Configuring the portal widget
Last updated: September 11, 2026
By default, your customers see no hours. Two things can show them, and you turn each on yourself.
What is never shown
Per-person hours.
Entry notes.
Variance or overrun framing.
Unsubmitted time. Every figure a customer sees counts submitted weeks only.
That last point is why customer figures read lower than yours. Your project Time tab includes hours nobody has submitted yet.
The Hours invested widget
Add Hours invested to a portal in Portal Studio. Adding it is what shows the hours — there is no second setting to find.
It works on a project page, showing that project's figures, and on the account home, showing a row per project with totals underneath. One per page.
Option | What it does |
|---|---|
Title | The card's heading. Defaults to "Hours invested", or "Hours across your projects" on the account home. |
Show time spent | The hours submitted against the project. |
Show time allotted | The total estimated on the project's tasks. Hidden automatically when no task has an estimate. |
Time counted | Which hours the time-spent figure counts. See below. |
Note | An optional line under the figures. Merge fields work here. Left blank, no note shows. |
Time counted
All submitted time, the default, counts every submitted hour on the project, including hours logged against the project rather than a task. It shows no usage bar, because allotted time only ever comes from tasks and the two figures would not be comparable.
Submitted task time counts only hours on the tasks this customer can see. Both figures then cover the same work, so you get a usage bar.
Pick the first to show effort, the second to show progress against a plan.
The widget hides itself if time tracking is turned off for your organization.
The weekly summary email
A project's Time tab has Include hours in the weekly summary email. It is off by default, and set per project.
Turned on, the weekly summary that project's customer already receives gains one line: the project's total hours, from submitted weeks. No breakdown of any kind.
This is separate from the widget. You can use either, both or neither.
Choosing what to show
Fixed-scope projects — show submitted task time with the allotted figure and the bar. The customer sees progress against a plan you both agreed.
Effort-based projects — show all submitted time with the allotted figure off. The customer sees the investment you are making, with no estimate alongside it to argue about.
Either way, use the Note to say what the figure means in your own words.