This article describes various tables and settings that need to be in place to enable Timesheets and control the features of the tool.
Timesheet Periods
Introducing Timesheet Periods
All timesheets are entered relating to a specific Timesheet Period representing a calendar week. A master table of Timesheet Periods allows control to set periods being Open or Closed for timesheet entry.
To access the Timesheet Periods navigate to the Timesheets area (bottom left), and click on the Periods link.
Automation of Timesheet Period Creation/Status Control
Timesheet periods are created automatically by the system, and the default window of open periods is equally controlled through an automated process.
Editing Timesheet Periods
Timesheet periods cannot be added manually as they are created by the automatic process. However, they can be edited by the timesheet administrator in order to control status:
Set the following as appropriate for each Team Member:
| Field | Comment |
| Period Status | Set to 'Open' or 'Closed'. If closed, timesheets relating to this period can not be edited in any way. |
| Locked | Set to 'Yes' to 'lock' the Period Status so it won't be updated by the automated background process. By example, this will allow you to keep a period 'Open' despite this falling into the historical period to be closed automatically as per the 'Close Period Older Than (Weeks)' parameter |
Timesheets Team Member Configuration
Each Team Member who is to enter timesheets needs to be individually set up for this.
It is possible to make timesheet entry available for only a subset of Team Members while others do not enter timesheet (with actual hours for those most likely captured by each project owner, typing those straight into the Resource Demand grid of their project).
In order to set up a Team Member for timesheet entry, maintain the Team Member record and click on the Timesheets tab:
| Field | Comment |
| Enters Timesheets | Set to "Yes" to enable Timesheets for each individual. |
| Auto Approve Timesheets | Set to "Yes" to configure Auto Approval for this Team Member's Timesheets. This will bypass the Approvals and set all Entries to "Approved" immediately on submission. |
| Is Timesheet Manager | Set to "Yes" if this Team Member will be able to Approve Timesheets where they are a) Identified as another Team Member's Manager and b) The other Team Member's Auto Approval is not "Yes". |
| Timesheet Manager | Enter the Team Member identified as this Team Member's Manager or the person who approves their Timesheets. |
| Allow Impersonation | Set this to "Yes" if Timesheets can be entered on behalf of this Team Member by their Manager. |
Timesheets Activities
All timesheet actuals are entered against Timesheet Activities which need to be set up in their own table. Activities allows us to break down actual work into meaningful categories for reporting and analysis.
We recommend that you keep the list of activities to a minimum as any activity you create will add to the volume of rows in timesheets, making timesheet entry more arduous.
Timesheet Activity Category 'Project' vs 'Administrative'
A key category for Timesheet Activities is whether they are 'Project' or 'Administrative'. Use this as guidance to create and categorise activities appropriately.
| Category 'Project' | Category 'Administrative' | |
| Purpose: | Defines individual activity types to classify work within Projects. | For activity types that capture work not related to project/programme records. |
| Timesheet display: | Repeated as timesheet rows underneath each project listed in the timesheet. | Shown once as timesheet rows in the Administrative (non-project) grouping within the timesheet |
| Examples: | Project Meetings, Management, Project Delivery | Sickness, Holiday, Support |
| Control: |
We can control what projects show up in a user's timesheet (through resource assignment), however within each project we cannot limit which 'Project' activity row they choose for time entry. All 'Project' type Activities are available for all projects. |
All timesheet users can pick any 'Administrative' activity for time entry. |
Accessing Timesheet Activities table
Navigate to Timesheet Activities via the menu link in the Timesheets area of the application.
Timesheet Activity Form
Timesheet Activities have the following fields:
| Field | Comment |
| Name | The name of the activity |
| Category |
Choose 'Project' or 'Administrative' as explained above |
| Work Type |
Used to classify timesheet activities as either 'Working' or 'Non Work'. |
| Always Display |
Set to 'Yes' if you want this activity to be shown by default when the system generates the rows for a timesheet. This should be applied for the most common activities. If set to 'No' then the user will need to manually add the activity to the timesheet as needed. |
Initial Timesheet Parameter Set Up
Various parameter settings need to be in place to activate Timesheets in your environment and control various features.
Navigate to the Administration area (bottom left), and click on the Settings link. Within Settings navigate to the Timesheets tab.
The following explains the fields in this form:
| Field | Comment |
| Enabled | Set this to 'Yes' in order to use Timesheets. |
| Units |
This is the unit of measure for values entered in timesheets. Choose 'Hours' or 'Days'. |
| Max Daily Value |
The value entered here will be validated by the system so that Timesheet users cannot save a timesheet with a daily total exceeding this value. |
| Hours per Day | If timesheet Units is 'Hours', then this value will be used to convert Hours to Days. |
| Allow Impersonation | Set this to 'Yes' to allow impersonation in the system, i.e. the ability for timesheet managers to enter timesheets on behalf of Team Members. |
| Entry for Approved Demand Only |
Projects show up in a Team Member's timesheet if those projects show demand for the Team Member in the relevant month (see also here). This setting determines if demand must have been approved via the Demand Approval process for the project to show up in the timesheet. Set to 'Yes' and only projects with approved Resource Demand will feed through to timesheets. If set to 'No', then even unapproved Resource Demand will trigger the project to show in timesheets. |
| Owner Dispute Allowed |
Set to 'Yes' to enable the Dispute feature for project managers If set to 'No' then Dispute will be hidden. |
| Create Periods by (Weeks) |
Set this to the number of Active Timesheet Periods (weeks) automatically created by the background process. For Example: If this is set to 4, there will be 4 records available in advance of today's date, one for each week. NOTE: Period dates always start on a Monday. |
| Open Periods by (Weeks) |
Set this to the number of Active Timesheet Periods (weeks) automatically set to Open by the background flow. For example: If this is set to 6, there will by default be 6 open periods counting back from the newest date. |
| Close Periods Older Than (Weeks) |
Timesheet periods in the past will automatically be closed, controlled by this value. |
| Working Days |
Defines the working days to show in the timesheet by default, e.g. set this to "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday" for a standard implementation. |