Bulk Edit Timesheets

This screen is useful when you need to update timesheet details in bulk, it eliminates the need to open and edit the individual users’ timesheets.

This timesheet maintenance screen is most typically used in the following situations:

  • Updating Employee rates
  • Editing Stage/Task or Activities that have been incorrectly assigned
  • Changing the job code an employee is assigning time to
  • To check if/when timesheets have been billed and
  • To check which invoice the WIP has been assigned to
  • To obtain data not available in performance reports for specific employees, in particular, to view timesheet data for employees who are no longer current.
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Assigning time from multiple jobs to one invoice

It is possible to assign multiple jobs/projects to an invoice where a client has multiple jobs/projects belonging to them.

You use this feature to write off time or to create a single invoice with multiple jobs.

  • Create a new invoice or load an invoice for a client that has multiple jobs/projects. Go to Invoices >> Load Invoices
  • One job will be selected to start with. This will be the ‘master job’ for the invoice.
  • You can select a subsequent job to assign to the invoice, using the combo box (shown below).
  • With that new job selected, create a new invoice line and assign any time to the new invoice line.
    • The line could be totally blank i.e. no narration and no amount assigned
    • Or the line can have amounts and narrations as per a standard invoice

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Splitting Invoices

Sometimes a job/project needs to be split and invoiced to multiple parties with the invoices containing the same invoice line details.

Within Abtrac, you will create the first invoice with the total amount and then split that invoice and amount between multiple parties.

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Simple reports to get started with invoicing

Getting started with your invoicing normally starts with a few reports to see who you are invoicing and for how much. This can then be checked with job (project) managers to confirm they are ready to invoice the clients and if they are happy with the amounts.

There are two basic reports that can get you going. Unbilled Work Quick Summary and Timesheet Entries.

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How to Archive data (make items non-current)

How does making items non-current help you

Simple, fewer pieces of information to load means you will have a faster system.

Screens such as the searches, timesheet entries, invoices, and some reports all load with the current data that is available in the system, so it’s pretty straightforward to think that making items non-current will give you a quicker response for all these pages.

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Invoice Design and using the AbtracOnLine Report Designer

The forms and documents that are sent to your clients from AbtracOnLine can all be styled to suit your corporate image.

The invoice layout is the most commonly modified form, if applicable you can also customise your Purchase Orders and Accounts Rendered.

This article details modifications to the invoice layout, but the process is similar for all other instances.

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Tips for Using Multiple Offices

Your business details can include information for multiple branches/offices in Administration >> Settings >> Office Settings in AbtracOnline.

These Offices or Branches can also be applied to each employee, job or project and carried through to invoicing and analysis.
You can then run reports by office – comparing performance and profitability between branches and managing workflow.

It is also useful when you have one tax entity but different physical addresses, and different invoicing and accounting requirements between locations.

There’s also an option to limit access for Abtrac users by office, enabling them to only view and edit offices to which they have been assigned.

When using multiple offices in Abtrac, there are a few things to bear in mind.
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How emails are sent with AbtracOnLine

AbtracOnLine allows users to generate invoices and email them directly to their clients.

AbtracOnLine also lets you choose the method by which your emails are sent.

It is important to us that your invoice management and delivery with AbtracOnLine remains reliable, even as the global email environment changes. Mail Servers and email ISPs now have more rigid practices to try and shield their users from spam, and we have adapted Abtrac to ensure your mail isn’t incorrectly bounced or blocked.

Read on for details about :

  • How invoices are emailed from Abtrac
  • How to track whether your email has been successfully received, and
  • What our plans are, for emailing invoices in the future

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Invoice Listing Report

The Invoice Listing report is one of the staple reports of Abtrac, used throughout billing and in month end reporting.

Unlike a basic sales or invoice report from your accounting software, it shows time and cost assigned – giving you a more accurate representation of whether you need to worry about profit leakage.

Of course its limitation is that it only shows time and cost that has been assigned and/or recovered to the invoices listed. If your office also creates write off invoices, it will show a more complete picture.

And for true revenue analysis after the fact, it is often handy to look at the Invoice Listing Report in conjunction with unbilled work and write offs to get a complete picture.

Invoice Listing report
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Five Quick Invoicing Tips

Based on support calls and emails from our customers, here are our most commonly asked invoicing queries and their solutions.

Invoice Numbers

How can I change an invoice number, and why can’t I change the invoice ID?

Invoice Narrations

Why not save time and save as default the comments you use most often?

Generate Based on Invoice

Another time saver is to clone or copy invoices you have sent previously

Accounts Upload

The two most common reasons why an invoice fails to upload

Statements

Why isn’t my invoice appearing on this statement?

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How many billable hours do you write off?

A new survey came out last month – the Trends & Challenges in Architecture and Engineering International Report 2014* and it had some most interesting (but perhaps not surprising) statistics.

Architecture and Engineering firms throughout Australia and New Zealand are missing out on invoicing up to 30 percent of billable hours. According to the survey, almost three quarters of businesses indicated they recovered only 61-80 % of billable hours.

Loss of billable hours is a common challenge for all time based billing professionals, regardless of whether you bill on the basis of time engaged or a fixed price contract. It’s a challenge that needs to be constantly managed.

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Write Off Reporting

As well as looking at how much was billed each month end we recommend you look at your write off percentages. Use one of the WIP reports from Performance Reports > Management Analysis:

  • WIP Write-offs and Write-ons by Invoice
  • WIP Write-offs and Write-ons by Project, or
  • Write-offs and Write-ons by Project and Invoice are all good places to start.

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