How to Add Manual Hours in Upwork

Before we get started, it’s important to know that not all contracts on Upwork allow manual time. You must ensure that the contract you’re working on is hourly, and that ‘Manual time’ is allowed. The client has the option to enable or disable this feature on an hourly contract.

Steps to Add Manual Hours in Upwork

Follow the steps below to add manual hours to your contracts:

1. Log In to Your Account

The first step is to log in to your Upwork account using your correct login credentials.

2. Navigate to ‘Work Diary’

Once you’ve logged in, click on the ‘My Jobs’ tab located on the menu and then select ‘Work Diary’ from the drop down window.

3. Choose the Correct Contract

When you’re on the ‘Work Diary,’ choose the contract you want to add manual time to. There’s a drop-down menu on the top visible after clicking on ‘Work Diary’ where you can select the desired contract.

4. Add Manual Hours

Click the ‘Add Manual Time’ button which is usually green in color on the top right side of the screen. This will open a new window where you should input the date, start and end times, and any notes to explain the reason for manual time.

5. Save Your Changes

After adding your manual time, click the ‘Save’ button at the bottom. Upwork keeps track of all manually added time and it will appear in your Work Diary.

Things to Remember

• Clients might not accept manual hours: Manual hours are not covered by Upwork’s Payment Protection. Hence, some clients may choose not to allow or pay for manual hours.
• Verifying manual hours: Always be sure to leave meaningful memos when adding manual time to give clients a solid understanding of why the time wasn’t tracked normally.
• Payment: Since manual hours aren’t covered by Upwork Payment Protection, you are wholly dependent on your client’s goodwill and agreement to pay for this time.

Keep these pointers in mind and you should have no trouble adding manual hours in Upwork. Happy freelancing!