RTG Timer Online is a service that allows you to enter fee and expense information, to be billed to your clients, using a Web browser. Your data is stored on an Internet server, so you can access it from any location that provides Internet access. The only software you need is a Web browser.

RTG provides a secure server so that your data is encrypted as it travels over the Internet.

Clients, matters, timekeepers, billing rates, and codes are uploaded from RTG Bills on your computer to the RTG Timer Online server. After you have entered fees and expenses with RTG Timer Online, from any location, they can be downloaded by RTG Bills into your computer for editing and billing.

We have separate documentation for RTG Timer Mobile, the small-screen version of RTG Timer Online, which is tailored to smartphones.

RTG Timer Online should work with the latest version of the Web browsers from Google, Mozilla, Microsoft, and Apple. Although other browsers may work, RTG only supports these.

In addition, the browser settings must permit the following features to work:

1. JavaScript
   JavaScript is a feature that allows our software to work inside your browser. (Microsoft calls it active scripting.)
   
   
2. Cookies
   Cookies are small amounts of information stored temporarily on your computer by the software. RTG Timer Online uses a cookie to remember that you have signed in as you move from page to page. The cookie is deleted when you sign out.
   
   
3. Pop-Up Windows
   Every page has a Help button or Help link to provide context-sensitive help. The help information is presented in a pop-up window, so you can see the help text, and the page it refers to, at the same time.

Sometimes people turn off these features because they fear malicious Web sites will abuse them. However, modern browsers should keep you safe while allowing these features to work.

Is your browser ready for RTG Timer Online? Try our browser test page.

RTG Timer Online was primarily designed for use with RTG's timekeeping and billing software, RTG Bills. Technically, RTG Timer Online does not require the use of RTG Bills. RTG Timer Online allows the Supervisor to enter and edit clients, matters, timekeepers, billing rates, and codes directly. If the goal is to track time and create reports, without creating bills, there might be no need to download the fees and expenses.

If you plan to use RTG Bills with RTG Timer Online, you must have RTG Bills V2.21 or above.

RTG offers a 30-day free trial of RTG Timer Online. During the trial period, up to three users may access the service.

One user is designated the Supervisor. The Supervisor has additional capabilities, including the ability to upload data to the server and download data from the server. In addition, the Supervisor can change other users' passwords and designate other users as Supervisors.

RTG Timer Online is offered on a subscription basis. A firm subscribes to the service, indicating how many users will access the service. A monthly fee is charged based on the number of users, as shown in the price list.

Each user has a user name and a password. The user name is supplied to RTG by the firm during the subscription process, subject to the limitation that every user name must be unique in RTG Timer Online. RTG will provide a temporary password, which the user can change after signing in to the service.

In order to use the service, each user must agree to the Subscriber Agreement.

A user is a person who has access to RTG Timer Online. A timekeeper is a person whose fees are entered with RTG Timer Online.

Sometimes the user is also the timekeeper, but not always. Even in a small firm, a single timekeeper may enter fees and expenses, while an assistant needs access to that information to edit it and create reports. In that situation, there would be two users, but only one timekeeper.

In some firms, a single person enters the fees and expenses for several timekeepers. In that situation, there is only one user, even though there are several timekeepers.

The fee for subscribing to RTG Timer Online is based on the number of users, not the number of timekeepers.

However, if the firm is using RTG Bills, it is necessary to have an RTG Timer license for each timekeeper. RTG Bills will only read the fees and expenses for a timekeeper if an RTG Timer key, supplied with each RTG Timer license, has been entered into RTG Bills. There is a small, one-time charge for each RTG Timer license.

The Supervisor determines which timekeepers can be accessed by each user.

A user can access the data of one timekeeper at a time. When the user signs in, a list of timekeepers is presented from which one must be chosen, if the user has been given access to more than one timekeeper's data. However, if the user only has access to a single timekeeper's data, there is no choice to make, and the user automatically sees the data for the assigned timekeeper.

RTG Timer Online is similar in features to RTG Timer, which RTG supplies with each copy of RTG Bills.

Four types of transactions may be entered:

1. Hourly rate: A time transaction, where the amount to be billed is based on the number of hours and a billing rate. The billing rate is determined by the rate table assigned to the matter. Each rate table contains the rate for every timekeeper.
2. Fixed fee: A fee transaction, where the amount to be billed is entered directly and does not depend on the time spent.
3. Unit cost: An expense transaction, where the amount is determined by a quantity and a unit cost. A typical example would be photocopies, charged by the page.
4. Expense: An expense transaction, where the amount to be billed is entered directly.

When the fees and expenses are ready to be billed, they are released. This process marks the transactions as released and prevents further changes in RTG Timer Online. It also writes a copy of the transactions into a file on the server, so the Supervisor can later download the released transactions.

RTG Timer keeps track of time to the nearest hundredth of an hour. When you enter the Hours Reported for an hourly rate transaction, you may enter either decimal hours (1.25) or hours and minutes (1:15). If you enter hours and minutes, it is converted to decimal hours when you press the Tab key, or when you save the transaction.

RTG Timer includes an option to round time up to the next tenth of an hour. This rounding occurs when you release transactions for billing.

A stopwatch is provided for people who wish to time their own work. You will see the stopwatch when you enter an hourly rate transaction.

As soon as the stopwatch is started, it shows the elapsed time. If you click Stop, the elapsed time is rounded to the nearest hundredth of an hour and added to any time already entered for the current transaction. When you start the stopwatch again, it begins timing from zero once more.

If you click Reset, the stopwatch is stopped and the elapsed time is ignored. First, however, you are asked if this is what you meant to do, to prevent you from accidentally discarding the time.

Sometimes the time you have spent (Hours Reported) may be more than the time you wish to bill the client (Hours To Bill). You can write down the time by entering a lower number in the Hours To Bill box.

Generally, we believe this is better than changing the Hourly Rate, which is the standard billing rate for the timekeeper and matter. The Hourly Rate is taken from the rate table assigned to the matter.

However, RTG Timer allows you to change the Hourly Rate if you wish. If you do, when you save the transaction, you will see a message that the rate differs from the standard rate. You can click OK to change the rate to the standard rate, or Cancel to keep the non-standard rate.

An Interrupt button appears below the stopwatch for hourly rate transactions. If you click the button, several things happen automatically:

1. The stopwatch is stopped, if it was on. RTG Timer also remembers whether or not the stopwatch was on.
2. The current hourly rate transaction is saved.
3. A new hourly rate transaction is started.
4. The stopwatch is turned on to begin timing the new transaction.

For example, if you answer a telephone call from a client, this feature allows you to start timing a new transaction quickly. As time permits, you can enter the matter number and the other details of the call.

When you save the new transaction, you will automatically return to the interrupted transaction. If the stopwatch was on, RTG Timer will offer to turn it on again.

RTG Timer Online offers context-sensitive help on every page. Click the Help button or the Help link to open a new window with detailed information about the current page.

The Help window also has a Search feature so you can search all of the help pages.