[Due for payment 2026-01-28] [Time Tracking][Bug] Time expense - Duplicated time expense becomes cash expense

[mitarachim]

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Version Number: 9.3.1-0
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #78137
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): applausetester+sinodn23d@applause.expensifail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Mac 26.1 / Chrome
App Component: Money Requests

Action Performed:

Precondition:

• Log in with Expensifail account.
• Time tracking feature is enabled on OD.

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Go to workspace chat.
3. Click + > Create expense > Time.
4. Create time expense
5. Open the expense report.
6. Click More > Duplicate.

Expected Result:

Duplicated time expense will remain as time expense.

Actual Result:

Duplicated time expense becomes cash expense.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

• Android: App
• Android: mWeb Chrome
• iOS: App
• iOS: mWeb Safari
• iOS: mWeb Chrome
• Windows: Chrome
• MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7049044_1768398426381.6.mp4

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @bfitzexpensify

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @bfitzexpensify (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details. Please add this bug to a GH project, as outlined in the SO.

[MobileMage]

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

Duplicating a time expense turns it into a cash expense. The time tracking data (hours, rate, etc.) gets lost.

What is the root cause of that problem?

In src/libs/actions/IOU/DuplicateAction.ts, the duplicateExpenseTransaction function builds transactionParams but doesn't include time tracking fields.

Time expenses store their data in transaction.comment.type and transaction.comment.units (count, rate, unit). These just never get passed through when duplicating.

You can see how requestMoney in src/libs/actions/IOU/index.ts expects these fields for time expenses:

...(transactionType === CONST.TRANSACTION.TYPE.TIME
    ? {
          type: transactionType,
          count,
          rate,
          unit,
      }
    : {}),

Without them, the API creates a regular cash expense.

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

Add the missing time tracking properties to transactionParams in DuplicateAction.ts:

transactionParams: {
    // ... existing fields ...
    waypoints: transactionDetails?.waypoints as WaypointCollection | undefined,
    // Add these:
    type: transaction?.comment?.type,
    count: transaction?.comment?.units?.count,
    rate: transaction?.comment?.units?.rate,
    unit: transaction?.comment?.units?.unit,
},

For non-time expenses these will just be undefined and won't change anything.

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Could modify getTransactionDetails to include these, but it's used all over the codebase and would need type changes. Simpler to just add them where they're needed.

[yatin-italy]

Proposal

Restate the problem this issue is trying to solve.
Duplicating a TIME expense removes its time fields. The new expense becomes a cash expense. Time tracking data is lost.

What is the root cause of that problem?

• The duplicate logic does not copy TIME fields.
• Fields like type, count, rate, and unit are skipped.
• They are not forwarded from the original transaction.

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

• Update DuplicateAction.ts.
• Copy TIME fields directly from transaction.comment.
• Do not add helpers or checks.
• Leave non-time expenses unchanged.

Code change

// DuplicateAction.ts — inside transactionParams
transactionParams: {
    ...transaction,
    ...transactionDetails,
    attendees: transactionDetails?.attendees as Attendee[] | undefined,
    comment: Parser.htmlToMarkdown(transaction?.comment?.comment ?? transactionDetails?.comment ?? ''),
    created: format(new Date(), CONST.DATE.FNS_FORMAT_STRING),
    // Preserve TIME metadata on duplicate
    type: transaction?.comment?.type,
    count: transaction?.comment?.units?.count,
    rate: transaction?.comment?.units?.rate,
    unit: transaction?.comment?.units?.unit,
},

Add a regression test to lock this behavior.

Targeted regression test

// DuplicateAction.test.ts (or existing IOU duplication test file)
it('duplicates TIME expenses retaining time fields', () => {
    const transaction = {
        transactionID: '123',
        comment: {
            comment: 'Worked 2h @ $50',
            type: CONST.TRANSACTION.TYPE.TIME,
            units: {count: 2, rate: 50, unit: CONST.TIME_TRACKING.UNIT.HOUR},
        },
    };
    const transactionDetails = {attendees: [], waypoints: []};

    // Call the real duplication params builder used in DuplicateAction
    const params = DuplicateAction.buildRequestParams(transaction, transactionDetails); // replace with actual export if named differently

    expect(params.transactionParams.type).toBe(CONST.TRANSACTION.TYPE.TIME);
    expect(params.transactionParams.count).toBe(2);
    expect(params.transactionParams.rate).toBe(50);
    expect(params.transactionParams.unit).toBe(CONST.TIME_TRACKING.UNIT.HOUR);
});

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)
Using helpers or conditionals. Not chosen because they add complexity. Direct forwarding is simpler and safer.

[DylanDylann]

From: https://expensify.slack.com/archives/C07NMDKEFMH/p1768246840650279?thread_ts=1768246821.377209&cid=C07NMDKEFMH

cc @mhawryluk @grgia Should we handel this?