Recording Time, Expenses and Absence
Time, expenses and absence share a shape: somebody records what they did, against what, and the entry keeps the financial facts that were true when it happened.
Where to find it
Architect Panel → ERP - Projects & Time:
- Projects & Time — the console — enter, review, approve
- Time Entries — the individual entries
- Timesheets — the periodic batch entries are submitted in
- Expenses — expense claims, with receipts
- Absence — holiday, sickness and other non-working time
- Work Breakdown — the structure everything is booked against
A time entry
An entry carries the resource, the date, the duration (start and end times, or simply minutes), what was worked on, and the work breakdown element it belongs to. It also carries an activity — the kind of work — which is what makes analysis by activity possible rather than only by person.
The rate is stored on the entry
Each entry keeps its own bill rate and cost rate, resolved from the rate cards when the entry is created rather than looked up when a report runs.
This is the same principle as stock cost layers and ledger currency amounts. If the rate were looked up later, raising your charge-out rates in April would silently restate the margin on every project delivered in March — and a project reported as profitable would become unprofitable, or the reverse, with no transaction to explain it.
Storing it means historical margin is fixed. It also means a rate change applies to future work only, which is almost always what was intended.
Billable and non-billable
Every entry is flagged. Record non-billable time too — internal work, training, admin — because utilisation is only meaningful if the denominator is real. A system holding only billable time reports 100% utilisation and tells you nothing.
Timesheets and status
Entries are grouped into timesheets for submission and approval, and each carries a status. Approval is what makes time eligible for billing; entries that were never approved should not appear on an invoice, and the status is what enforces that.
Expenses
An expense records the date, category, what it was for, the gross amount, the tax element, the currency and the exchange rate applied, and links to an uploaded receipt. Where it is billable it can carry a markup.
Capture the receipt at the point of claim. Reconstructing receipts at year end is nobody's favourite week, and a claim without one is usually disallowed.
Absence
Absence reduces available capacity, so it belongs in the same place as time rather than in a separate spreadsheet. A resourcing plan that does not know somebody is on leave for a fortnight will confidently promise work they cannot do.
Imported time
Entries record their source and an external reference, so time brought in from another system stays identifiable. That matters when reconciling: you can tell what was keyed here from what arrived from elsewhere.
Worked example
A consultancy has staff submit weekly. An entry against a project's "Discovery" work breakdown element captures 7.5 hours of Analysis at a bill rate of £95 and a cost rate of £41 — both stamped on the entry. In June the standard rate rises to £105; the March entries still read £95, so the March margin report is unchanged.
Recommendations
- Record non-billable time or utilisation is fiction.
- Attach receipts at claim time.
- Approve before billing, and check the status is respected.
- Keep absence here, not in a separate calendar.