Creating Bulk Time Entries

As well as creating individual time via the + button and selecting Time, and with the Add Time button in the drawer, you can also use the Bulk Time Entry function to create draft time for emails and documents.

The FYI Bulk Time Entry feature allows users to add draft time for selected emails and documents, then review and submit them in bulk.

The draft time entries are created for emails and documents that you have selected in a list. Time entries are created for the date the email/document was last modified.

For practices on the FYI Elite plan, Bulk Time Entries will not be created for jobs where the Job State has Lock Time & Disbursements enabled. Refer to Managing Job States.

Creating Bulk Time Entries

1. In a list, select the documents you have been working on and want to create draft time for. A useful list to do this from is Home - My Recent.
   
   The Home - My Recent list displays as follows.

   

   The My Recent tab displays by default the emails and documents you have created or modified in the last five days. You can change this by filtering the list on the My Last Edit date. For date columns, you can use the selector to quickly set the Fixed or Relative date options. Refer also to Filtering on a Date in Sorting and Filtering Document Lists.
   
   
   Note: The Modified Date and Modified By fields are only updated if you make changes to a document itself. If you make changes such as to the Filing or Workflow details, this does not update the Modified Date and Modified By. Changes made to the body of a Draft email or to a Phone Call, File Note or Meeting do not update the Modified Date and Modified By, but these details are recorded in the Activity section of the document drawer.
   
   

2. When the required documents are selected, click Time Entry in the toolbar. Or right-click and select Time Entry from the toolbar pop-up menu (refer to Using the Document Action Tool Bar).
   
   The Bulk Create Time Entries displays with Apply to set to the number of selected documents.
   

3. Click Run.
   
   Draft time entries are created for the selected emails and documents, and the default rate applied. They display in your Home - My Time along with any time entries for the relevant day that you have already created. A message displays and this includes a link that you can click to go to your My Time tab.
   
   Note: If you run the Bulk Time Entry a second time for the same document this will create the time entries again. If you have already added time to a document, and that document is included in your selection to create draft time for, a draft time entry will be created for that document.

Displaying your Time Entries

Default Details

For Bulk Created Time Entries:

• Date is set as the date the email/document was last modified. 
• Time shows as "No time entered".
• Status is set as "Draft".
• Job is set as the job selected for the relevant email or document (if available).
• Notes are added as the document type followed by the document name. Notes are displayed when selecting WIP entries on an Invoice, and can be added to the Invoice Description. 

The Draft Time entries display in your Home - My Time tab. Refer also to Displaying and Updating Time. Draft entries are included in the count shown in the My Time tab.

Any information that is incomplete in the Time entries is highlighted and shows what needs to be added in the colour yellow.

• The Time for all the Bulk Time entries is shown in yellow as "No time entered". It is automatically set as 00:00 hours in the Update Time Drawer.
  You can add this directly in the Time field in the My Time list or in the Update Time drawer.
  
  
• If there was no Job selected in the email or document that the time entry was created for, this shows with both "No job selected". 

Practices Integrated with Xero Practice Manager

For practices integrated with Xero Practice Manager, if there are no XPM tasks for the selected job, it will display "No XPM Task selected". You can change the Job to one that has an XPM Task in the Update Time drawer.

1. Click anywhere other than the Time or Notes field of the relevant entry to open the Update Time drawer.
   
   
2. Edit the details and add the Job and/or the XPM Task.
   
   You can add part of the incomplete information from the Update Time drawer, such as just the Time, and click Update and then complete the Job and/or XPM Task later, before submitting.
   
   
3. You can also delete the draft time without a Job or XPM Task by clicking the drop-down next to the Update button and selecting Delete.

In bulk-created time entries, the XPM Task is allocated as follows:

• If your practice does not have XPM Workflow Jobs enabled, and a Job is selected for the email or document:
  • If there is only one XPM Task for the Job, this is automatically selected for the Bulk Time entry.
  • If there is more than one XPM Task for the Job, the first XPM Task for the selected Job displays.
• If your practice has XPM Workflow Jobs enabled, and a Billing Job is selected for the email or document:
  • If there is only one XPM Workflow Job for the Billing Job, this is automatically selected as the XPM Task for the Time entry.
  • If there is more than one Workflow Job for the Billing Job, the first XPM Workflow Job for the selected Job displays.
• If your practice has XPM Workflow Jobs enabled, and an XPM Workflow Job is selected for the email or document, the Time entry is recorded against the Workflow Job.

When displaying the Time Entries on your Home - My Time tab, the XPM Task can be changed if needed by displaying the Update Time drawer for the entry and selecting the XPM Task.

Updating the Time Entry to Add Hours and Select a Job

Before you can submit a time entry that has been bulk-created, you will need to add the hours and select a job. You should also review the Time Type and Rate selected to ensure the time is correctly billed to the job.

Adding the Hours

You can add the hours directly in your My Time list, by clicking the Time field.

Enter the time taken and press Enter.

Time can be added using the hours and minutes format (hh:mm), a whole number, or as a decimal. Decimals will be converted using 6-minute increments. For example, to add 12 minutes, you could enter 00:12, 12, 0012, or 0.2. Once entered, the time will be converted to display using the hours and minutes format (hh:mm). Refer to Time Overview.

When hours have been entered, the Submit button displays for that entry. You should only click submit once you have confirmed all other fields.

Using the Update Time Drawer

Note: For practices on FYI Elite plan, when selecting a Job, both Standard Jobs and Workflow Jobs will display in the Job drop-down. Billing Jobs will be hidden to provide efficiency when creating a Time entry. 

To make any changes to the Draft Time entry, click the Update button (or click anywhere other than Time or Notes) to open the Update Time drawer where you can make any changes to the Timesheet details.

You can also set the Status to "Submit" from the Update Time drawer.

The following is an example of Updating a Time Entry for a practice on the Elite plan.

After making the changes, click Update to save the changes.

When the Update Time drawer is open, you can click on another draft Time Entry in the list to display it and leave the drawer open.

At the top of the Time drawer, the Back button can be used to re-display in turn the previously selected Time entries email or document in that list.

Note: When the drawer is open, you can also display a different date and select a different Time entry.
Update Time is only displayed if the Time entry has not been submitted.

Updating the Time Type and Rate

The Time Type and Rate can only be managed by an FYI Admin. Refer to Practice Management Sync.

Summary of Submitted and Draft Totals for the Day

Next to the date, a summary displays the total time that has been submitted for that day, the total of any Draft hours that have been entered and a count of the number of Draft entries, either incomplete or ready to submit.

As you add the hours to the time entries, this summary allows you to keep a running check on the total hours you have entered for a date.

Deleting Draft Time

To delete a draft time without hours entered, click the drop-down next to the Update button and select Delete.

In the same way, to delete a draft that you have entered hours for, click the button next to Submit and select Delete.

Submitting the Time

You can submit each time entry individually, for example, after entering the time, by clicking Submit for each.

Alternatively, you can add all the times and make any other changes but leave the entries in draft. This allows you to check the total time for the day.

When you are happy with the time for the day, click the Submit Drafts button at the top of the day panel.

This changes the Status to "Submitted" for those time entries. Any entries that still need to be completed are left as Draft.

The Submit Drafts button is only enabled if there are draft time entries, there are entries for that day that have hours entered, and the entries have the required information e.g. Job.

The chargeable time will be included in the WIP calculation when the next Progress or Final invoice is created.