Entering a Time Sheet
To open the Time Sheet register, ensure you are in the Job Costing module and then click (Windows/macOS) or tap (iOS/Android) the [Registers] button in the Navigation Centre. Then double-click or tap 'Time Sheets' in the resulting list. The 'Time Sheets: Browse' window will be opened, listing the Time Sheets that you have already entered.
To enter a new Time Sheet, select 'New' from the Create menu (Windows/macOS) or the + menu (iOS/Android). You can also use the Ctrl-N (Windows) or ⌘-N (macOS) keyboard shortcuts. Alternatively, highlight a Time Sheet similar to the one you want to enter and select 'Duplicate' from the Create or + menu. If you don't want to open the 'Time Sheets: Browse' window before creating a new record, you can also use the + menu in the Navigation Centre (all platforms).
If you are using Windows or macOS, there will be three buttons in the top left-hand corner of the 'Time Sheets: Browse' window. These are part of the Limited Access feature. You can use them as follows (Windows versions of the buttons illustrated on the left, macOS on the right):
- Lists all Time Sheets.
- Lists Time Sheets belonging to members of the same Sales Group as the current user (i.e. Time Sheets in which the User belongs to the same Sales Group as that of the current user).
- Lists Time Sheets belonging to the current user (i.e. Time Sheets in which the current user is the User).
You can also prevent a user from seeing all Time Sheets in the list by restricting their view to their own Time Sheets or to those of their Sales Group.
Please refer to the page describing the 'Access' card in the Person register for full details about the Limited Access feature.
The 'Time Sheet: New' window will be opened, empty if you selected 'New' or containing a duplicate of the highlighted Time Sheet. In the case of the duplicate, the Registration Date of the new record will be the current date, not the date of the original Time Sheet.
You can enter Time Sheets in the manner that most suits your requirements. The illustration above shows a Time Sheet that represents a week's work of a single employee. As it happens, that employee worked on a single Project throughout that week. There is no need to restrict a Time Sheet record to a single Person, Project or even time period unless you are using the
Force Time Entry feature to monitor the entering of Time Sheets. In this case, each Person should enter their own Time Sheets, and they should do so regularly enough to satisfy your monitoring regime.
You can specify that only the Members of a Project will be able to enter Time Sheets recording the time spent working on that Project. To do this, assign every member of staff to an Access Group in which you have granted Full access to the 'Disallow Posting Project actuals if not Project Member' Action. If there are any members of staff who are exceptions to this rule (i.e. any members of staff who should be able to enter Time Sheets while not being Project Members), do not grant them Full access to the 'Disallow Posting Project actuals if not Project Member' Action.
Complete the Time Sheet as appropriate and as described on the following pages, then save it using the [Save] button (Windows/macOS) or by tapping √ (iOS/Android) and close the window by clicking the close box (Windows/macOS) or by tapping < (iOS/Android). Then, close the browse window using the close box or < again.
Header
- No.
- Paste Special
Select from another Number Series
- The unique identifying number of each Time Sheet. The default will be chosen as follows:
- It will be taken from the first valid row in the Number Series - Time Sheets setting.
- It will be the next number following on from the last Time Sheet entered.
- You may change the default, but not to a number that has already been used. If you have defined at least one number sequence in the Number Series - Time Sheets setting, the number you change to must be inside a valid number sequence.
- You will not be able to save a Time Sheet if the No. does not belong to a valid number sequence. A valid number sequence is one for the period in which the Reg. Date of the Time Sheet falls and with unused numbers, so this problem will most usually occur at the beginning of a new calendar or financial year.
- The Time Sheet Number will be assigned when you save the Time Sheet for the first time, chosen as described above and providing you have not already specified a number yourself.
- Reg. Date
- Paste Special
Choose date
- The date when you entered a Time Sheet. The current date will be entered in each new Time Sheet as a default.
- Text
- A description of the contents of the Time Sheet.
- OK
- Tick this box when a Time Sheet is complete and correct. When you next save the Time Sheet, separate Project Transaction records will be created for each row in the Time Sheet. If any of the Projects listed in the Time Sheet rows will be invoiced on an "Actual" basis, these Project Transactions will be used by the 'Create Project Invoices' Maintenance function to create Invoices for the time spent and materials used.
- After marking a Time Sheet as OK and saving, it will not be possible to change or delete it. If you need to change a Time Sheet after marking it as OK, use of the 'Correction Mark' function on the Operations menu (Windows/macOS) or Tools menu (iOS/Android). However, you will be able to change the connected Project Transaction records providing you have not yet created an Invoice from them.
- You can use Access Groups to prevent certain users from marking Time Sheets as OK. To do this, deny them access to the 'OK Time Sheets' Action.
Matrix
As you enter information in the table, indicate on each row the Date, Person, Project, Item and Quantity. To make data entry faster, Standard ERP will copy the data from the row above if you leave a field blank and press the Enter or Return key. Use the Tab key if you wish to leave the field blank.
The Time Sheet matrix is divided into five horizontal flips. When you click a flip tab (marked A-E), the two or three right-hand columns of the grid are replaced.
Flip A
- Date
- Paste Special
Choose date
- The date when the work was carried out or the material supplied.
- Empl.
- Paste Special
Person register, System module and Global User register, Technics module
- Enter the Signature of the employee that carried out the work.
- If any Tags/Objects have been assigned to the employee (on the 'Accounts' card of their Person record), they will be brought in to the Tags/Objects field on flip B of the Time Sheet row automatically.
- The employee's name will be shown on flip D.
- The Employee that you specify in the first row will be copied to the User field in the footer. The User field will be used by the Limited Access feature to control whether the Time Sheet will be included in the 'Time Sheets: Browse' window when it is opened by each user.
- Proj.
- Paste Special
Project register, Job Costing module
- Enter the Code of the Project to which the time or material is to be charged.
- If an employee works on particular Projects at any one time, you can ensure that no other Projects can be entered here. To do this, list the allowed Projects in the grid on the 'Job Costing' card of the appropriate Person record (in the System module) together with short codes and select the Allow Short Codes Only option. Listing the allowed Projects together with short codes will also allow you to enter either a Project Code or the Person's personal short code in this field.
- If any Tags/Objects have been assigned to the Project (on the 'Terms' card of the Project record), they will be brought in to the Tags/Objects field on flip B of the Time Sheet row automatically.
- The Project Name will be shown on flip D.
- Item
- Paste Special
Item register
- Enter the Item Number of the Item that represents the type of work that was carried out.
- Usually, you can only enter Service Items (time) here. If you want to be able to use Plain Items (materials and purchases) as well, select the Allow Plain Items on Time Sheets option in the Project Item Handling or Specified Project Item Handling settings.
- When you mark the Time Sheet as OK and save, Project Transactions will be created for each row in the Time Sheet. In these Project Transactions, the price of each Item will be calculated using the pricing scheme described on the Pricing and Costs - Time, Purchases and Materials from Time Sheets and Activities page.
- Stocked Items are not allowed here. If you need to register the supply of Stocked Items as part of a Project, enter them in a Sales Order that is linked to the Project using the field on the 'Terms' card of the Order window and then create a Delivery from the Order. You can also register purchased items using Purchase Invoices, and Expense items using the Expense register in the Expenses module.
- If you have several different types of time that are chargeable at different rates, such as consultancy, programming services or installation, you should enter separate records for each type of time in the Item register. If an employee can only provide certain types of work, you can ensure that only Items representing those types of work can be entered in this field. To do this, assign each employee to a Job Group using the field on the 'Job Costing' card of each Person record. In each Job Group record, list the allowed Items (i.e. the allowed types of work) in the grid and select the Only Short Codes Allowed option. Listing the allowed Items together with short codes will also you to enter either an Item Number or its short code to this field. This applies to both time and materials.
- If any Tags/Objects have been assigned to the Item (on the 'Pricing' card of the Item window), they will be brought in to the Tags/Objects field on flip B of the Time Sheet automatically.
- The Item Description will be shown on flip D.
- Qty
- Enter the number of hours worked or the quantity of materials supplied.
- If you need to ensure that the recorded number of hours or quantity of materials does not exceed the quantity in the Project Budget, choose "Disallow" as the Usage of Items on Project Budget option in the Project. This will prevent you from being able to save a Time Sheet if it will take the quantity supplied over the budgeted quantity. You will also not be able to save a Time Sheet that uses an Item that is not included in the Project Budget.
- Description
- Any comment that you enter here will be transferred to the Comment field in the resulting Project Transaction.
Flip B
- Tags/Objects
- Paste Special
Tag/Object register, Nominal Ledger/System module
- Default taken from Project, Item and Person
- Used as default in Project Transactions
- You can assign up to 20 Tags/Objects, separated by commas, to a Time Sheet row and all transactions generated from it. You might define separate Tags/Objects to represent different Projects, departments, cost centres or product types. This provides a flexible method of analysis that can be used in Nominal Ledger reports.
- Any Tags/Objects specified for the Project and Item will be copied here as a default, as will any Tags/Objects specified in the Person record for the employee entered on flip A. All Tags/Objects will be transferred to the resulting Project Transaction.
- Tags/Objects are shown here for information only. Changing these Tags/Objects will have no effect: instead, make changes in the Project, Item or Person records as appropriate before entering the Time Sheet. For details about the Tags/Objects that will be included in Invoices for a Project, please refer to the page describing the 'Service' card of the Project Settings setting.
Flip C
- Time Class
- Paste Special
Time Classes setting, Job Costing module
- Use this field if you have different charge out rates (e.g. standard rate, evening rate, etc.) for each type of work and are managing them using Time Classes. Enter the Time Class that applies to the time that you are recording. This will determine the price in the resulting Project Transaction and therefore the rate to be charged to the Customer.
- Please refer to the Pricing and Costs - Time, Purchases and Materials from Time Sheets and Activities page for more information about Time Classes.
Flip D
- Project Name
- The Project Name will appear here when you enter a Project Number on flip A.
- Employee Name
- The Employee Name will appear here when you enter their Signature on flip A.
- Item Name
- The Item Name will appear here when you enter an Item Number on flip A.
Flip E
- Extra Comment 1, Extra Comment 2
- Use these fields to record any further comments about the work carried out. These comments will be transferred to the second and third Comment fields in the resulting Project Transaction.
Footer
- Sum Time
- This field displays the total number of hours in the Time Sheet, calculated by adding the Quantities of each Service Item and updated automatically.
- Sum Material
- This field displays the total quantity of purchases and materials in the Time Sheet, calculated by adding the Quantities of each Plain Item and updated automatically.
- User
- Paste Special
Person register, System module and Global User register, Technics module
- Default taken from Person in first Time Sheet row
- The employee's Signature from the first row of the Time Sheet will be copied here automatically. You can change to another Person if necessary. If you are using the Limited Access feature, you can use this field to prevent a user from seeing every Time Sheet in the 'Time Sheets: Browse' window by restricting their view to their own Time Sheets or to those of their Sales Group.
- Please refer here for full details about the Limited Access feature.
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The Time Sheet register in Standard ERP:
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