When time is assigned to an invoice in Abtrac it is allocated a WIP Assigned date.
This WIP assigned date is the indicator of when the time changed from WIP (Work in Progress) to Billed time.
The WIP assigned date determines whether time is shown in pre-billing and WIP reports.
Understanding what date is chosen when time is assigned to an invoice
The WIP assigned date will follow your preset rules from System Settings > Invoices > Assigning Time to Invoice Lines. There are two options:
- WIP Assigned Date = Invoice date (or Timesheet date, or Current date)
- WIP Assigned Date = Invoice date (always)
WIP Assigned Date = Invoice date (or Current date)
From System Settings > Invoices > Assigning Time to Invoice Lines the default option is that the WIP Assigned date will equal the invoice date or the timesheet line date, or the current date.
WIP Assigned Date = Invoice date
for all timesheet lines with a timesheet date prior to or equal to the invoice date.
WIP Assigned Date = Timesheet line date
for all timesheet lines with a timesheet date within 21 days of the invoice date.
WIP Assigned Date = Current date (the date it is assigned)
for all timesheet lines with a timesheet date beyond 21 days of the invoice date.
Using this option ensures the data shown in historic reports remains consistent with live data in Abtrac.
Example:
An invoice is created with a date of August 31st. Time for August is assigned to the invoice before it is sent to the client. Additional time is assigned to the same invoice in the month of September. Much later time is also assigned in November.
| Current date* | Timesheet line date | Invoice date | WIP Assigned date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Aug | 04 Aug | 31 Aug | 31 Aug |
| 28 Aug | 09 Aug | 31 Aug | 31 Aug |
| 28 Aug | 28 Aug | 31 Aug | 31 Aug |
| 07 Sep | 31 Aug | 31 Aug | 31 Aug |
| 07 Sep | 05 Sep | 31 Aug | 05 Sep |
| 28 Sep | 22 Sep | 31 Aug | 28 Sep |
| 28 Sep | 27 Sep | 31 Aug | 28 Sep |
| 28 Nov | 12 Nov | 31 Aug | 28 Nov |
In these instances with the current rule the WIP Assigned date changes depending on the timing:
- equal to the invoice date for all timesheet lines with a date prior to the invoice date
- equal to the timesheet line date for all timesheet lines assigned within 21 days of the invoice date
- equal to the current date* for all timesheet lines assigned over 21 days after the invoice date
WIP Assigned Date = Invoice date (always)
From System Settings > Invoices > Assigning Time to Invoice Lines there is an option to set the WIP Assigned date to always use the invoice date.
Using this option will affect the data show in historic reports. Previously reported on information shown in historic reports will no differ from live data in Abtrac.
Scenario:
An invoice is created with a date of August 31st. Time for August is assigned to the invoice before it is sent to the client. Additional time is assigned to the same invoice in the month of September. Much later time is also assigned in November.
| Current date* | Timesheet line date | Invoice date | WIP Assigned date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Aug | 04 Aug | 31 Aug | 31 Aug |
| 28 Aug | 09 Aug | 31 Aug | 31 Aug |
| 28 Aug | 28 Aug | 31 Aug | 31 Aug |
| 07 Sep | 31 Aug | 31 Aug | 31 Aug |
| 07 Sep | 05 Sep | 31 Aug | 31 Aug |
| 28 Sep | 22 Sep | 31 Aug | 31 Aug |
| 28 Sep | 27 Sep | 31 Aug | 31 Aug |
| 28 Nov | 12 Nov | 31 Aug | 31 Aug |
In all these instances with the current rule the WIP Assigned date is equal to the invoice date.
Understanding the impact of using WIP Assigned date = Invoice date (always) on pre-billing reports
When using WIP Assigned date = Invoice date(always) your historical reporting information can change.
In the example above a report run for September, October and November will now longer show time for these months as unbilled.
This means for all prebilling reports where “Billable WIP only” is selected, the assigned time above won’t show in reports dated after September 1st.
Any reports that were saved to pdf and used for internal meetings and analysis will no longer reconcile to reports re-run from Abtrac data.
How to view WIP Assigned dates (and the invoices time is assigned to)
Reports that include or exclude WIP
Many reports will indicate time that has been assigned to an invoice using an asterisk.
Other reports will exclude time that is no longer considered work in progress (WIP)
To view WIP assigned dates (and the invoices time has been assigned to) you could start with these reporting options:
Job Details > Analysis
Invoice details > Assigned Time and Disbursements Report
Reports > Assigned Time and Disbursements
How to edit WIP Assigned dates
Changing WIP dates will affect data in any reports that were previously saved to pdf and used for internal meetings and analysis. It will also affect your current WIP reports.
Some businesses do prefer to adjust these WIP Assigned dates, typically when unbilled work reports are including data that has been assigned outside 21 days from the invoice date.
If for some reason the WIP Assigned dates need changed an administrator with appropriate access rights can edit these dates from the Bulk Edit timesheets module.
You’ll need to check your user control settings for this screen, and ensure you can view the invoice number, timesheet line date, and WIP Assigned date columns.
Abtrac KB # 2014