required date filter.
Use Worklog Date as the date filter and select the required reporting period, such as:
- Relative date > This month
- Relative date > Last month
- A custom date range
Use Worklog Date as the date filter when creating billing reports. Do not use Worklog Created Date unless you specifically want to report when the worklog entry was created.
Click Add to save the widget.

After the widget is created, the dashboard displays total time grouped by Worklog Type. This allows you to compare billable and non-billable hours for the selected billing period.

Create a Pivot Table to Track Billable and Non-Billable Worklog Hours per Requester

Create a pivot table widget to view billable and non-billable worklog hours for each requester.

This widget shows how much billable and non-billable time was logged against each requester. Use this widget for requester-wise billing reviews, invoice validation, customer audits, and time tracking analysis.

Configure the Requester-Wise Worklog Tracking Widget

To create the requester-wise worklog tracking widget:

In the custom dashboard, click Add Widget.
Select Create New.
In the widget settings page, enter a widget name.
Configure the widget settings as follows:
- Module: Worklog
- Widget Type: Pivot Table
- Aggregation: Sum
- Values: Time Spent
- Sort by: Name
- Rows: Requester
- Columns: Worklog Type
- Data Format: Value
Enable Freeze column if you want the requester column to remain visible while scrolling.
Configure pagination as needed.
For example, set Records per Page to the required number of requester records to display per page.
Enable total options as needed, such as:
- Show row grand total
- Show column grand total
- Show page wise total
- Show the grand total on each page
Add the required date filter.
Use Worklog Date as the date filter and select the required reporting period, such as:
- Relative date > This month
- Relative date > Last month
- A custom date range
Click Add to save the widget.

After the widget is created, the dashboard displays requester-wise worklog totals with separate columns for Billable and Non billable worklog hours.

Dashboard_displaying_requester-wise_worklog_totals_with_separate_columns_for_Billable_and_Non_billab.png

Use the pivot table widget when you need requester-wise billing details. The Rows field groups data by requester, and the Columns field separates the total time by Worklog Type.

Difference Between Worklog Date and Worklog Created Date

Aspect	Worklog Date	Worklog Created Date
Purpose	Represents the date when the work was performed.	Represents the date when the worklog entry was created in BoldDesk.
Best Used For	Monthly billing, customer invoicing, and time tracking by actual work date.	Auditing when worklog entries were added.
Billing Accuracy	Recommended for accurate billing-period reports.	May cause discrepancies if worklogs are entered later.
Example	Work completed on July 31 is counted in July.	Worklog created on August 2 is counted in August.

Example

An agent completes work for a customer on July 31 but adds the worklog in BoldDesk on August 2.

In this scenario:

Worklog Date counts the entry in July.
Worklog Created Date counts the entry in August.

As a result, reports filtered by Worklog Created Date may show incorrect monthly billable totals.

For billing reports, use Worklog Date instead of Worklog Created Date. If Worklog Created Date is used, worklogs added later may appear in the wrong billing month, which can cause discrepancies in monthly billable hours.

Export Requester-Wise Worklog Data

You can export the requester-wise pivot table data as an Excel file for invoicing, billing validation, or auditing.

To export requester-wise worklog data:

Open the custom dashboard.
Locate the Requester-wise Worklog Tracking widget.
Click the More options icon in the upper-right corner of the widget.
Select Export.

The widget data is downloaded as an Excel (.xlsx) file. The exported file uses the widget title as its file name and includes the requester-wise Billable, Non billable, and Grand Total worklog values displayed in the pivot table.

The exported data reflects the widget configuration and its applicable filters. Before exporting the data for monthly billing, confirm that the widget uses Worklog Date and the required billing period.

How This Dashboard Helps

This dashboard helps administrators, managers, and agents to:

Generate accurate monthly billing reports.
Identify customers or requesters with billable worklogs.
Compare billable and non-billable effort.
Detect missing worklog entries for specific customers.
Export requester-wise worklog data for invoicing and auditing.
Improve visibility into technician time tracking and customer billing activities.

Dashboard_for_Tracking_Billable_and_Non-Billable_Worklog_Hours.png

Troubleshooting

Monthly billable hours do not match the invoice

Confirm that the dashboard widget uses Worklog Date as the date filter. If the widget uses Worklog Created Date, worklogs entered later may be counted in the wrong month.

The requester-wise widget does not show the expected requester

Confirm that the worklogs are associated with tickets or activities that have requester information. The pivot table uses Requester as the row value, so missing or incorrect requester data can affect the result.

The widget total is lower than expected

Review the selected date range and make sure Worklog Date is used. Also confirm that all required worklogs were added for the selected billing period.

The chart does not separate billable and non-billable hours

Confirm that Worklog Type is selected as the X Axis for the chart widget. For the pivot table widget, confirm that Worklog Type is selected in the Columns field.

Permissions

To create custom dashboard widgets for monitoring billable and non-billable worklog hours, the agent’s role must have access to the Reports module and the Create custom dashboard permission enabled.

When enabling Create custom dashboard, choose the required access scope based on who should be able to use the dashboard:

Private and agent
Private, agent and group
Private, agent, group and public

If agents also need to edit or manage existing custom dashboards, enable the Manage custom dashboard permission.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I track billable and non-billable worklog hours in BoldDesk?
Yes. You can create a custom dashboard widget using the Worklog module. Set Values to Time Spent and group the data by Worklog Type to compare Billable and Non-billable hours.
Which date field should I use for monthly billing reports?
Use Worklog Date for monthly billing reports. Worklog Date represents the actual date when the work was performed, so it provides more accurate billing-period totals.
Why do billable hours differ when I use Worklog Created Date?
Worklog Created Date represents the date when the worklog entry was added in BoldDesk, not necessarily the date when the work was performed. If an agent adds a worklog later for work completed in a previous month, filtering by Worklog Created Date may count the worklog in the wrong billing period.
Can I view billable and non-billable hours for each requester?
Yes. Create a Pivot Table widget using Requester as the row, Worklog Type as the column, and Time Spent as the value. This setup shows requester-wise billable and non-billable worklog totals.
Can I export requester-wise worklog data for invoicing or auditing?
Yes. After creating the requester-wise worklog tracking widget, open the widget details or available widget options and export the data if the export option is available. If export is not available in your view, review the pivot table directly or share the dashboard with users who have permission to access it.

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