Time entry blocked or failed: the full diagnosis
There are only two ways time goes wrong in Current, and they look completely different. Either Current blocks you before you save — a warning banner reading "Time can't be logged here yet" and a greyed-out Log time button — or the entry saves, your PSA refuses it, and it stays a draft with a red "didn't sync" line under it. Work out which one you're looking at first; the fixes have nothing in common.
Both behaviours are deliberate. Current fails closed on time: it blocks an entry it already knows your PSA would reject, and when the PSA does reject one, the entry stays an editable draft rather than being marked rejected or thrown away. Nothing is lost — but nothing bills either, until someone acts. Everything here applies to every PSA; the banners and field names are worded for your provider (Autotask says billing code, work type, and contract; ConnectWise says work role, work type, and agreement; HaloPSA says charge rate and contract).
Blocked before you save: the four reasons
The same guard runs everywhere time can be entered — the Log time dialog, the Add time button in the task drawer, the ticket list, and the Start button on the timer. When it blocks, it always tells you why. Match the sentence you're seeing to this table.
| What the banner says | What it means | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| This is a Current-only project — time can't sync to your PSA. | The project has no PSA project behind it. Your PSA is the system of record for time, so there is nowhere for the hours to land. | Nothing is broken. Log the time against a PSA-synced project, or build this project in your PSA first. See "Project modes: PSA-synced or Current-native." |
| This task isn't synced to your PSA yet. (or "This ticket…") | The project is synced but this individual task or ticket hasn't been pushed across yet, so your PSA has no id to bill the hours to. | Wait for the next scheduled sync, or ask a Tenant Admin to run Integrations → your PSA's card → Sync now, then reopen the item. |
| This ticket's type doesn't accept time entries. | Your PSA refused time on this ticket once already, and Current remembered it. Some ticket types simply don't take time entries. | Log the time against the project task instead. See "Logging time on a ticket vs. a task." |
| Your account isn't linked to a resource in your PSA yet — ask an admin to add you. | Your PSA needs a resource (Autotask) or member (ConnectWise) to bill the hours under, and your Current account isn't matched to one. | An admin links you: Users & roles → your row → the PSA resource column. Check your own status any time under Settings — the identity card is named for your provider. |
Saved, but stuck as a draft: read the red line
If the entry exists but carries a red message, your PSA took a look and said no. Current stores the reason on the entry and leaves it as a draft so you can fix and resubmit it. On the timesheet (Time entry) the draft shows the PSA's raw reason plus "It stays a draft — fix it and submit again." In the task drawer, the same failure is translated into a plain-English instruction, with Edit, Retry and Delete right there on the row — hover the message to see the PSA's original words.
These are the translations, and whether editing the entry is the fix or not.
| Plain-English message | Fix by | What actually happened |
|---|---|---|
| That billing code (Autotask) or work role (ConnectWise) is no longer active. Edit this entry and pick a current one. | Edit | The billing code or work role on the entry has been deactivated in your PSA. Where Current can tell the rejection is about that field, it tries once to substitute an active one automatically before giving up; otherwise it surfaces the PSA's refusal directly. Either way, edit the entry and pick a current value. |
| That work type isn't valid for this item. Edit the entry and choose another. | Edit | Your PSA rejected the work type for this task or ticket. |
| The contract (Autotask) or agreement (ConnectWise) on this entry isn't accepting time. Edit the entry and pick a different one. | Edit | The contract or agreement is closed, expired, or won't take these hours. |
| Your PSA user isn't set up to log time on this item. Ask an admin to check your resource link. | Admin | Your Autotask resource or ConnectWise member isn't associated with the item, or holds no role your PSA will accept on it. |
| Your PSA needs another field filled in before it will accept this. Edit the entry and complete it. | Edit | A PSA-required field is empty. Open the entry and complete it. |
| Your PSA is briefly rate-limiting us. Retry in a minute. | Retry | Nothing is wrong with the entry. See "PSA rate limits and dead-letter jobs." |
One Autotask failure has its own long message: "Autotask won't accept this time entry's role — your Autotask resource has no role defined for this project." On project tasks, Current resolves a role your Autotask resource genuinely holds — honouring your pick when it is valid, otherwise your default held role — and retries once with a valid role if Autotask objects. Ticket time entries send the role you picked as-is, and this long role message only appears on tasks. When even the retry fails, there is no valid role to send: ask an admin to add you to the Autotask project team with a role, then hit Retry. ConnectWise has no per-project team roles — there, the equivalent failure names the work role on the entry, and the fix is picking a work role your member is allowed to use.
The checks, in order
- 1Read the message before you touch anythingEvery block and every failure carries its own reason. Ninety per cent of these are answered by the two tables above without opening a single setting.
- 2Confirm your PSA identitySettings → the identity card (named for your provider). If it says you're linked, it names the Autotask resource or ConnectWise member. If it doesn't, that's your answer for every blocked button on the account — an admin links you in Users & roles.
- 3Check whether the item is really syncedOpen the task or ticket. A Current-only project or an unsynced task can't take billable time by design — there is no PSA record to attach it to.
- 4Fix the entry, then resubmitFor anything in the Edit column above: open the draft, change the field your PSA objected to, and save. Editing a draft re-pushes it automatically, and tells you if the PSA still refuses.
- 5Retry from the timesheetTime entry → Submit drafts pushes every draft in the week at once. The PSA's approval status comes back with Refresh status.
- 6Sweep the team's stuck hoursTenant Admins: Integrations → your PSA's card → Sync details → Outbox. Every failed entry across the workspace, with who logged it, the date, the hours, the PSA's reason, and a one-click Retry. Sync details and the Outbox are Tenant-Admin only — project managers retry their own drafts from Time entry.
The drafts nobody failed — and nobody sent
A draft with no error message never failed at all: it was simply never submitted. The Outbox flags drafts whose work date is more than three days old, names the people they belong to, and totals the hours — but it won't push them. Drafts only push when their owner submits them, or when a Tenant Admin retries them from the Outbox. This is where unbilled revenue quietly accumulates, so make the Outbox a weekly habit.