Project Time Tracker

Overview

The Project Time Tracker is the comprehensive time and cost recording system within each project. It enables team members to log their work hours, record fixed costs and external expenses, and when authorized, make financial adjustments to project billing. The control provides real-time financial summaries showing exactly where the project stands from a billing perspective.

Every project in the system accumulates costs through work performed by staff, external vendor services, and occasional adjustments. The Time Tracker serves as the central interface for capturing these costs accurately, organizing them by category, and connecting them to the billing pipeline. It displays both entry forms for recording new time and a complete history of all time records associated with the project.

The component shows a financial dashboard at a glance with amounts already billed, amounts ready to bill, unbilled work, and total project value, giving immediate insight into project financial status before any time entry decisions are made.

Business Value

Why Does This Matter to the Company?

1. Revenue Capture - The Time Tracker ensures all billable work is recorded. Every hour logged against a project flows through to invoicing, protecting revenue that would otherwise be lost to unrecorded work. Studies consistently show that professional services firms lose 5-15% of revenue through inadequate time capture.
2. Project Cost Visibility - Real-time financial summaries give project managers and account executives immediate insight into project costs versus budgets. When costs approach limits, decisions can be made proactively rather than after budget overruns have already occurred.
3. Budget Alert System - The 95% Purchase Order threshold monitoring automatically notifies relevant personnel when project costs approach the authorized budget. This prevents uncomfortable client conversations and protects the company from unbillable work performed beyond approved amounts.
4. Multi-Category Cost Tracking - Different types of costs (staff hours, vendor services, adjustments) are tracked separately but aggregated for total project view. This supports accurate job costing, profitability analysis, and informed pricing decisions for future similar projects.
5. Billing Integrity - The clear separation between billed, finalized-to-bill, and unbilled amounts ensures billing accuracy. Finance teams can see exactly which work has been invoiced and which remains outstanding, reducing billing disputes and improving cash flow predictability.
6. Audit Trail - Complete history of all time entries with timestamps, employee attribution, and activity categorization supports both internal management review and external audit requirements. When questions arise about project costs, the answers are immediately available.

Business Benefits

For Designers and Creative Staff

• Simple Time Entry: Record hours for each day of the week in a single entry, selecting the appropriate activity category for proper billing
• Automatic Defaults: System suggests the current week and remembers default activities based on past behavior and project type
• Visual Week Summary: See total hours already logged for the week across all projects before adding more, preventing overcommitment
• Notes Capability: Add context to time entries explaining work performed, valuable for client inquiries and billing support
• Edit Capability: Modify previous time entries that haven't been billed, correcting honest mistakes without administrative intervention

For Project Managers

• Real-Time Financial Dashboard: See billed, pending, and unbilled amounts instantly without running reports
• Budget Monitoring: Automatic alerts when projects approach purchase order limits prevent budget overruns
• Cost Breakdown Visibility: View costs by activity type to understand where project effort is being spent
• Fixed Cost Tracking: Record vendor invoices, stock photography, printing, and other external costs against projects
• Week-by-Week Detail: Review time entries organized by week with ability to edit recent entries

For Account Managers and Client Services

• Billing Preparation Visibility: Clearly see which amounts are finalized and ready for invoicing
• Per-Piece vs Hourly Understanding: Visual indicators show how projects are billed and what amounts fall into each category
• Client Discussion Support: Detailed activity dollar breakdown provides backup for any client billing questions
• Purchase Order Tracking: See when projects approach PO limits to coordinate client communication

For Finance and Billing Staff

• Clear Billing Status: Amounts are categorized as Billed (already invoiced), Finalized to Bill (ready for next invoice), and Not Billed (work in process)
• Dollar-Level Detail: View exact dollar calculations including rates, hours, and per-piece charges per time entry
• Invoice Connection: Each time entry shows its billing status and when it was invoiced
• Adjustment Capability: Authorized users can make positive or negative adjustments with full documentation

For Team Leads and Operations

• Activity Analysis: Review which activity types consume project hours to optimize team structure and pricing
• Vendor Cost Monitoring: Track external costs flowing through projects for vendor management decisions
• Cross-Reference Capability: Time entries connect to artworks and purchase orders for integrated project understanding

Usage Scenarios

Scenario 1: Designer Logging Daily Work Hours

A designer has completed a day's work on a project and needs to record their time. They navigate to the project's Time tab, ensure "Activity" time type is selected, choose the appropriate work week, select the activity category (such as Design Creative), and enter hours for each day worked. They add a brief note describing the work performed and click Save. The system records the time, updates the financial summary, and confirms the entry.

Scenario 2: Project Manager Recording Vendor Invoice

An external vendor has invoiced the project for stock photography used in the design. The project manager opens the Time tab, selects "Fixed Costs" as the time type, selects the appropriate activity category (such as D/C Client), enters the invoice amount, selects the vendor from the dropdown, adds the invoice number in notes, and saves. The cost is recorded against the project and will appear on the next client invoice.

Scenario 3: Account Manager Reviewing Project Costs Before Client Meeting

Before a client budget review meeting, an account manager opens the project's Time tab to understand financial status. The summary bar shows $5,400 Billed, $1,800 Finalized to Bill, and $2,300 Not Billed, with a Total of $7,200. They scroll down to the dollars grid to see each time entry with its activity, hours, rate, and billing status, giving them complete backup for any client questions.

Scenario 4: Finance Team Processing Adjustment

A client has negotiated a credit for a project issue. An administrator opens the Time tab, selects "Adjustments" time type (only visible to admins), enters a negative dollar amount, selects the week for billing purposes, adds explanatory notes, and saves. The adjustment flows through to reduce the project total and will be reflected on the next invoice.

Scenario 5: Approaching Budget Alert Response

A team member saves time that causes the project to reach 95% of its purchase order amount. The system displays an alert showing the project has reached this threshold, displays the invoice group name and percentage, and sends notification to the configured recipients. The project manager receives the alert and contacts the client about securing additional purchase order funds before continuing work.

Scenario 6: Correcting a Previous Time Entry

A designer realizes they logged time to the wrong activity category last week. They open the project's Time tab, view the timesheet list organized by category, find their entry, click the edit icon, modify the activity selection, and save the correction. The system updates the entry while maintaining the audit trail of the change.

Scenario 7: Per-Piece Project Time Review

On a packaging project billed per artwork rather than hourly, the team reviews the Time tab before completion. The summary shows PP (Per-Piece) dollars separately from hourly work. The dollars grid shows each artwork's associated time with packaging level names and alteration counts, ensuring accurate per-piece billing before finalization.

Industry Context

How Similar Functionality is Used Across Industries

Project Time and Cost Tracking

Time and cost recording systems are fundamental to any professional services or project-based business:

1. Advertising and Creative Agencies: Track billable hours by client and project using time entry systems that feed into client invoicing, identical to this system's core purpose
2. Legal and Accounting Firms: Bill by the hour with detailed activity categorization, matter-based time entry, and expense tracking for pass-through costs
3. Management Consulting: Project-based time tracking with multiple rate structures and engagement code categorization
4. Architecture and Engineering: Time tracking by project phase with consultant/contractor cost pass-through similar to Fixed Costs functionality
5. Software Development Agencies: Sprint-based effort tracking with categorization by activity type (development, testing, meetings, etc.)
6. Production and Manufacturing: Job costing systems that accumulate labor and material costs against work orders

Key Industry Patterns Implemented

• Multiple Cost Categories: Separating labor costs from external costs is standard practice for accurate job costing and client transparency
• Week-Based Entry: Most professional time systems use weekly cycles matching payroll and billing periods
• Activity/Phase Categorization: Breaking down time by activity type supports profitability analysis and future project estimation
• Budget Threshold Monitoring: Enterprise systems commonly alert when costs approach budgets to prevent overruns
• Financial Summary Dashboards: Real-time visibility into billed/unbilled/pending amounts is expected in professional services software
• Adjustment Capability: Mechanism for credits, write-offs, and corrections is essential for accurate billing

Common Industry Challenges Addressed

• Revenue Leakage: Unrecorded time is a major revenue loss driver; easy entry interface encourages complete capture
• Budget Overruns: Projects often exceed budgets before anyone notices; threshold alerts provide early warning
• Billing Disputes: Clients question invoices; detailed activity-level documentation supports resolution
• Cost Analysis Gaps: Companies struggle to understand true project costs; multi-category tracking enables analysis
• Vendor Cost Tracking: External costs often slip through without project attribution; Fixed Costs ensures capture

Business Logic Details

Time Entry Types

The system supports three distinct cost categories, each serving a specific business purpose:

Regular Time (Activity)

Standard hourly time entry for staff work:

• Tracked by day of week (Monday through Sunday)
• Associated with specific activity categories (Design Creative, Management, etc.)
• Attributed to the recording employee
• Billable at the employee's rate for the activity
• Subject to week-based editing restrictions

Fixed Costs

Flat-rate external costs and vendor expenses:

• Entered as dollar amounts rather than hours
• May include vendor attribution for accounts payable tracking
• Covers services like stock photography, printing, courier, outside production
• Not tied to specific days within the week
• Supports employee or vendor attribution depending on cost type

Adjustments

Financial corrections and special billing items:

• Available only to administrative users
• Can be positive (additional charges) or negative (credits)
• Entered as dollar amounts
• Used for client credits, error corrections, negotiated discounts
• Requires explanatory notes for audit purposes

Activity Categories

Time entries are associated with activity types that determine billing behavior:

• Design/Creative Activities: Core creative work billed at design rates, tracked as D/C dollars
• Management/PM Activities: Project coordination and client communication, tracked as Hourly dollars
• Per-Piece Activities: Work on packaging artworks billed by complexity tier, tracked as PP dollars
• Fixed Cost Activities: External vendor services and pass-through expenses
• Budget Activities: Special budget-related billing tracked as B dollars

Project configuration may restrict which activities are available based on project type (per-piece, electronic, etc.) or corporate settings.

Financial Summary Calculations

The summary bar displays key financial metrics:

95% Budget Threshold Monitoring

When time is saved, the system performs budget checking:

1. Before Save: Records current project costs as percentage of purchase order
2. After Save: Calculates new percentage including the saved time entry
3. Threshold Check: If percentage crossed from below 95% to 95% or above:
   • System identifies the relevant invoice group
   • Notification sent to configured recipients
   • Alert displayed to the user showing invoice group and percentage
4. Information Provided: PO number, invoice group name, current percentage

This prevents continuation of work that would exceed authorized budgets.

Week-Based Time Entry

Time entry is organized around calendar weeks:

• Each week runs Sunday through Saturday (configurable)
• System displays available weeks for entry based on billing status
• Weeks that have been finalized or billed cannot be edited
• Current week is pre-selected for convenience
• Extended weeks may be available for certain corrections

Week availability is determined by billing status flags:

• Open weeks: Full editing capability
• In-Process: Limited editing while review underway
• Finalized: No editing allowed without administrative override
• Billed: Permanently locked

Invoice Budget Amount Projects

Some projects are configured to invoice the budget amount rather than actual time:

• Time is still tracked for cost analysis
• "Not Invoiced" flag available to exclude specific entries from billing totals
• Finalization behavior differs from standard hourly projects
• System validates appropriate handling when entries are saved

Per-Piece Project Integration

For per-piece billing projects:

• Time entries can be associated with specific artworks
• Dollar calculations include artwork complexity and packaging level
• Alteration counts are tracked for revised artwork billing
• Special finalization process at project completion
• Separate PP (Per-Piece) dollar tracking in summary

Key Features

Time Entry Form

Financial Summary Bar

Timesheet List by Category

Organized view of all time entries grouped by type:

Tabs allow filtering by: Regular, Fixed Costs, Adjustments, Fixed Budget

Dollar Totals Grid

Detailed financial breakdown for advanced analysis:

Toggle to show/hide zero-dollar entries for cleaner view

Functional Components

Activity Selection Rules

Activity availability is determined by project configuration:

Standard Projects

• All regular activities available
• Management and creative categories both accessible
• No special restrictions

Per-Piece Projects

• Management activities excluded from selection
• Focus on creative/design activities for artwork billing

Electronic Projects

• Management activities excluded
• Similar to per-piece behavior

Corporation-Restricted Projects

• Some activities limited to specific corporate affiliations
• Ensures activities match billing agreements

Time Entry Validation

The system validates entries before saving:

1. Edit Permission Check: Verifies week is not locked for editing
2. Project Status Check: Confirms project accepts time entries
3. Activity Validity: Ensures selected activity is allowed for project type
4. Hours Validation: Confirms reasonable hour values
5. Budget Check: Calculates budget impact after save

Edit Window Behavior

Time entry editability depends on multiple factors:

• Week Status: Finalized or billed weeks cannot be edited
• Billing Status: Entries that have been invoiced are locked
• Entry Type: Adjustments have different edit rules than regular time
• User Role: Admins may have broader edit capabilities

When editing, the system:

1. Validates the entry is still editable
2. Loads current values into the form
3. Allows modification of editable fields
4. Saves changes with appropriate audit logging

Zero-Hour Entry Deletion

When regular time is saved with zero hours for all days:

• System interprets as delete request
• Removes existing time entries matching project/week/activity/employee
• Logs deletion in system logs
• Updates financial summary accordingly

This allows easy cleanup of erroneous entries.

Relationship to Other System Components

Dashboard Integration

Time entries affect Dashboard displays:

• Project financial status columns reflect time tracker totals
• Budget alerts appear in relevant Dashboard sections
• Project assignment views show accumulated time

Project Status System

Time tracking connects to project workflow:

• Status changes can trigger time entry through integrated controls
• Status 3 (Artwork Complete) finalizes per-piece time entries
• Status 6 (Obsolete) can exclude time from billing

Billing and Invoicing

Time entries flow directly to billing:

• Finalized time appears on invoice generation screens
• Individual entries are marked as billed when invoiced
• Dollar calculations aggregate for invoice totals
• Invoice dates are recorded on time entries

Purchase Order System

Time costs relate to purchase orders:

• PO amounts serve as budget limits for 95% monitoring
• Time entries may display associated PO numbers
• Cost aggregation respects invoice group structure

Invoice Groups

Financial organization by invoice group:

• 95% alerts reference invoice group names
• Cost totals may be grouped by invoice group for reporting
• Budget thresholds apply at invoice group level

Artwork Management

For per-piece projects, time connects to artworks:

• Design time can be linked to specific artwork items
• Packaging level names appear in dollar breakdowns
• Alteration counts from artwork system display in time records
• Per-piece finalization coordinates between time and artwork

Employee and Vendor Systems

Time entries connect to organizational data:

• Employee rates determine dollar calculations
• Vendor selection for fixed costs links to vendor management
• Time attribution supports payroll and resource analysis

Reports and Analytics

Time data feeds into reporting:

• Project profitability reports aggregate time costs
• Activity analysis reports break down by category
• Client billing reports detail time by project
• Resource utilization reports aggregate by employee

Summary

The Project Time Tracker serves as the financial heartbeat of each project, capturing all costs incurred and providing immediate visibility into project financial status. By combining straightforward time entry with sophisticated budget monitoring, category organization, and billing integration, it ensures:

• Complete Cost Capture: All work performed and expenses incurred are recorded against projects, protecting revenue
• Financial Transparency: Real-time summary and detailed breakdowns provide instant understanding of project costs
• Budget Protection: Automatic 95% threshold alerts prevent work from exceeding authorized amounts
• Billing Accuracy: Clear status indicators and organized records ensure invoices reflect actual work
• Flexible Cost Types: Support for regular hours, fixed costs, and adjustments handles all billing scenarios
• Audit Compliance: Complete history with attribution supports management review and external audit
• Integrated Workflow: Connection to projects, artworks, purchase orders, and invoicing creates cohesive financial management

The Time Tracker transforms the essential but often problematic task of project cost tracking into a streamlined, reliable process that supports accurate billing, informed project management, and healthy client relationships across the organization.