diff --git a/jwt/jwtclaims.go b/jwt/jwtclaims.go
index 3297b48..001fceb 100644
--- a/jwt/jwtclaims.go
+++ b/jwt/jwtclaims.go
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/golang-jwt/jwt"
+
+	keeltime "github.com/foomo/keel/time"
 )
 
 // MaxTimeDifferenceBetweenNodes represents an offset that should be taken
@@ -11,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 var MaxTimeDifferenceBetweenNodes = time.Second * 30
 
 func NewStandardClaims() jwt.StandardClaims {
-	now := time.Now().Add(-MaxTimeDifferenceBetweenNodes)
+	now := keeltime.Now().Add(-MaxTimeDifferenceBetweenNodes)
 	return jwt.StandardClaims{
 		IssuedAt:  now.Unix(),
 		NotBefore: now.Unix(),
diff --git a/net/http/cookie/timeprovider.go b/net/http/cookie/timeprovider.go
index ec621ec..f8e6b02 100644
--- a/net/http/cookie/timeprovider.go
+++ b/net/http/cookie/timeprovider.go
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package cookie
 
 import (
 	"time"
+
+	keeltime "github.com/foomo/keel/time"
 )
 
 type TimeProvider func() time.Time
@@ -31,6 +33,6 @@ func NewTimeProvider(opts ...TimeProviderOption) TimeProvider {
 		}
 	}
 	return func() time.Time {
-		return time.Now().Add(options.Offset)
+		return keeltime.Now().Add(options.Offset)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/net/http/middleware/logger.go b/net/http/middleware/logger.go
index 5ba4299..c3b1f90 100644
--- a/net/http/middleware/logger.go
+++ b/net/http/middleware/logger.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 
 	"github.com/foomo/keel/log"
+	keeltime "github.com/foomo/keel/time"
 )
 
 type (
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ func LoggerWithMessage(v string) LoggerOption {
 func LoggerWithOptions(opts LoggerOptions) Middleware {
 	return func(l *zap.Logger, name string, next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 		return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-			start := time.Now()
+			start := keeltime.Now()
 
 			// wrap response write to get access to status & size
 			wr := WrapResponseWriter(w)
diff --git a/net/http/middleware/responsetime.go b/net/http/middleware/responsetime.go
index 20b5aff..8cad601 100644
--- a/net/http/middleware/responsetime.go
+++ b/net/http/middleware/responsetime.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 
 	"github.com/foomo/keel/log"
+	keeltime "github.com/foomo/keel/time"
 )
 
 type (
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ func ResponseTime(opts ...ResponseTimeOption) Middleware {
 func ResponseTimeWithOptions(opts ResponseTimeOptions) Middleware {
 	return func(l *zap.Logger, name string, next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 		return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
-			start := time.Now()
+			start := keeltime.Now()
 			rw := WrapResponseWriter(w)
 			rw.SetWriteResponseTimeHeader(opts.SetHeader)
 			next.ServeHTTP(rw, r)
diff --git a/net/http/middleware/responsewriter.go b/net/http/middleware/responsewriter.go
index 37f9a2c..1941568 100644
--- a/net/http/middleware/responsewriter.go
+++ b/net/http/middleware/responsewriter.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	http2 "github.com/foomo/keel/net/http"
+	keeltime "github.com/foomo/keel/time"
 )
 
 // responseWriter is a wrapper that includes that http statusCode and size for logging
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ func WrapResponseWriter(w http.ResponseWriter) *responseWriter {
 	}
 	return &responseWriter{
 		ResponseWriter: w,
-		start:          time.Now(),
+		start:          keeltime.Now(),
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/persistence/mongo/collection.go b/persistence/mongo/collection.go
index a36d60b..d25a844 100644
--- a/persistence/mongo/collection.go
+++ b/persistence/mongo/collection.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 
 	keelerrors "github.com/foomo/keel/errors"
 	keelpersistence "github.com/foomo/keel/persistence"
+	keeltime "github.com/foomo/keel/time"
 )
 
 type (
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ func (c *Collection) Upsert(ctx context.Context, id string, entity Entity) error
 	}
 
 	if v, ok := entity.(EntityWithTimestamps); ok {
-		now := time.Now()
+		now := keeltime.Now()
 		if ct := v.GetCreatedAt(); ct.IsZero() {
 			v.SetCreatedAt(now)
 		}
@@ -169,9 +170,7 @@ func (c *Collection) Upsert(ctx context.Context, id string, entity Entity) error
 
 		if currentVersion == 0 {
 			// insert the new document
-			if _, err := c.collection.InsertOne(ctx, entity); err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
+			return c.Insert(ctx, entity)
 		} else if res := c.collection.FindOneAndUpdate(
 			ctx,
 			bson.D{{Key: "id", Value: id}, {Key: "version", Value: currentVersion}},
@@ -194,7 +193,13 @@ func (c *Collection) Upsert(ctx context.Context, id string, entity Entity) error
 	return nil
 }
 
-// Delete ...
+func (c *Collection) Insert(ctx context.Context, entity Entity) error {
+	if _, err := c.collection.InsertOne(ctx, entity); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (c *Collection) Delete(ctx context.Context, id string) error {
 	if id == "" {
 		return keelpersistence.ErrNotFound
diff --git a/time/time.go b/time/time.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b36c54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/time/time.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package keeltime
+
+import (
+	"time"
+)
+
+var (
+	Now                = time.Now
+	NowStaticNSec      = int64(1609498800e9) // 2021-01-01 12:00:00
+	NowIncrementalNSec = NowStaticNSec
+)
+
+// Static sets now to a static time provider
+func Static() {
+	Now = static
+}
+
+// Incremental sets now to a incremental time provider
+func Incremental() {
+	Now = incremental
+}
+
+func static() time.Time {
+	return time.Unix(0, NowStaticNSec)
+}
+
+func incremental() time.Time {
+	t := time.Unix(0, NowIncrementalNSec)
+	NowIncrementalNSec++
+	return t
+}
+
+// ResetIncremental sets the incremental time to the static default
+func ResetIncremental() {
+	NowIncrementalNSec = NowStaticNSec
+}