Time and Expense Reviewer

Overview

Time & Expense Reviewer is a restricted view of the Time Entries and Expense Entries screens. It is useful for workflow processing and project management. This review mode is primarily used by project managers (reviewers) responsible for the approval of time and expense entries. It allows editing of time and expense details in the edit mode. If something is wrong, the reviewer can also reject the entries and send a message to the employee. Click to watch this video on reviewing time and expenses in BQE CORE.

You can use the Time & Expense Reviewer screen in many situations, such as:

• When you need to see the time and expense entries awaiting approval
• When you already billed a client and want to just mark all the new time and expense entries as billed
• When you want to see the cost of all employee reimbursable expenses for, say, last month
• When you need an employee to scan through and verify the expense accounts for entries logged, say, last month
• When you want to batch approve all time and expense entries submitted last week
• When you want to run the Update Rates function on all time entries logged last week

The time and expense entry rows are color-coded. They display a colored bar on the left: red indicating a non-billable entry, green indicating a billed entry and gray indicating entries locked for billing.

If you follow a submit-approve workflow in your company for time and expense tracking, you must familiarize yourself with the icons used to indicate different workflow status in BQE CORE.

Field Descriptions

How To

Review Time and Expenses

Edit Time and Expenses

Approve Time and Expenses

Submit Time and Expenses

Batch Update Entries

Assign Time and Expenses to Invoices

Update Rates

Apply Column Settings

Export Time and Expenses

Calculate Overtime

View Reports

Apply Filters

Mark Screen as Favorite

Field Descriptions

Review Time and Expenses

You might want to review your own time and expenses (especially when they are reimbursable) or other employee's time and expenses for approval.

To review a time or an expense entry, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Time & Expense Reviewer screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses.
   
   
   
   
2. Select the Show option: Time & Expenses to view both types of entries. You can also select individual type of entries.
3. Select the Period from the drop-down for which you want to review the entries.
4. Next, choose a workflow status such as Submitted, Approved, Rejected, etc. from the Status drop-down to review entries based on their status.
5. In the list view, review all the relevant entries.
6. Select the entries on the grid and click Actions to choose any batch action on them.
7. If you want to view the details of a single entry or edit it, click Detail on that row.
8. It takes you to the Edit Entry screen where you can make the desired changes and click Save.

Edit Time and Expenses

To edit a time or an expense entry, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Time & Expense Reviewer screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses.
   
   
   
   
2. In the list view, select an entry that you want to edit and click Detail on that row.
3. Depending on the type of entry (time or expense), it displays the Edit Entry screen. Enter more details or make your changes.
   
   
4. Click Save.

Approve Time and Expenses

As a part of the workflow, CORE allows you to approve the time and expense entries submitted to you. Only billable and approved entries are available for billing even though CORE charges all entries against the budget or contract amount. Approving time and expense entries prevents modification by any user with limited security permissions. You can also reject the submitted time and expense entries for any reason. However, only submitted or forwarded entries can be rejected, not the approved ones. In case of email notifications, CORE allows managers to quickly approve or reject the workflow entries or items submitted by employees directly from the emails.

In CORE, you can select multiple time and expense entries and change their workflow status (e.g., from submitted to approved) in a batch. The workflow update process takes some time when there are many records to process. To keep you informed, CORE displays a detailed message on the Time & Expense Reviewer screen. This message auto-refreshes every 15 seconds to provide the status or you can click Refresh Status to manually refresh it. CORE ensures that you receive notifications when the records are successfully updated, as well as when some or all records are not processed successfully. On clicking the notification, CORE takes you to the relevant screen displaying a list of entries and their status.

Note: Company managers or owners might want their time and expenses to be approved automatically. You can select the auto-approve options for time and expense entries at the global level for all or at the project level for selected projects.

To approve a time or an expense entry, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Time & Expense Reviewer screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses.
   
   
   
   
2. Select the Show option: Time & Expenses to view both entries. Else, you can choose the individual type of entries.
3. Next, select the Period from the drop-down for which you want to approve the entries. Click Apply.
4. In the list view, review the submitted entries. You can show the Submitted column using More > Show/Hide Columns.
5. Select the entries on the grid and click Actions > Workflow > Approve.
   
   
   
   
6. On the Approve Time and Expense dialog, enter a memo, if needed.
7. Click Approve.

Note: CORE displays a sub-total when the time and expense entries are selected in the list view so that you know what is being sent for approval. The sub-total reflects the total (sum) of the selected time and expense records.

After approving the entries, you have an option to un-approve them by clicking Actions > Workflow > Un-approve. However, you cannot un-approve locked entries.

Submit Time and Expenses

As a part of the workflow, CORE allows you to submit the selected time and expense entries for approval using various options. When time and expense entries are submitted, the supervisor or manager gets notified about these submissions. You cannot submit entries that are already approved. In case of email notifications, CORE allows managers to quickly approve or reject the workflow entries submitted by employees directly from the emails.

To submit a time or an expense entry, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Time & Expense Reviewer screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses.
   
   
   
   
2. Select the Show option: Time & Expenses to view both entries. Else, you can choose the individual type of entries.
3. Next, select the Period from the drop-down for which you want to submit the entries. Click Apply.
4. In the list view, review the entries to submit. You can show the Submit Status column in the grid using More > Show/Hide Columns.
5. Select the entries on the grid and click Actions > Workflow > Submit.
   
   
   
   
6. On the Submit Time and Expense dialog, enter the required information. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
   • Submit To: your manager or a specific person
   • Resource: employee or vendor
   • Type: type of workflow assigned to the submitted time and expense entries, depending on the purpose of the submission. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
   • Memo
7. Click Done.

After submitting the time and expense entries, you have an option to un-submit them by clicking Actions > Workflow > Un-submit.

Batch Update Entries

As long as you have not billed the time and expense entries in CORE, you can delete or edit them. Batch update allows you to edit multiple entries at a time and reset the values to none if the field is not required.

Note: If batch update does not contain workflow updates, then CORE performs a quick, instant update up to a maximum of 5000 records selected at a time. However, if the batch update contains workflow updates, then CORE performs a slower, background update for selected records greater than 150, but a normal batch update for records less than 150. The background update is a time-consuming process because CORE needs to send notifications and emails to inform you when the processing completes.

To update time and expense entries in a batch, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Time & Expense Reviewer screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses.
   
   
   
   
2. Select the entries on the grid that you want to update and click Actions > Batch Update. Using the menu, you can select the total number of records without scrolling all the way to the end of the list, total number of records in view or none of the records.
3. On the Batch Update dialog, select the relevant fields on the Time Entry or Expense Entry tab and then enter new values for them. If you select both time and expense entries on the grid for updating, CORE displays both tabs here; otherwise, it displays just one tab.
4. Check the disclaimer at the bottom and click Update.

You can also check the detailed video on batch updating records in CORE.

Assign Time and Expenses to Invoices

CORE allows you (as billing managers) to mark the time and expense entries as billed and so move them out of the WIP. To manage these, you can also assign the unbilled entries to existing invoices when performing the update (called progress billing) and then mark them as billed.

To assign time and expense entries to an invoice:

1. Open the Time & Expense Reviewer screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses.
   
   
   
   
2. Select the entries on the grid that you want to mark as billed and click Actions > Mark Billed.
3. On the Mark Billed dialog, you have two options:
   • No, mark billed only
   • Yes, assign to invoice
4. Specify the option to assign the selected entries to an invoice. Click Submit.
5. On the Assign Time and Expense to Invoice dialog, you can see the relevant project at the top.
   
   
   
   
6. Select the time and expense entries of that project you want to assign to a single invoice.
7. Next, select the invoice to be linked to the time and expenses. You can also choose an option to update the write-down or mark-down, if any.
8. You can click Skip if you want to load the next set of the project’s un-assigned time and expense entries. Else, click Assign.

The selected entries are linked to the invoices and then marked as billed. The ones you skipped can be just mark as billed, if needed.

Update Rates

There might be situations wherein you forget to use the new fee schedule for the time or expense entries. You can use this option to batch update the rates as well as the classification for all the time or expenses logged, say, last week. You cannot change the rates of locked entries. The rates are updated based on the latest fee schedules or project settings.

To update the rates of time or expense entries, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Time & Expense Reviewer screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses.
   
   
   
   
2. In the list view, select the entries on the grid that you want to update.
3. Click Actions > Update Rates.
4. On the Update Rates dialog, enter the new Bill Rate and Cost Rate. Else, you can let CORE use the current rates. The bill rate change applies to time entries only.
5. You can also choose to update the classification of these entries accordingly.
6. Check the disclaimer at the bottom and click Update to apply the changes.

Apply Column Settings

You can configure fields or columns that appear on the grid in the list view. You can hide or show columns, and sort the order of columns according to your requirements.

To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open the Time & Expense Reviewer screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses.
   
   
   
   
2. In the list view, click the More menu > Column Settings.
3. On the Column Settings dialog, use the toggle button to show or hide columns. When you toggle a column in the All Columns list to show, it will move the column to the Shown Columns list. Alternatively, toggling a column in the Shown Columns list to hide returns it to the All Columns list.
   
   
4. Click to enable column freezing. The snowflake icon changes color when enabled and the frozen column moves to the Shown Column list.
   You might find it challenging to navigate tables, especially when dealing with a lot of data spread from left to right. To make this easier, CORE allows you to freeze up to 4 columns of your choice, keeping them fixed to the left side of the table as you scroll horizontally. Frozen columns are separated from the rest of the column list until you unfreeze them. You can reorder frozen columns within the list of other frozen columns. When you unfreeze a column, it will return to its default position in the table.
5. You can drag and drop columns to rearrange their order in the grid by clicking and holding on to on the left side of the columns and then drag them to the proper place, as required.
6. You can use Search to start filtering the column list.
7. Click Reset to default to reset column settings.
8. Click Apply to save the changes.

Note: You can resize the column widths on the grid and then reset them, if needed (More > Reset Column Widths). CORE also provides a Best Fit Columns option in that menu.

You can also check the detailed video on navigation and customizing grids in CORE.

Export Time and Expenses

In CORE, you can export time and expense entries to the Comma Separated Values file format. CORE exports data from all available columns and not just the columns visible in the grid.

To export a time or an expense entry to a .CSV file, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Time & Expense Reviewer screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses.
   
   
   
   
2. In the list view, click More > Export as CSV.
3. A .csv export file is created and saved on your system at the default download location, say your desktop. Click to open the spreadsheet.

You can also check the detailed video on exporting data in CORE.

Calculate Overtime

CORE allows you to analyze existing time entries and automatically mark them as overtime using the Overtime Calculator.

To calculate overtime, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Time & Expense Reviewer screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses.
   
   
   
   
2. In the list view, click More > Overtime Calculator.
3. On the Overtime Calculator screen, calculate the overtime for your employees and vendors as needed. Check Overtime Calculator for details.

View Reports

To view a report, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Time & Expense Reviewer screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses.
   
   
   
   
2. In the list view, click More > View Reports.
3. Select a report from the Report List dialog. It opens in the viewer.
4. Preview the report and then choose to export or print it.

You can also check the detailed video on running and managing reports in CORE.

Apply Filters

To view selective data on the grid, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Time & Expense Reviewer screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses.
   
   
   
   
2. In the list view, click on the right.
3. On the Filters panel, select a filter from the drop-down and specify individual records or range.
4. Click Add Filters to specify more filters.
5. When you have finished, click Apply Filter. You can see selective data now.
6. Next, to save the applied filters as your favorite, click Save Filters.
   
   
   
   
7. It opens the Save Filter dialog, where you can select a name for your filter combination and then click Save.
8. In the list view, you can remove the individual filters by clicking on each. To use your favorite filter or disable applied filters temporarily or remove all filters, click next to the Filters icon and select Disable Filters or Clear All, respectively.

You can also check the detailed video on applying filters in CORE.

Note: Use the Draft filter to view entries associated with draft invoices.

Mark Screen as Favorite

You can mark or flag the most often used and important screens in CORE as your favorites up to a maximum of ten. These favorite screens then display separately on the side menu under the Favorites list. You can manage all your favorite screens in CORE from User Settings.

To mark this screen as your favorite, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Time & Expense Reviewer screen from the side menu > Time & Expenses.
   
   
   
   
2. In the list view, click on the top-right.
3. You can access this screen from the side menu under Favorites.

You can also check the detailed video on marking screens as favorite in CORE.