Entering and submitting timesheets
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Topic Last Modified: 2016-11-14
The events and number of hours in a Timesheet are a culmination of how an individual’s time was spent for a period. For organizations, this time is a representation of where the resource is allocated and how much effort is given to the project.
After planning, understanding, and configuring the various Timesheet properties, team members are equipped with the administrative time categories, classifications, and settings to document their utilization and submit the utilization for approval.
Depending on the type of Timesheet that the user selects, the entries that are listed and the tracking and reporting units vary. However, most Timesheets are comprised of hours for the following utilization.
Administrative Time
Assignments or Projects
Unverified Line Items
In addition to the actual hours for the items that are listed above, a work day may entail recording the following utilization.
Overtime
Non-Billable
Overtime Non-Billable
Administrative Time
Whether Administrative Time is auto-generated or is manually added through Plan Administrative Time, Administrative Time is recorded in the bottom half of a Timesheet. The Project Name field distinguishes Administrative Time from assignments with the Administrative value. Task name/Description, Comment and Billing Category provide a further description of the specific Administrative Time entry.
Approval Status field
The Approval Status field is composed of status indicators for Administrative Time categories that have been set by the system administrator to require approval by the Timesheet Manager (for example, vacations), when planned in advance. After the user enters hours and clicks Recalculate, Save, or Save and Submit, the Approval Status changes to one of the following colors.
Green. Indicates that the Administrative Time category has been approved. By default, the approval status is initially viewed in green.
Yellow. Indicates that the Administrative Time category is pending approval.
Red. Indicates that the Administrative Time category has been rejected.
The Approval Status field in the Timesheet is updated after the Timesheet Manager approves or rejects the Administrative Time. If the Administrative time request is approved, the Approval Status returns to Green. If the Administrative time request is rejected, the Approval Status is Red and the lines can be removed so that utilization can be submitted.
Timesheet Assignments
If a Timesheet that uses Current with Tasks is created, the current assignments with reported actual hours and planned work are auto-inserted into the timesheet. If a Timesheet is created with No prepopulation, assignments must be added by using the Add Lines feature.
A list of the tasks that are assigned to a resource is visible through Add Lines. This list does not adhere to the Current Tasks filter. The assignments are viewed by Project Name and are inserted into the Timesheet.
For assignments, Billing Category corresponds to the pre-defined Timesheet Classifications. Timesheets that are created with Current Tasks automatically have a Billing Category of Standard; otherwise, the category was added through Add Lines where the user must select another Billing Category.
In the time-phased data, the team member can elect to manually enter the hours that are worked on a task. Other options to automatically populate actual time that is spent on an assignment include Replace Actual with Planned if the hours are the same as the plan or Import Task Progress from the My Tasks page. If the My Tasks page is used to enter progress for assignments, a Timesheet automatically populates the actual time when it is created.
Unverified Line
Unverified Line items are the least likely to be used and thus the last items that are tracked. New entries may be required to report work on a recent assignment or an unplanned job. In those instances, unverified line items are added through Add Lines. The entries are unverified because they are not part of an existing project plan or a predefined Administrative Time Category. The Project Name shows as Unverified on the Timesheet.
Unverified Line items in a Timesheet are not updated to a project plan, because no project plan is associated with the unverified line item. However, the line item is recorded as part of a team member's utilization and is viewed by the Timesheet Manager as part of the timesheet approval process. The Timesheet Manager can monitor unverified line items and can consider the items' involvement for future project plans. This information is also available in the Reporting Database.
Total utilization
Recalculate is used to obtain a Total for the time that is entered during the timesheet period. The total that is entered per day or week is a sum of the following time: Administrative Time, Unverified Lines, Task Assignments or Project assignments, Overtime, Non-Billable, and Overtime Non-Billable.
Team members can view the Total Hours for the period on the Timesheet List.
Save and Submit
Team members can track hours daily and can save changes each day without submitting the hours to the Timesheet Manager. Team members submit the Timesheet for approval by clicking Save and Submit at the end of the timesheet period, start of the next timesheet period, or arranged deadline.
After team members click Save and Submit, a Submit Timesheet dialog appears. The Submit Timesheet dialog automatically populates who receives the Timesheet for approval. The Timesheet Manager who is designated for the user is listed.
The approver is the team member by default, unless another approver is assigned. The team member can select a new approver unless the organization selects the option for Fixed Approval Routing. This dialog can also display with only the Comment field, if Fixed Approval Routing is in force. The Administrator sets this option in Server Settings Timesheet Settings and Defaults.
Multiple Timesheet Managers can review the Timesheet before it reaches a final approver. The Next Approver field on the Timesheet List or in the Timesheet Header Data shows who the Timesheet has been submitted to. The team member can click Browse to select the Timesheet Manager. If a Timesheet Manager is out of the office, another manager can approve the Timesheet in the interim.
The Status field in the Timesheet Header shows Submitted if the Timesheet is pending approval. A status of Acceptable appears when the Timesheet has been accepted by a user without approval authority and Approved appears when the timesheet has been approved.
Timesheet Tables
The Timesheet is saved to the MSP_Timesheet_Actuals table in the ProjectServer_Published database as team members enter utilization. The Timesheet is also converted to the MSP_Timesheet -Actuals table in the ProjectServer_Reporting database for use in reporting features such as Data Analysis, Enterprise Reports, or third party.
The data is entered is in a proposed state until the Timesheet is approved. The time that is entered can still be modified. For example, a user with Adjust Timesheet permissions or a team member who makes corrections after the Timesheet was rejected can continue to make changes to the Timesheet.
Import Timesheet to the My Tasks page
The progress that is entered for assignments must be updated in the My Tasks page. This is accomplished with the Import Timesheet feature on the Actions menu for the My Tasks page.
The Import Timesheet feature ensures that progress is entered in the My Tasks page. Progress is reflected in the project plan when the team member submits the assignment to the Project Manager for a Task Update.
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