Time Sheet - Enter Data

There are two functions available on this page - entering Time Entries and Fixed Fees

How to enter Time Records

How to enter Fixed Fees

Enter Time Records

To enter time records, from the Time Billing Register, select the 'Enter Time Records' button at the top under the menu bar. It can also be accessed from the Accounting and Finance Module by selecting the 'Enter Time Records' button located under the Time Billing heading.

On the time records page, you are able to enter one entry and submit, or continuously tabbing to the next line to enter more records. You also have the option to edit previous unbilled time by expanded the orange bar at the top of the screen and searching for the time you wish to edit.

 When filling in the time entry, the default date will be today but you can alter this by either selecting the date field and typing or by pressing the '-'or '+' buttons on your keyboard to change the date.The date from one line will copy down to the next time entry line. 

Note: When entering time on time billing, depending on how many times you click, certain things will be selected in the date field.

• If you click once on the date field, it will insert a cursor into where you click.
• If you double click, it will select either the 'day' section or the 'month' section etc. depending on where your cursor is pointing.
• If you triple click the date field, it will select all of the date so that you can write over it all.
  
  
  

The matter number will search the matters that have been created so far as you type either a number or name into it. The task gives you options of what kind of work it was e.g. billable, not billable etc. The fee earner is the initials of the person who completed worked the time being entered.

You can also choose to ‘pin’ a matter if you are entering large amounts of time under one matter. This can be done by filling in the Pinned Matter field above the time entry fields. As long as you have a matter in this field, all your time entries will default to that matter. You can manually override the matter by typing over it.

To stop the matter auto filling, delete the matter typed in the Pinned Matter field.

The rate will be their rate per hour. This may fill automatically if the fee earner has their rates set up. The notes are the description that will appear on the invoice sent to the client so ensure that they have been checked for typos and spelling before submitting your entry.

There are different ways that you can enter in your time entries. The preferred method is to use Units as detailed in the table below. There is however an option to use Hours or Minutes if preferred.

This option can be changed by going Settings > Appliance Settings > Time > Default Time Units

 Units for Time Entries:

Before submitting time you must ensure that each time entry line has been approved, i.e. no missing fields or incorrect data. In order to do this ensure you tab through the fields until a green tick appears at the end of the line. If a line is entered and changes are made, remember to tab off that line.  If a line has not been tabbed off the submit button will appear 'grayed' out. 

After all the information is filled in, the entry will have a green tick  on the far right if every field has been filled in correctly. This also means that the entries have been saved in case you want to leave and edit them later. Returning to the time billing page, the entries that you have saved (green tick) will still be there until you either delete them or submit them. While the records are in this stage, the draft stage, they will still be available for invoicing.

If you see the orange exclamation point  it means that there are fields that are incorrectly filled out e.g. you have not put a description in the notes field and they have not been saved.Red boxes will appear around the fields where the date is invalid or missing. If you navigate away from the page, your browser will tell you that there are unsaved changes on the page before it lets you.

If a time entry has been incorrectly entered or duplicated it can easily be deleted by selecting the cross at the end of the time entry line. 

Time entries can be edited after saving by selecting the time entry > opening it > selecting edit. 

Once the entries are completed (i.e. you have the green tick) and you want to bill them, select the blue ‘submit records’ button on the bottom left. This will make them available for invoicing.

Draft Time Entries:

For any time entries that are over 1 day old and still in the draft status, there will be an information message pop up on the Time Register page to remind you to submit this time.

Enter Fixed Fees

As with all Wise Owl pick lists, hit the down arrow on the item box. 

Fixed fees can be edited though tools and settings icon > settings > appliance settings > time > manage list definitions > time billing fixed fees 

The fixed fees list can also be sorted to have your favourite / most used items appearing at the top of the pick lists by numbering the items in the sort column. The default is that the fixed fees will appear in alphabetical order. 

To enter fixed fees, it is a very similar process to entering time records. You can access it through the Time Billing icon or the Accounting and Finance Module by clicking on the blue ‘Enter Fixed Fees’ button.

There is the same orange search bar at the top that you can expand to search for other fixed fees that you have from last or others that you wish to edit.

When entering a fixed fee, the fields are similar to the time records options. There are however, a few differences. The Item field will give you options for fixed fee activities such as conveyancing. By selecting the item, the amount field will autofill with the prescribed amount for that item. If the amount is different to the default amount specified, simply highlight over the amount and start typing, the amount you type in will override the default.

You will still need to fill out the matter, fee earner and notes fields the same as entering a time record.

As with the Time Entries, you have the option to Pin matters to ensure quicker data entry.

Once you have completed the fixed fee entry and wish to bill it, select the ‘submit records’ button.