Time Entry Delegation (Preview) in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations
IntroductionIn this blog, I’m going to talk about another productivity-boosting enhancement in Dynamics 365 Project Operations, the Time Entry Delegation (Preview) feature. This feature, released as a production-ready preview on September 24, 2025, allows a resource to log, modify, or submit time entries on behalf of another user for a limited duration. In simple words, if someone is on leave or unavailable, another trusted team member (delegate) can take over their time entry responsibilities without disturbing project timelines. Problem Statement In traditional setups, only the assigned resources could log or submit their time entries.This created challenges when: These scenarios resulted in missing time entries, delayed invoicing, and reporting inconsistencies. To address this gap, Microsoft has introduced the Time Entry Delegation feature. UPDATE: The Time Entry Delegation feature enables a resource (called the delegator) to temporarily assign another user (called the delegate) who can: Enabling Time Entry Delegation (Preview) Enabling the Feature Once activated, a new menu item called “Delegates (Production Ready Preview)” will appear under the My Work section in both the Project Operations and Team Member apps. Setting Up a Delegate After enabling the feature, setting up a delegate is simple: Once saved: Other Views Available Logging Time as a Delegate When you are assigned as a delegate, you can log and manage time entries for another user: Example: Let’s say William is on leave from October 7th to 11th.He assigns John as his delegate for that period. Now, during these dates, John can: After October 11th, delegation automatically ends, and Priya regains full control of her time entries. Time Entry Experience for Delegates When delegation is active, a few changes appear in the Time Entry form: Other fields (like Project, Task, and Role) automatically adjust based on the delegator’s assignments. This ensures that the delegate only logs time on projects or tasks relevant to the original user. Note: These changes apply only during weeks when a delegate relationship exists. Outside of delegation weeks, time entry behavior remains normal. Tracking Time Entries Logged by Delegates Both the delegate and delegator have dedicated views: For Delegates For Delegators Audit Trail for Delegated Time Entries During the preview phase, Project Operations tracks delegated actions using two key fields: Current Limitations Conclusion The Time Entry Delegation (Preview) feature is a major productivity booster for organizations using Dynamics 365 Project Operations. It brings flexibility to resource management by allowing temporary delegation of time logging and submission responsibilities — ensuring that project timelines, invoices remain accurate and up-to-date, even during employee absences. Thank you, Kalyani for your valuable inputs to these blogs!
Declutter Mode in Time Entry Calendar (Preview)
IntroductionIn this blog, I’m going to continue from our previous discussion on the Time Entry Calendar (Preview) feature in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations— the Declutter Mode (Preview Only). This update improves the readability and visual organization of your Time Entry, especially for users who often log time without specifying a start time. Previously, when users created time entries through the standard time entry grid without defining a start time, Project Operations automatically assigned a default start time of 12:00 AM (midnight). While this was functionally correct, it created a visual issue — multiple entries appeared stacked together at midnight. The Declutter Mode aims to fix this by rearranging time entries for a clearer, more structured view. Problem Statement When users enter time without selecting a specific start time, the system defaults to 12:00 AM. This leads to multiple entries being shown at the same position (midnight) on the Time Entry Calendar, causing a cluttered and confusing display. Example Scenario: Imagine a user logs the following entries without start time for the same date: All these entries appear stacked together at 12:00 AM, making it visually difficult to identify or review them individually. UPDATE: Declutter Mode (Preview Only) Declutter Mode introduces a smart visual re-arrangement of time entries. Instead of clustering all “no-start-time” entries at midnight, the calendar now spreads them across your working hours, beginning from the start of your working day. Example Let’s assume your working hours are from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and you have two entries created without a defined start time, each lasting 2 hours. This visual rearrangement makes your calendar cleaner and more readable How to Enable Declutter Mode Enabling the Feature Declutter Option on the Time Entry Calendar showing rearranged entries starting from 8:00 AM Declutter Mode Behavior: Declutter Mode only affects: The system repositions the affected entries based on the user’s: Entries are displayed sequentially: Example: A user’s working hours are 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, and they created three entries (each lasting 2 hours): After enabling Declutter Mode: Making Changes in Declutter Mode: It’s important to understand that Declutter Mode only affects display — it does not actually change the start time. However, if you edit and save a time entry while in Declutter Mode, the system will save the visually displayed (decluttered) start and end times as the actual values. Recommendation: Avoid making edits to time entries while Declutter Mode is turned ON. If you need to make updates, turn off Declutter mode first to avoid changing the real start and end times. Conclusion The Declutter Mode (Preview) in Dynamics 365 Project Operations is an addition to the Time Entry Calendar experience. It helps users view entries clearly by redistributing those with a 12:00 AM start time into a visually cleaner format. While this feature doesn’t alter the data, it enhances the visual clarity of daily time logs. Users should refrain from editing entries in this mode to avoid unintended time changes. Thank you, Kalyani for your valuable inputs to this blog!
Time Entry Calendar Interface (Preview) in Project Operations
IntroductionIn this blog, I’m going to share about Time Entry Calendar interface (Preview) for Dynamics 365 Project Operations (version 4.141.0.X or later). In this feature users will gain a more visual and intuitive way to log, edit, and manage time entries—far beyond what the classic grid offered. Public preview: May 30, 2025; General availability: Sep 2025 Problem Statement In the existing setup, users rely heavily on the Time Entry Grid to input and review hours. Teams often face challenges such as: These limitations slow down task logging, increase errors, for managers and team members. UPDATE: Time Entry Calendar (Preview) To address these challenges, Microsoft has introduced the Time Entry Calendar, a calendar-style interface integrated into Project Operations. Key features include: How It Works: Enabling the Feature Viewing Entries Creating Entries You can also copy entries using Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V. Pasted entries carry most fields (project, task, description), while the duration adjusts based on where they’re pasted. Editing Entries Submitting / Recalling / Deleting UI Use the view picker to toggle between Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Agenda views. Use the date Icon to switch the dates Use the refresh icon to refresh the page Submit all the records directly by clicking on submit button Tracking & Filtering EXAMPLE: Sarah is a consultant who logs time across multiple projects. Before vs After: Time Entry Experience Aspect Before (Grid View) After (Calendar View – Preview) User Interface Tabular grid, requires manual entry for each day/task Visual calendar (Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Agenda views) Ease of Entry Manual typing of hours -> repetitive and error-prone Click, drag, resize, or copy entries directly on calendar Status Visibility Must open each entry to check Draft/Submitted/Approved Color-coded (Yellow = Draft/Returned, Blue = Submitted, Green = Approved) Editing Flexibility Open form -> change values -> save Drag-and-drop to new time slot, resize, or double-click to edit Tracking Progress Requires reports/dashboards Built-in charts for logged vs. target hours, daily/weekly trends Clarity Hard to spot missing/duplicated entries Tooltip details make it clear immediately Productivity Impact Slower, manual, error-prone Faster, intuitive, reduces errors, boosts efficiency Conclusion The Time Entry Calendar (Preview) brings a fresh, user-friendly approach to logging and managing time in Project Operations. While still in preview, it promises to enhance productivity and clarity by enabling users to visualize their hours, correct entries quickly, and remain aligned with targets—all within a single, intuitive interface. Thank you, Kalyani for your valuable inputs to this blog!
Implementing Access Restrictions in Project for the Web iFrame
IntroductionIn this blog, I’m going to share about Project for the web iFrame which plays an important role in task planning. It allows users to view, create, update, and manage project tasks directly inside Dynamics without leaving the system. However, one major challenge has been the lack of restrictions inside this iFrame — meaning that anyone with access to the project record could freely make changes. With the upcoming update, Microsoft is bringing access control inside the Project for the web iFrame. This gives project managers and admins the power to decide who can do what. Public preview: May 16, 2025; General availability: Mar 2026 Problem StatementUntil now, once a user had access to a project record, they could: This lack of restrictions often led to: For example, if a sales executive (who is not part of the project delivery team) but has access to the record, opens the iFrame, they still had access to create or delete tasks which could cause confusion and project delays. UPDATE: The new feature introduces a security system for Project for the web iFrame that allows: This means if a user is part of project team member, their access can be limited to read-only mode. Availability Timeline: HOW TO ENABLE?? After Enabling, within few minutes, Go to Project team member you will see a Read only column on form. EXAMPLE: A team member can only read the iFrame. So, for that we will provide read access. After, providing read access, User will not be able to edit anything on the iFrame. Everything will be read only. CONCLUSIONThe new access restriction system for Project for the web iFrame ensures that only the right people can make the right changes, at the right time. By giving admins and project managers fine-grained control. With this feature rolling out from May 2025 (preview) and March 2026 (GA), organizations can start planning their access control strategies to take full advantage of it. Thank you, Kalyani for your valuable inputs!
Schedule modes in Project Operations
Problem Definition: It has always been a confusion for the Project Manager to choose between the Schedule modes, whether it should be a Fixed effort, Fixed duration or a fixed unit project. And the primary reason behind it was, that most of the PM wanted to a have a fixed duration/unit project without impacting the effort they have added to that specific task. This was not possible earlier, as the OOB formula to calculate the effort, duration or unit, would only respect one fixed value (effort, duration, unit). Solution: With the new release wave feature named “Include effort-driven schedule modes” it now possible to have a fixed duration As you can see, in the above image the efforts changed the moment an additional resource was tagged to the task. As you can see, in the above image the efforts were not impacted even when an additional resource was tagged to the task. As you can see, in the above image the efforts & duration changed the moment an additional resource was tagged to the task. As you can see, in the above image the efforts were not impacted even when an additional resource was tagged to the task, and the duration value changed. Conclusion: This feature will help the Project Manager to have duration/unit as a schedule mode without impacting the efforts, which might be useful for different Projects across various industries. Thank you, Sankalp for your valuable inputs for this blog!
Time and Expense Entry Agent Approval – using MS Copilot
In this blog, I’m going to share about Agent Approvals in Microsoft D365 related to Project Operations. In this short blog, we’re going to have a look at how Agent Approval work and its importance in MSD. Applies To: Project Operations Integrated with ERP, Project Operations Core PROBLEM STATEMENT: For project managers, one of the most time-consuming activities is the review and approval of time, expense, and material entries. Every record submitted by resources needs to be checked against company policies. Manual review often leads to mistakes, delays, and unnecessary back-and-forth between employees and managers. The challenge is clear: how do we reduce the burden of approvals while ensuring compliance with organizational policies? SOLUTION: Approvals Agent in Project Operations Microsoft has introduced the Approvals Agent, a feature within Dynamics 365 Project Operations powered by Microsoft Copilot Studio. The Approvals Agent automatically reviews time, expense, and material submissions against policy documents uploaded by the organization. Based on these policies: This means project managers only need to focus on exceptions, significantly cutting down review time. SETUP BY ADMIN: 2. A new Time and Expense Agent tab appears, allowing admins to upload policy documents for time, expenses, and materials. 3. The agent can run in two modes: Classify: Marks records as Ready for approval or Needs review. Final approval is still done manually by the manager. Classify and Auto Approve: Records that meet policy rules are automatically approved. BACKGROUND SETTING: New tab opens -> search Microsoft Copilot Studio -> Click on Create new -> Sign in for which user you want to use this feature (NOTE: This will be only visible to the user who is using their ID, Also User should have Time and Approval Agent security role, or another role that provides the same or greater privileges) ACTIVATE THE AGENT: ONCE THE CONNECTION REFERENCE IS MADE AND THE FLOWS ARE TURNED ON. You are set to go with the feature use. Last thing to configure is to update your Approvals rules Refer the image/file, you can add expense entry rules as well. After configuring all the rules, while you login with same user you will see AGENT APPROVAL area in the App. After classification, managers can view the list of reviewed entries. For each record, they can: EXAMPLE:Imagine a consulting company where: Here’s what happens with Approvals Agent: Conclusion: The Approvals Agent in Dynamics 365 Project Operations is a step forward in intelligent automation for project management. By leveraging Microsoft Copilot Studio and well-structured policy documents, organizations can cut down approval times and reduce mistakes. Thank you, Kalyani for your valuable inputs for this blog.