How to add a Time Sheet Entry
The Time Sheet allows you to record the activities you have performed on a matter and the time spent on those activities. These time entries are recorded as Fees for a matter which in turn can either be used to generate invoices or for keeping a tally of the amount of time spent on a fixed fee matter.
To add an entry to the Time Sheet once it is open, you can either:
- Open the Time Sheet and manually add a new row;
- Click the Timer button on an open Matter; or
- Open a new Matter if your time billing options are set to add a new time sheet entry when ever you open a Matter or make a Matter active.
1. Manually Adding a New Entry
1.1. Open the Time Sheet
You can open the timesheet by either:
- In the main tool bar, clicking the Accounts button and then selecting Time Sheets; or
- Clicking the stopwatch icon at the bottom of the main window.
1.2. Add a Row
To manually add an entry to the Time Sheet, click the green + button in the bottom right hand of the Time Sheet window.
1.3. Start the Timer
Once the new row has been added, if you want to use the Timer, click Start and the Timer will be begin recording the time until you click Stop.
1.4. Select Matter
Next select the matter this entry applies to by clicking the Matter column dropdown. Tip: Start typing the name of the matter to quickly find the relevant matter.
1.5. Set the Fee Code
Now select the relevant Fee Code for the activity being performed. For instructions on how to create template Fee Codes that you can use, go to: How to Create Fee Codes. The Fee Code you select will then populate the Bill Description, Fee Type, Rate, Value and Billing Status with the default values.
1.6. Add/Edit Billing Description, Time, Elapsed and Rate
Next insert or edit the Billing Description to provide particulars of the activity which has been performed. If you are not using the Timer, you can also manually change the Time, Elapsed, and Rate fields
1.8. Set the Billing Status
By default, the Billing Status will be set as per the default value in the Fee Code. If you want to change the Billing Status before it is invoiced, click the Billing Status dropdown and select the appropriate value.
- Billable - Next Invoice. This status means that the entry will be included in the next invoice to be created after the time entry has been completed.
- Billable - Later Invoice. This status means that the entry will not be included in the very next invoice generated, but will appear in the following invoice.
- Not Billiable - Items marked as Not Billable will not be shown on an invoice.
- Invoiced - This item has been included in an invoice. If a time entry has already been invoiced, it's billing status will be Invoiced and you won't be able to edit it.
2. Clicking the Timer button on a Matter.
To create a time entry for the currently active matter, click the Timer button in the top right hand corner of the Matter window.
This will open the Time Sheet and automatically insert details of the Matter.
You can now proceed to enter the Fee Code, Billing Description etc as per the steps outlined in steps 1.3 to 1.7
3. Automatically create Time Sheet entries for active Matters
If you have your User Options set to 'Start Billing Timer Automatcially when a Matter is Made Active', whenever you open a Matter or set a Matter as active, a new time entry will be added to the Time Sheet.