Creating activity slips

Activity slips are used to record time-based activities performed for a customer and form the basis for the invoices that you send your customer. You can invoice the full amount for the activity or invoice part of it, leaving the balance for a later date.

Time billing gives you three options for creating an activity slip:

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create a single activity slip, which allows you to enter the most detail about the activity slip

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create multiple activity slips, which allows you to enter multiple activity slips at once for an employee, while not entering quite as much detail for each

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create a timesheet, which allows you to enter the hours per day an employee spends to complete work for clients and customers, while automatically creating an activity slip. For more information on timesheets, see ‘Timesheets’ on page 120.

When you create an activity slip, you can select two cards—one for the employee or supplier who performed the activity for your company and the other for the customer for whom your company performed the activity. If you are creating an activity slip for a chargeable activity, you must enter both cards.

If you pay employees for time billing activities performed, you can automatically create a timesheet entry when you select the Include Hours on Timesheet option on the activity slip, and assign an hourly payroll category. You can also record activity hours in the Enter Timesheet window. For more information on timesheets, see ‘Timesheets’ on page 120.

To create an activity slip

Enter details about the activity such as the employee name, the customer name, the activity ID number and the number of units to be charged.

note : Units refers to time billing units

The Units field shows time billing units as you have set them up in the System tab of the Preferences window. Therefore, one billable unit of 15 minutes will need to be entered as four billable units to make one hour.

In the Adjustment fields, enter any adjustments to the hours or the amount of the activity. You need to enter adjustment units or amounts as negative numbers if you want to indicate fewer hours or a lesser amount.

note : If you change the view, the activity slip will be recorded

If you click the Multiple Activity Slips tab while creating an activity slip and you entered the minimum required information in the Activity Slip view, the activity slip will be recorded before the new tab appears.

In the Already Billed field, enter any hours or amounts you have already billed.

For example, if you have billed the customer on an invoice for part of this activity, either enter the number of hours already billed (and the amount field will automatically update) or the amount you have already billed them for. Your entry is subtracted from hours and amounts in the Billable fields. The total units and amount that haven’t been billed appear in the Left to Bill fields.

note : Billing an activity slip

‘Billing’ an activity slip means recording a time billing invoice for the activity slip. If you enter units or an amount in the Already Billed fields of the Enter Activity Slip window, the amount won’t appear in the sales journal or in the activity’s history. It will only be recorded for the activity slip.

If you pay the employee for the activity performed (hourly activities only):

Select the Include Hours on Timesheet option.

Enter an hourly wage payroll category in the Payroll Category field.

The activity hours (units) recorded for this activity are assigned to this wage payroll category on the employee’s timesheet.

note : Activity hours are assigned to timesheets on the activity slip date

When you record the activity slip, the activity hours are assigned to the employee’s timesheet on the date entered on the activity slip. If you want to record activity hours over a number of days or pay periods, you need to record the hours in the Enter Timesheets window. See ‘Processing your payroll’ on page 123.

Click Record.

If you entered a chargeable activity on the activity slip, the activity becomes available for billing in the Prepare Time Billing Invoice window.

To create an activity slip using the timer

The Enter Activity Slip window has a timer that allows you to record the time you spend performing an activity. When you have completed the activity, the information is already in the Enter Activity Slip window, eliminating extra data entry.

The timer appears on activity slips for hourly activities only.

To use the timer, you must leave the Enter Activity Slip window open until completion of the activity. You can still use other programs or access other windows during this time.

Go to the Time Billing command centre and click Enter Activity Slip. The Enter Activity Slip window appears.

Enter the employee name, date and customer name.

In the Activity field, type or select an hourly activity. The timer fields appear at the bottom of the window.

Click Start to start the timer. If you don’t enter a start time in the Start Time field, your computer’s current system time appears, and the timer starts incrementing the time in the Elapsed Time field.

note : Entering a start time that is before the current system time

If you enter a start time that is before the current system time, the difference will be added to the elapsed time measured by the timer. For example, if you entered 8:00 a.m. in the Start Time field and then clicked Start at 9:00 a.m., 1:00:00 will appear in the Elapsed Time field and the time calculated by the timer will be added to that amount.

Leave the Enter Activity Slip window open as you perform the activity.

When you have completed the activity or want to pause the timer, click Stop. The current system time appears in the Stop Time field. The number of billing units corresponding to the elapsed time appears automatically in the Units field.

You can edit the start and stop times if you want. The entries in the Actual Units and Elapsed Time fields will be updated automatically.

You can round your timer entries in the Units field automatically. See ‘Setting time billing preferences’ on page 143.

If you want to resume timing an activity, click Start again. The entry in the Stop Time field will be cleared. The timer will continue incrementing, starting from your current elapsed time.

If you pay the employee for the activity performed (hourly activities only):

Select the Include Hours on Timesheet option.

Enter an hourly wage payroll category in the Payroll Category field that appears.

The activity hours (units) recorded for this activity are assigned to this payroll category on the employee’s timesheet.

note : Activity hours are assigned to timesheets on the activity slip date

When you have completed the timed activity, click Record.

If you entered a chargeable activity on the activity slip, the activity becomes available for billing in the Prepare Time Billing Invoice window.

To reset the timer

Click Clear at any time to clear the Elapsed Time, Start Time, Stop Time and Units fields.