Time and expense entry

Entering individual staff time and expenses

Staff can use the Entry tab of the Time & Expense Entry screen to enter their own time and expenses.
note
Firms that have administrative staff who enter other employees’ time and expenses for them can use the Overview tab to view and enter time and expenses for multiple staff.

Entering a time transaction

  1. From the Actions menu, choose Time & Expense Entry.
  2. Click the Entry tab.
  3. In the
    Staff
    field, enter the staff ID or name, or select it from the drop-down list.
    note
    The
    Staff
     field is a user-defined terminology field.
    If your firm uses a term other than Staff, you can change it in the Firm setup screen (Setup > Firm > Terminology tab). To view the default terminology for any screen or field, choose Enable Default Terminology from the Help menu (or press CTRL+SHIFT+H).
    The other variable fields in this screen are
    Client
    ,
    Engagement
    ,
    Project
    , and
    Activity
    .
  4. In the
    Sheet Date
     field, enter a date for the timesheet, or click the Down arrow button and select a sheet date from the drop-down calendar.
    note
    Dates in red on the calendar contain time and expense entries. If you pause your mouse pointer over a date in red, a tool tip will display the number of hours entered for that day.
  5. On the Time subtab, click the
    Client
     field in the first blank row, and select a client ID from the drop-down list.
  6. Complete the
    Engagement
     field (required).
    note
    If you have chosen a default in User Preferences for the client, engagement, or activity, these fields will be completed automatically by the application and may be hidden.
  7. If your firm is licensed for the Project Management module, update project and task information as needed.
    1. If there is a project associated with this entry, select it in the
      Project
       field.
    2. To update project tracking information, either right-click the
      Project
       field or click the Task Selection button next to the
      Project
       field to open the Task Selection dialog.
    3. If there is a task associated with this entry, select it from the
      Task
       list.
      note
      If the task you select has an activity associated with it, the
      Activity
       field is completed automatically.
    4. To update task tracking information, either right-click the
      Task
       field or click the Task Selection button next to the
      Project
       field to open the Task Selection dialog.
  8. In the
    Date
     field, you can enter a date or click the button to select it from the drop-down calendar. If you have specified a default date, the application will complete the
    Date
     field with the default you selected. If you have not specified a default date and leave the
    Date
     field blank, the application will enter the date from the previous transaction.
    note
    The application will also complete the
    Client, Engagement,
     and
    Activity
     fields with the entry from the previous transaction, if you leave them blank.
  9. If your firm has assigned rates to activities or engagements, the
    Rate
     field is completed automatically by the application; if not, you must select the rate from the drop-down list.
    note
    If you do not have security permission to override rates, this field is hidden.
  10. In the
    Hours
     field, enter the number of hours or select the number from the drop-down calculator.
    note
    • This column will be labeled either Hours or Minutes depending on the User Preferences your firm has selected for entering time.
    • If preferred, you can start a timer rather than entering an amount in the
      Hours
       field.
  11. The application calculates the
    Amount
     field automatically.
    note
    • If you do not have security permission to view WIP amounts, this field is hidden.
    • Staff with the appropriate security permission can override the amount, if necessary. When an amount is overridden, it appears in red. Amounts that you override cannot be recalculated by the application; you can only change them manually.
  12. You can enter an optional comment in the
    Comment
    field. If you need more space to enter information, click the Comment button and enter the text in the Comment dialog.
    Use this field to enter an optional comment on time and expense entries that you can include on invoices and reports. If the text you enter is longer than the length of the field, the Comment dialog opens to provide more space to type. To save time, you can select a pre-defined text item from the
    Standard text
     field to use as the comment.
    These standard text entries come from Setup > Standard Text.
    Click the Check Spelling button to spell check your comment. Click OK to return to the Time & Expense Entry screen.
  13. You can also add an optional note to the biller in the
    Biller Note
    field.
    Use the
    Biller Note
     field to enter an optional note on time and expense entries for billing. This note is for internal purposes only. If the text you enter is longer than the length of the field, the Biller Note dialog opens to provide more space to type. To save time, you can select a pre-defined text item from the
    Standard text
     field to use as the biller note.
    These standard text entries come from Setup > Standard Text.
    Click the Check Spelling button to spell check the biller note. Click OK to return to the Time & Expense Entry screen.
  14. Press the TAB key until you reach the end of the line to complete the entry.

Entering comp time

If your firm is licensed for the Staff Management module and tracks comp time, you can enter a comp time transaction on the Time & Expense Entry screen.
  1. On the Entry tab of the Time & Expense Entry screen, select a staff member and sheet date.
  2. Click the Comp Time button.
  3. In the Comp Time Detail dialog, enter a date for the comp time entry in the
    Date
     field of the last row. This should be the date on which the comp time was earned or used.
  4. In the
    Description
     field, select Earned, Used, or Manual Adjustment.
    • Earned
       — comp time was earned on this date
    • Used
       — comp time was used on this date
    • Manual Adjustment
       — an adjustment is required (should be used as necessary by firm administrators)
  5. In the
    Hours
     field, enter the number of hours.
    note
    If you selected Used in the
    Description
     field, the number in this field will be displayed as a negative amount.
  6. Click OK.
You can view comp time balances in the Benefits portlet on the Staff Dashboard. Staff with sufficient security privileges can view comp time balances on the Benefits tab of the Manage Staff screen.

Entering an expense transaction

  1. Click the Expense subtab.
  2. Select the Client and Engagement for the expense.
  3. If there is a project associated with the expense entry, select it from the
    Project
     drop-down list. Click the Task Selection button next to the
    Project
     field to open the Task Selection dialog and update task information.
    note
    For expense entries, only tasks with an expense type activity are available in the Task Selection dialog.
  4. Select an Activity for the expense. This is a required field. Note that only expense type activities are available in the drop-down list.
  5. Enter or select a date for the expense.
  6. Enter the number of units for the expense, or use the drop-down calculator, to complete the
    Units
     field.
  7. The
    Unit Price
     field shows the unit price that has been set up for the selected activity. You can enter a different price, if necessary.
  8. The
    Amount
     field is calculated automatically by multiplying the number of units by the unit price.
  9. You can optionally enter text in the
    Comment
     field by clicking the Comment button and entering or selecting text in the Comment dialog.
  10. You can also add an optional note to the biller in the
    Biller Note
     field.
  11. Press the TAB key until you reach the end of the line to complete the expense entry.

Editing on the fly

You can add, edit, and delete information in certain fields directly in the Time & Expense Entry screen if you have the appropriate security permission. Right-click in a field and choose from the context menu.
You can also use the context menu to filter the items in the drop-down lists, print the data entry grid, and spell check and delete entries.

This article applies to:

  • Product: Digita Practice Advanced