π Time & Materials Budget / Tracking
The Time and Materials Budget Tracking feature is tailored for businesses that invoice customers based on both time spent and materials used. This feature is particularly beneficial for those who bill regularly for work performed. If your company predominantly relies on fixed price quotes for billing, you can bypass this section.
This module is particularly relevant to the following types of companies:
Construction Companies
Computer Consultants / Programmers
Pool Service Companies
Law Firms
Before you can set up projects for time and materials billing, you must first establish the billable services offered by your company. Let's initiate the process by configuring these billable services.
βοΈ Configuring Billable Time Services:
Navigate to the "Finance" section in the e-manage|ONE main window.
Select "Billable Time" and then choose "Configure Billable Time Services."
The Configure Billable Time Services window will appear. Use this window to set up and manage your billable service options.
Follow the steps below to configure your services:
On the left side, you can create categories for the services you provide. If no categories exist, create a root folder by clicking "New Top Level Category" underneath the blue section. Name the category and press ENTER.
Once you've selected a category, click "New Service" on the bottom right side to add a new service. Complete the service details, which include:
Service Name
Description
Default hourly rate
Overtime rate
Estimated cost rate per hour
Charge for overtime (yes or no)
Allow budget to overrun (yes or no)
Charge for budget overruns (yes or no)
Β
π’ NOTE: If you choose Individual Employee Billing Rates, click the "Configure Rates" button to fill out the Rates by Title. Select the Title from the administrator-set dropdown and enter the hourly and overtime rates.
Charge Customer for Overtime (yes or no)
Use Individual Employee Billing Rates (yes or no)
Require Approval Before Billing (yes or no)
Taxable (yes or no)
Enabled (yes or no)
Click "Save Service" when you've filled out the form. Repeat these steps for each service your company offers.
Time and Materials Jobs:
Time and Materials Jobs are organized by budgets. Each project can have multiple budgets running concurrently, each with its own billing cycle, rates, and thresholds. You can generate billable time sheets for projects from the Actions Menu or, if configured, during action item requests.
To access Time and Materials Jobs, go to the Modules Menu in the Project tab and select "Time and Materials Budgets / Tracking."
In the Time and Materials Budget / Tracking window, click the "New Budget" button located under the budget grid listing.
The "New / Edit Project Budget" window will open. Fill in the budget details, including:
Budget Name
Start Date - Users cannot enter billable timesheets without a budget start date.
End Date - This date stops users from entering billable time against the budget. Leaving it blank keeps the budget open-ended, allowing users to enter billable time at any time.
Billing Cycle - This number from 1 to 99 pairs with the adjacent drop-down (day(s), month(s), year(s)) to invoice the customer for work performed at regular intervals automatically.
Next Billing Date - This field updates automatically based on your billing activity.
π After invoices are created using the βProcess Invoices for Billable Timeβ window, the field is updated using:
Last Billing Date + Billing CycleβοΈ When initially setting up, the field will auto-populate once a Start Date and Billing Cycle are selected
π Best Practice: π‘ This ensures billing dates remain consistent and require minimal manual updates
Terms of Sale - Terms used in the "Process Invoices for Billable Time" window.
User Drop Down List - This alerts a user when the budget reaches a capacity percentage. Users can view these budgets in the "Today" pop-out panel and "Budget Capacities."
Alert % of Cap - This percentage determines when the budget appears on the "Today" pop-out panel and "Budget Capacities."
Click "Save" once you've finished. Your new budget will now appear in the Budget Listing grid.
Editing and Deleting Budgets: (Upper right-hand side of the bottom grid)
To edit a budget, double-click the row or click "Edit Budget" when highlighted.
To delete a budget, highlight the row and select "Delete Budget."
Adding Services to a Budget: (Upper right-hand side of the bottom grid)
Highlight the budget in the Budget Grid Listing.
Click the "New Service" button.
Choose a billable service from the top left tree.
Customize service details if necessary.
Click "Save Service."
π NOTE: You can only choose to add services that have been set up using the "Configure Billable Time Services" window.
Setting Up Automatic Time Entries for Budgeted Hours
In this window, you can also establish automatic time entries for budgeted hours whenever an invoice is generated. Here's how it works:
Imagine your customer purchases a monthly block of service hours at a discounted rate...
π¦ The customer prepays for a set number of hours each billing cycle
π οΈ As services are performed, the hours are tracked and itemized on the invoice
π² These hours are not billed at the standard rate while the prepaid block is still available
π‘ Once the included hours are fully used, any additional time is then billed at the regular rate
To configure this:
Check the "Make Automatic Time Entries of Budgeted Hours Every Billing Cycle" option.
This adds an automated time sheet to the invoice using the employee selected from the drop-down below the budgeted hours checkbox.
The service must be saved before enabling automated time entries.
You can defer billing the customer for billable hours until the budgeted hours, created by the automated time entry, are reached.
After saving the service with these settings, it appears in the Services Grid in the lower half of the Billable Time Budgets / Tracking tiled window.
Adding Parts to a Service:
In the Billable Time Window:
Double-click the service.
Go to the "Parts" tab at the bottom.
You can manually add parts or use "Search For," "Project Spec," or the import option.
Finally, select "Save Service."
Generating Purchase Orders (POs):
You can generate purchase orders for the materials portion of the budget by highlighting the corresponding budget row and clicking the "Generate PO's" button.
Β