Billing Approval Worksheet (Invoice Group PM Report)

Overview

The Billing Approval Worksheet is the primary tool for project managers and account managers to review, verify, and approve billing data before invoices are sent to clients. It presents invoice groups organized by Purchase Order (PO), allowing users to compare estimated vs. actual billing amounts, track pending artwork, monitor per-piece profitability, and formally approve invoices through a multi-manager approval workflow.

This report is essential for maintaining billing accuracy, ensuring all time and work is properly captured, and facilitating the final approval step before client invoicing.

Location: Navigate to Reports from the main navigation menu, then select Billing Approval Worksheet under the BILLING section.

URL: /reports/pmpo

Access Level: All authenticated users (Project Managers, Account Managers, Administrators)

Business Value

For Project Managers

The Billing Approval Worksheet serves as the final checkpoint before invoicing clients. Project managers can:

Verify billing accuracy by comparing estimated amounts against actual accrued billing
Identify discrepancies between planned and actual work before they become billing disputes
Review time allocation at the client, project, and employee level
Confirm all work is captured by checking pending artwork and not-invoiced amounts
Document approval decisions with notes for audit trail purposes

For Account Managers

Account managers benefit from:

PO budget monitoring with real-time remaining balance calculations
Client-level visibility into billing across all projects under their management
Multi-manager coordination through the shared approval workflow
Historical billing data organized by year and month for trend analysis

For Finance and Operations

The worksheet supports billing operations by:

Streamlining the approval-to-invoice pipeline with clear status indicators
Preventing billing errors through mandatory review before finalization
Generating client-ready PDF documentation for billing backup
Providing Excel exports for reconciliation and external reporting

Business Benefits

Reduced Billing Disputes - By requiring manager review and approval before invoicing, the worksheet catches discrepancies that would otherwise result in client disputes, protecting revenue and client relationships.
Improved Cash Flow - Clear visibility into what is ready to bill vs. pending approval enables faster invoice generation, reducing days sales outstanding (DSO).
PO Compliance - Real-time tracking of spending against PO limits ensures billing stays within authorized amounts, maintaining client contract compliance.
Multi-Manager Accountability - The shared approval workflow ensures all responsible managers review and agree on billing before it reaches the client, distributing oversight responsibility.
Audit Trail - Approval decisions with timestamps and notes create a permanent record for compliance, internal audit, and dispute resolution.
Profitability Visibility - Per-piece profit tracking helps managers understand which work is most profitable, supporting pricing decisions and resource allocation.
Operational Efficiency - Consolidated view of all billing data eliminates the need to check multiple sources, reducing the time required for billing review.

Usage Scenarios

Scenario 1: Monthly Billing Review

Role: Project Manager

At month-end, a project manager opens the Billing Approval Worksheet filtered to their assigned invoice groups. They review each invoice date entry, comparing the "Accrued" amount (what should be billed based on finalized time) against the "Actual" amount (what will actually appear on the invoice). For any discrepancies, they drill into client and project details to understand the difference. Once satisfied, they click the thumbs-up icon to mark each invoice as "OK to Bill," optionally adding notes explaining any unusual amounts.

Scenario 2: PO Budget Monitoring

Role: Account Manager

An account manager receives a mid-month alert that a client's PO is approaching its limit. They open the Billing Approval Worksheet, select the specific PO from the dropdown, and review the "Remaining on PO" amount. By examining the detailed breakdown of billed vs. unbilled amounts across all invoice dates, they can determine whether to slow down work, request a PO increase from the client, or push time to a different PO.

Scenario 3: Pre-Invoice PDF Review

Role: Project Manager / Account Manager

Before marking an invoice as OK to Bill, a manager wants to see exactly what the client will receive. They click the PDF icon next to the invoice date to generate a detailed billing report showing all time entries by client, project, and employee. This preview ensures no embarrassing errors appear on the client-facing document.

Scenario 4: Coordinated Multi-Manager Approval

Role: Multiple Project Managers

A large invoice group has two account managers assigned. Each manager independently reviews the billing worksheet for their areas of responsibility and clicks "OK to Bill" with their notes. The system tracks that 1 of 2 managers has approved. Once the second manager also approves, the invoice status automatically updates to fully approved, and a notification is sent to the billing team.

Scenario 5: Historical Analysis

Role: Account Manager / Executive

An account manager needs to understand billing trends for a specific client. They select the invoice group from the dropdown, choose different years from the year filter, and compare accrued amounts across multiple billing periods. This analysis supports annual account reviews and budget planning discussions with the client.

Scenario 6: Excel Export for Reconciliation

Role: Finance Administrator

At quarter-end, the finance team needs billing data for reconciliation with the accounting system. They open the worksheet, apply appropriate filters, and click the Excel export icon to download a formatted spreadsheet containing all PO groups, invoice dates, accrued amounts, actual amounts, and status information.

Industry Context

Standard Practice in Professional Services

Project-based billing is the foundation of professional services revenue recognition. Industry best practices require:

Separation of duties between those who perform work and those who approve billing
Management review before client-facing invoices are generated
Documentation of billing decisions for audit purposes
PO/contract compliance tracking to avoid over-billing

The Billing Approval Worksheet implements all these controls in a single, streamlined interface.

Client Expectations

Enterprise clients increasingly require:

Detailed billing backup showing time entries by project and person
PO tracking with clear remaining budget visibility
Estimated vs. actual comparisons for budget management
Electronic approval workflows with audit trails

The worksheet's PDF generation and approval workflow capabilities directly address these requirements.

Regulatory Considerations

For organizations subject to financial regulations:

Revenue recognition rules (ASC 606, IFRS 15) require documented evidence of service delivery
SOX compliance may require segregation of billing approval duties
Client contracts often specify billing documentation requirements

The approval workflow with notes, timestamps, and multi-manager review supports these compliance needs.

Business Logic Details

Invoice Group and PO Organization

The worksheet organizes billing data hierarchically:

Purchase Order (PO) - The top-level container, representing a client's authorized spending limit
Invoice Group - A billing category within a PO, typically representing a client account or project type
Invoice Date - A specific billing period (usually monthly) within an invoice group
Client/Project/Employee - Detailed breakdown of time and costs

Parent-Child Invoice Groups

Some invoice groups have parent-child relationships where a parent invoice group contains multiple child groups. The worksheet displays these hierarchically, calculating totals at both the parent and child levels.

Accrued vs. Actual Amounts

Accrued (Finalized): The dollar value of time entries that have been finalized for billing in that period
Actual: The dollar value that will appear on the invoice, which may differ due to overrides, adjustments, or budget constraints

When Accrued and Actual differ, the worksheet highlights this in bold to draw attention to the discrepancy.

Multi-Manager Approval Workflow

Invoice groups can have multiple assigned account managers. The approval process works as follows:

Each manager reviews the billing data and clicks "OK to Bill"
The system tracks individual manager approvals with notes
When all assigned managers have approved, the invoice status updates to fully approved
Notifications are sent at each approval step to keep stakeholders informed

Quality Invoice Groups

Certain invoice groups are designated as "Quality" for tracking rework or error correction time. These are visually distinguished in the report and follow the same approval workflow.

PO Grouping

Multiple POs can be linked together for combined budget tracking. When POs are grouped, the worksheet shows:

Combined available amount across all grouped POs
Individual PO totals within the group
Combined remaining balance

Key Features

Filtering and Navigation

Manager Filter: View only invoice groups assigned to a specific manager, or all employees
Invoice Group Filter: Focus on a specific invoice group
Year Filter: Select billing year or "Current PO only" for active POs
Month Selector: Quick navigation to specific months within the selected year
Date Range: Custom start/end date filtering
Project Filter: Find data for a specific project number
PO Filter: View data for a specific Purchase Order
Show No PO: Toggle visibility of items without PO assignments
Show Details: Expand/collapse detailed time entry information

Invoice Date Display

Each invoice date row shows:

Invoice Date: The billing period (e.g., 202401 for January 2024)
Accrued: Finalized billing amount for the period
Actual: Amount that will appear on invoice (with difference shown if applicable)
Artwork Pending: Dollar value of artwork still in process
PP Profit: Per-piece profit margin
Not Invoiced: Amount not yet included in billing

PO Summary Section

For each PO, the worksheet displays:

PO Number and Date Range: Identifies the Purchase Order
Estimate: Original PO estimate amount
Total to Date: Cumulative billing amount
Remaining: Amount left before reaching PO limit
Billed to PO: Amount already invoiced to client
Remaining on PO: Budget remaining after billed amounts

Action Buttons

PDF Icon: Generate detailed billing report for the invoice date
Override PDF: Generate alternative report format with override amounts
Thumbs Up Icon: Mark invoice as "OK to Bill" with optional notes
Excel Export: Download entire worksheet data as formatted Excel file
Link PO: Access PO grouping management

Visual Indicators

Green Text: Indicates billed/invoiced items
Red Text: Indicates negative remaining amounts (over budget)
Bold Text: Highlights discrepancies between accrued and actual amounts
Quality Indicator: "(Q)" prefix identifies quality-designated invoice groups

Inverted View

An alternative display mode that reorganizes the data by invoice date across all invoice groups, useful for reviewing a specific billing period across multiple accounts.

Functional Components

Main Report Grid

The primary display shows PO groups with nested invoice date details. Each row provides:

Invoice group identification
Period-specific billing amounts
Comparison metrics (accrued vs. actual, remaining amounts)
Action buttons for PDF generation and approval

"OK to Bill" Dialog

When marking an invoice as approved, a dialog allows:

Setting OK to Bill status (approve/unapprove)
Adding notes explaining the approval decision
Viewing current approval status

Dollars Left Dialog

Clicking on an accrued amount displays a breakdown showing:

Invoice Group Amount
PO Amount
Dollars Left calculation
Individual invoice group contribution to totals

Client Details Expansion

Clicking on an invoice date expands to show detailed breakdown by:

Client
Project
Employee (if details are enabled)
Individual time entries with hours, dollars, and activities

Estimate Document Access

When available, the worksheet provides direct access to:

Download estimate PDF documents
View estimate filenames and details

Relationship to Other System Components

Integration with Time Tracking

The worksheet aggregates time entry data that has been:

Finalized by employees in their timesheets
Assigned to specific POs and invoice groups
Categorized by billing type (hourly, per-piece, fixed)

Integration with Invoice System

When invoices are marked "OK to Bill," the data flows to:

Invoice generation processes
Client-facing PDF reports
Cloud document storage for billing records

Integration with Notification System

The approval workflow triggers notifications:

When individual managers approve/reject
When all managers have approved (fully approved status)
Email notifications to billing team and stakeholders

Integration with Purchase Order Management

The worksheet pulls real-time PO data including:

PO budgets and date ranges
PO groupings for combined budget tracking
Quality designations for error tracking

Integration with Estimate System

Estimate documents linked to POs are accessible directly from the worksheet, allowing:

Review of original estimates alongside actual billing
Download of client-approved estimate PDFs

Connection to Monthly Billing Report

The Billing Approval Worksheet feeds into the Monthly Billing report, which shows:

All finalized and billed invoices for a period
Items pending finalization
Complete billing pipeline status

Summary

The Billing Approval Worksheet is a mission-critical component of the billing operations workflow. It serves as the final checkpoint where project and account managers verify billing accuracy, approve invoice amounts, and generate client-ready documentation.

Key Takeaways:

Central billing review tool for comparing estimated vs. actual amounts before invoicing
Multi-manager approval workflow ensures appropriate oversight and accountability
Real-time PO tracking prevents over-billing and maintains contract compliance
PDF generation creates professional billing documentation for clients
Excel export supports financial reconciliation and external reporting
Comprehensive filtering allows focused review by manager, period, or project
Visual indicators highlight discrepancies requiring attention
Audit trail with approval notes supports compliance and dispute resolution

The Billing Approval Worksheet transforms billing from an error-prone administrative task into a controlled, documented business process that protects revenue, maintains client relationships, and supports financial compliance requirements.