Recording & Tracking Time

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When Employees track their work time in PensionPro, firms are able to evaluate the time spent on plan activity and client interactions, as opposed to other non-client-facing duties. By understanding how to enter Time Slips and learning how to use the Time Tracking feature efficiently, managers and users alike can evaluate and streamline their workflow using built-in reports, making their operations more efficient.

 

Tier Availability: Team, Business

 

Article Contents

 

 

 

Setting Up Time Tracking

 

Firms looking to implement Time Tracking for the first time should follow the items in this section, which will cover creating the appropriate List Values and enabling optional firm-wide settings.

 

 

Adding Time Codes

 

Requires Security Rights: Maintenance

 

First, Time Codes will need to be defined for the firm. Time Codes represent the various activities that an Employee can be engaged in throughout their day—from performing various administrative activities to quality review and client outreach. These can also include non-billable time, such as for meetings, breaks, and training. These codes are often broken into categories of related activities for ease of use.

 

To add a new Time Code:

 

  1. Navigate to Maintenance > Time Codes. The Time Codes grid opens in a new tab.
  2. Select Addadd.png at the top-right of the grid. The corresponding window displays.
  3. Enter the Name and a Description.
    • The Name will be the code that Employees will see when adding Time Slips.
    • The Description will be shown alongside the code when adding a Time Slip, and should indicate what activity this Time Code is used for.
  4. (optional) Select a Billing Code.
    • If used, Billing Codes must be established prior to adding the Time Code. Refer to the next section, Adding Billing Codes.
    • A Billing Code can be used with as many Time Codes as needed.
  5. If the activity represented by this Time Code should be charged to clients, select Billable.
  6. Select Save.

 

 

Adding Billing Codes

 

Requires Security Rights: Maintenance

 

Each Time Code can optionally be assigned a Billing Code, which will help correlate the Time Code to an appropriate charge when using an external billing software. These codes are added to PensionPro as List Values, and should match any codes used by the firm's existing billing practices.

 

To add a new Billing Code:

 

  1. Navigate to Maintenance > List Values. The List Values tab opens.
  2. In the Views list on the left, expand Core > General, then select the Billing Code view. The corresponding grid displays.
  3. Select Addadd.png at the top-right of the grid. The Add Billing Time Code window displays.
  4. Enter the Display Name and Description.
  5. Select Save.

 

 

Time Tracking Preferences

 

Requires Security Rights: Maintenance

 

PensionPro includes a number of firm-level preferences to customize the behavior of the Time Tracking feature for all Employees. The below views can be found within Maintenance > Preferences > PensionPro.

 

General

 

  • Include Completed Projects on Time Entry: Allows users adding a Time Slip to link it to a Project that was previously completed.
  • Show Timeslip Prompt: When a user completes a Project Task, a dialog will ask if they entered a Time Slip for that activity. If the user selects No, the Task does not complete, and they have the opportunity to submit the Time Slip before continuing.

 

Data Security

 

The following preferences extend the functionality provided by the Add/Edit Other Employee Timeslips Security Right:

 

  • Allow Deletion of Other Employees' Timeslips: Users with the above Security Right can delete Time Slips linked to other Employees.
  • Allow Editing of Other Employees' Timeslips: Users with the above Security Right can edit Time Slips linked to other Employees.

 

 

Adding Time Entries

 

To add a new Time Slip and record time worked:

 

  1. Select Addadd.png at the top-right of the Time Dashboard. The Add Time Slip window displays.
    • Alternately, use the Timeclock.png option found in the PensionPro header on every page.
  2. Select a Time Code based on the type of work performed.
  3. Enter the Time Worked and Work Date.
  4. (optional) Add a detailed Description of the work performed.
  5. (optional) Link the Time Slip to a Plan.
  6. (optional) Determine if the time worked is Billable to a client.
  7. Select Save.

 

Note: Users with the Add/Edit Others Timeslips Security Right can also edit the Assigned To field to add this Time Slip on behalf of another Employee.

 

 

Linking Time Slips to a Plan

 

Time Slips can optionally be linked to a specific Plan, Plan Cycle, Project, and even a specific Task. This can help clearly identify what the performed work was servicing.

 

When completing the Add Time Slip window, use the Plan field to search for and select the Plan to link the Time Slip to. Once a Plan is selected, additional fields for Project, Task Grouping, Task, and Plan Cycle will be displayed.

 

If a Project tab or Plan Cycle tab is open, using the Timetime.png option found in the tab header—to the far right of the Project or Plan Cycle name—will display the Add Time Slip window like usual, but will also automatically complete the Plan, Project, Task Grouping, Task, Plan Cycle, and/or Time Code fields based on what information is currently in focus.

 

 

Automatically Calculating Time Worked

 

When Employees fall into the rhythm of adding Time Slips following each activity performed throughout the day, PensionPro can speed up the process by automatically calculating the amount of time that was worked. This can help users avoid the necessity of manually tracking start/end times for tasks and mentally converting them into an amount.

 

At the bottom of the Add Time Slip window, PensionPro displays the following information:

 

  • Start Time: The beginning of the workday
  • Elapsed Time: The time that has passed since the Start Time
  • Today's Time: The amount of time that has been accounted for in today's Time Slips
  • Remaining Time: Any Elapsed Time that has not yet been accounted for

 

Each user can set their own Start Time by typing it into the field, or using the icon on the right to select a time. The remaining fields will adjust appropriately based on the Start Time.

 

To the right of the Time Worked field is a Set Time Worked option. This will populate the Time Worked with the Remaining Time value. This means that if Time Slips have been added regularly throughout the day, the Time Worked field will be populated with the exact amount of time that has elapsed since the last Time Slip was entered.

 

 

Using the Time Dashboard

 

The Time Dashboard offers a centralized location for viewing, adding, and editing Time Slips. Here, Time Slips can be reviewed regardless of whether they were created today, last week, or six months ago.

 

To access the Time Dashboard, navigate to Dashboards > Time. By default, the grid displays any Time Slips that have been entered for today's date. Hovering over an item in the grid displays the Editedit.png and Deletedelete.png options on the right-hand side.

 

Although the Time Dashboard initially shows Time Slips that match today's date, other time periods can be chosen using the Time Entries dropdown above the grid. Some built-in options are available—such as Yesterday, This Week, and Last Week—or Custom Day and Custom Range may be selected to help fine-tune results. Custom Date Ranges may not exceed 60 days.

 

Users with the Add/Edit Other Employees Security Right can use the Employees dropdown above the grid to view and manage Time Slips on behalf of another Employee.

 

Why can't I edit or delete this particular Time Slip? Others work fine.

The Time Slip in question has likely been Reviewed for Billing, in which case it can no longer be edited.

 

 

Marking Time as Reviewed for Billing

 

Requires Security Rights: Access Power Tools

 

One of the primary benefits to recording time worked is to make sure that all time spent on behalf of a client was billed correctly. In PensionPro a Time Slip can be marked as Reviewed for Billing to indicate it has been properly accounted for, which can be reflected in select reports. Doing so also prevents any further edits from being made to the Time Slip.

 

Time Slips are marked via the Time For Billing Power Tool, located under Power Tools > Billing > Time For Billing. This allows batches of Time Slips to be marked at the same time. Use the below instructions to assist in completing the Power Tool.

 

Step 1: Options

 

This step contains a single item, which determines whether the Power Tool should mark or unmark Time Slips as billed. Set this option as desired, then select Next.

 

Steps 2 & 3: Filters & Selections

 

In Step 2, add any extra columns to be included in the grid in Step 3, and add any filters to reduce the resulting dataset. A useful column here is Work Date, which can then be used as a filter to only return Time Slips entered for a set period of time—say, a week or a billing cycle. For a more in-depth explanation of this process, refer to the article Column Selections & Filters. Select Next to continue.

 

Step 3 will return the Time Slips matching the criteria set in Step 2. Select any Time Slips to apply the changes to, then select Next to continue.

 

Steps 4 & 5: Review & Finish

 

The Review step shows a summary of the changes that will be made; select Execute to complete the Power Tool. The changes will be applied immediately, and a summary of the results will be displayed on the Finish step.

 

 

Time Reports

 

Requires Security Rights: Management

 

PensionPro includes a number of built-in reporting options for viewing and exporting data based on entered Time Slips. These reports can be accessed by navigating to the Reporting > Management Reports > Time Reports category. For more details about each report available here, refer to the Time Reports section of the article PensionPro Reports.