If you manage Workday Time Tracking configuration, you already know the module has depth. What’s less obvious is that some of the most useful tools for diagnosing issues, controlling access, and auditing your configuration are already sitting in your tenant — fully built, rarely used, almost never documented.
We’ve done enough Time Tracking work across enough clients to have our favorites. Here are three of them:
- Time Calculation Debugger
- Segmented Security for Time Entry Codes
- Time Configuration Analyzer Tool (aka, the TimeCAT)
Each one is admin-facing and built to solve a specific class of problem: troubleshooting calculation logic, simplifying time entry for end users, and getting a clear-eyed view of your overall configuration.
1. Time Calculation Debugger
If you work with time calculations, this one’s for you.
Before the Time Calculation Debugger, troubleshooting a calculation that wasn’t behaving meant manually inspecting each calculation in sequence and reviewing priorities one by one. Not fun.
The Time Calculation Debugger generates a step-by-step view of exactly how calculations executed for a specific worker on a specific date, showing each calculation in sequence, whether it triggered, and what happened to the time block at every step (including mid-calculation states that aren’t visible anywhere else in the system).
Setup and Access
You will need to enable the Process: Time Calculation Debugger Task domain. Only user-based groups can be attached to this Domain, typically a Time Tracking Administrator group.
Search for the task Time Calculation Debugger and then type in the Worker’s name and a Date close to the calculation issue you are troubleshooting.
By default, the tool will pull in dates before and after the specific date that you have selected to offer context. To narrow down your review, you can filter by specific calculated date or shift date.
How to Interpret the Output
To interpret this powerful report, here’s a few quick tips:
Understanding Date Fields in Time Tracking
Let’s spend a moment refreshing our memories on what these date fields mean in Time Tracking.
Date Fields Use Case (click to expand)
Imagine Kevin Turner, our go-to California Time Tracking worker in GMS, clocks in at 11pm on 6/13/26 (a Friday )and clocks out at 4am the next day.
2. Segmented Security for Time Entry Codes
We all know that time entry can get messy fast. You have employees entering regular hours, managers reviewing time, payroll teams cleaning up exceptions, administrators managing corrections, and about 47 different time entry codes floating around that may or may not apply to everyone.
When everyone can see too many options, mistakes happen. This is where Segmented Security for Time Entry Codes come in.
This feature lets you control which time entry codes different groups of users can see and use. Instead of giving everyone access to the full buffet of time entry codes, you can serve up only the options that are relevant to them. Each employee only sees the codes they are supposed to use, managers only see the codes they are allowed to enter or adjust, and admins can still access what they need based on their role.
The result? A cleaner, simpler, and less error-prone time entry experience. But the impact extends beyond UX:
- Compliance: Certain codes may only be appropriate for specific worker populations, unions, locations, or policies. Segmented security enforces that access at the configuration level rather than relying on user behavior.
- Data integrity: Restricting edit access on codes a user didn’t create protects time entries from accidental modification after the fact.
- Reduced downstream noise: Fewer incorrect entries means fewer payroll investigations and a cleaner exception queue.
This feature is very similar to the Time off Security Segments on the absence side. Here, you’ll see example groups configured for the Time Entry Code Segmented Security Groups.
Setup and Access
At a high level:
- Identify which time entry codes belong together and who should use them
- Organize them into security segments
- Connect the appropriate user groups to those segments
- Add the groups to the Time Entry Code Segmented domain
Once enabled, Workday filters available codes based on each user’s security access and the worker’s eligibility.
Important: Plan your segment assignments before enabling this feature. Once it’s on, Workday immediately starts filtering based on segment configuration. Any time entry code not secured to the right segment may become inaccessible to users who need it. If you have time kiosks in use, include them in the relevant security groups as well.
How to Use It
Once configured, the feature works automatically, so there’s nothing end users need to do differently. Employees open time entry and see only their relevant codes. Managers and admins see what their security access permits.
One nuance worth noting: if a user doesn’t have access to a specific time entry code’s security segment, they can still view related time blocks but cannot edit them. This matters for historical corrections and audit scenarios — access controls follow the code, not just the entry screen.
3. Time Configuration Analyzer Tool: The TimeCAT
More than just a cool name, the TimeCAT is a useful tool across several common scenarios:
- Onboarding an acquisition population into an existing Time Tracking setup
- Mapping configuration ahead of a Workday release for regression testing
- Need to audit what’s currently in your tenant, without building a suite of advanced reports to do it
The TimeCAT gives admins a bird’s-eye view of their tenant’s time tracking configuration in a few clicks, without building a suite of advanced reports to do it. It’s particularly useful when you’re onboarding an acquisition population into an existing setup, planning regression testing ahead of a Workday release, or simply want to audit what’s currently configured.
Setup and Access
Like the debugger, this is an Admin-only task with no setup required, just enable the Process: Time Configuration Analyzer Tool domain.
Search for the task: “Run Time Configuration Analyzer Tool” and allow it to default to “Run Now.” Click “OK.”
After the Background Process is complete, navigate to your notification bell on the righthand side to view the TimeCAT output.
How to Interpret the Output
When you click into the blue button, you’ll finally get to the good stuff! But, brace yourself…
Many first timers are immediately confused and overwhelmed by all the tabs that pop up. Here’s a breakdown of the tabs and what they mean:
Putting It All Together
These three tools address different phases of the Time Tracking admin workflow: the Debugger for troubleshooting calculation results, Segmented Security for controlling what end users can enter, and TimeCAT for getting visibility into your configuration as a whole.
None of them require custom configuration to use — they’re already in your tenant. The main prerequisite is making sure the right security domains are enabled and the right groups have access.
If you have questions about configuring any of these tools or want to think through how they fit into your environment, reach out to the Commit team.
