5.0 Time and Cost

The time and cost module consists of projects, timesheets, expense sheets, quotes and a products/services list.

5.1 What is a Project?

A project is thought of as an entire job. It can be based on a quote, and can track actual costs compared to budgeted costs. Employee time and expenses are booked to projects, and appear in a project’s budget against the item concerned in the quote.

5.2 Making a Project

Click on the projects button to bring up the lookup projects screen. Click on new and a blank project screen will appear.

Project Name and Number

Enter the project name and number, which will be used to look up the project.

Import from Quotation

If you want to create a Project from a Quote then simply select the quotation in the quotation drop down box.

Client

Client company information can be viewed by clicking on the magnifying glass next to the client box. Client information can be changed if desired from the contacts screen. Close the contacts screen to return back to the project screen.

Order Number

The order number is where you can put the client’s reference number for the project.

Contract Price

The contract price is automatically copied from the quote but can be changed manually (the contract price on the quote will remain unchanged).

Start and Completion Dates

If the project has specific start and completion dates then you can enter them in the boxes provided.

Unexpected Costs

If unexpected costs arise which were not part of the quote, then the project costs screen should not be manually updated. Instead the cost should be added as either employee expense or through the timesheets. If an extra service item is required, go to the last blank line at the bottom of the costs sheet, click in the item part and type in a description. A service line item can be deleted altogether if that service is no longer required. To do this you simply click on the grey box next to the left of the small binoculars, and then press the delete key. The totals at the bottom will be updated as soon as the cursor moves off that line.

	Click on the recalc button to recalculate all project budget costs. All project budget costs will be recalculated from scratch using the information from employee time sheets, project expenses and cashbook entries.

	The details of project costs can be examined listing the dates and full descriptions, together with the type of cost by clicking on the detail report buttons. Each item appearing in the project costs is broken down. You can either preview the details on screen or print them.

	The summary button shows the details of project costs listed as they are on the project cost screen.

You can also configure your own reports using the report writer.

5.3 Employees

Cashbook Complete will keep track of all your employees which are used for time sheets and quotes. You are now capable of tracking many different types of employees including: full and part time workers, subcontractors, and temporary workers. If you are self employed you only need to add yourself as an employee.

Adding New Employees

From the time/cost menu select employee/security setup. The employees lookup screen will list all the people who work for you.

Click on new to get a new blank employees screen.

Type the personal details in the left half such as name, address, and home phone number. The type drop down box allows you to select an employee type from a built in range (eg. full time, part time, student).

The bottom section contains the employees security settings for within Cashbook Complete. Each employee can be given a different username and password. If you have security installed you can setup security access. Check the access privileges required for each employee, and only those sections of Cashbook Complete will be accessible when they log in with their username and password.

The rates section (upper right) is split into the wages the employee is paid (optional for display purposes only), the cost to your own company (usually wages plus overheads), and the charge out rate to your clients. The cost rate is normally the wage rate plus about 20% to 30% to take into account paid holidays, ACC levies and non chargeable time. The cost rates entered will be used with timesheet information to calculate the project costs later on (the time sheets calculate the total labour costs and update project costs). The charge rate is used in the invoicing module to create invoices from time sheets.

More employees can be added by clicking on the add button to bring up another blank employee screen. When finished, click on the close button to go back to the main screen.

Editing/Deleting Employee Information

From the time/cost menu select employee/security setup. The employees lookup screen will list all the people who work for you. Select the employee by either double clicking on the employee, or clicking once on the employee then clicking on OK. The employees screen will now pop up, and you will be able to alter any information.

When a timesheet item is added, the current (cost) hourly rates are stored for that line as well. Hence the employee rates can be changed without affecting old project costs (unless the time sheets are edited, then the new rate will be applied). Any new timeslot entries will forward labour costs based on the new rate.

Employees can only be deleted if they are not on any quotes or time sheets, in other words, only if they have never done any work. Once an employee has timeslot entries they should never be deleted, even if they leave the company.

5.4 Employee Time Sheets and Expenses

Employee time sheets records the hours an employee spends working on a project. Employee rates and hours are used to work out the actual project costs (see Project Costs). The top half of the screen displays the time sheet, whilst the bottom half of the screen displays the expenses (as shown below).

Click on the time sheets and expenses button from the main screen to bring up the time sheets and expenses screen.

Employee

The screen will default to the employee currently logged on, but can be changed if you have time and cost privileges.

Week Beginning

The week beginning box will default to the current week, but can be changed if needed.

Date

Today’s date is assumed by default. If you are entering the hours worked for today, tab to the next field. If you wish to enter information for a past date just type in the date. A new line will appear below. Do not despair if the lines are not in order by the date, because the lines will re-order themselves by date the next time you reopen the time sheets and expenses screen.

Project

Select the project the work was done for by clicking on the project drop down box and selecting the project name from the list of current projects.

Project Item

Click on the project item drop down box to select the project item.

Work Done

The work done field is for a general description of the work. It will not be used elsewhere (it can be left blank if desired).

Hours

Type into the hours box the hours worked.

Invoice

The invoice field shows whether the item is to be invoiced or not. The default value of this field can be changed in the setup wizard.

Rate

Rate is selected by clicking on the rate drop down box. Choose the rate (1-standard, 1.5 time and a half or 2 for double time). The employee current rates are added in their last three columns automatically, and are visible by scrolling right. If old timesheet data is corrected or edited, make sure the rates are correct for the time the work was done.

Expenses

The expenses column appears in the bottom half of the screen. You can either select an expense from the combo box, or type in an expense.

Amount

The amount is the monetary value for the expense.

Next Entry

When a line is completed a new blank line will appear at the bottom for the next entry.

Deleting a Line

A line can be deleted by clicking on the grey button to the left of the date, then pressing the delete key.

5.5 Quotes

The quote screen uses information from the contacts, employees and service/products databases to speed the quoting process. A search facility enables any quote to be quickly retrieved. Once the quote information has been entered, you can print out a Microsoft Word quote letter, which is neatly set out. The quote can be printed quickly as a simple slip showing all the details, ready to hand to your client. The choice is as simple as choosing which button to click at the top of the quote screen.

5.6 Making a New Quote

The information in the contacts and employees databases must include the details of those involved in the quote, which will be copied into the contact screen. If that information has not been entered, enter that information now (see Adding New Contacts and Employees). It is not essential that the services or products information is in the services/products database, but it would be quicker to make the quote if they were.

To make a new quote click on the quotations button on the main screen. The lookup quotation screen will appear. Click on the new button to create a new quote.

The quotation screen needs all the relevant information for quoting a job.

Client

Click on the to drop down box (upper left) and select the company whom the quote is for. When the company is selected, the company’s postal address and the quotation number will automatically appear.

Address

If the postal address needs to be altered, you can click inside the postal address box. When the address has been changed, a dialog box will ask whether to change the address in the master contact database. Click on no if the address of the company has not changed (or if the address the quote is going to is different from the standard company address), or yes if the company address has changed (the contact database will be updated). This may be useful if sending quotes to different divisions of the same company (Alternatively each division could be listed as a separate company in the contacts database).

Description

Go to the description field (upper right) and type a general description for the overall job. Quotes are listed by the company name and the description. A quote is easier to find if it has a good description.

Date

The date and Quote Number are set automatically by the computer.

Quote By

Click on the quote by drop down box to list and select the employee making the quote.

Quote For

Click on the quote for drop down box to list and select the company asking for the quote.

Column Options

As with invoicing, you also have column options for quotes. You can turn on and off the options that you require, the changes will take place immediately. If you'd like to save a particular configuration for future quotes, click on "Set As Default". Clicking on the help button will provide more information.

Calculation Sheet

The calculation sheet contains the financial details. If the service or product is one of your standard ones (in the services/ products database), then click on the binoculars next to the description field and select it from the list (using scroll bars as necessary). All the details will automatically be copied in. You can then change the quantity (qty) or any other fields as required. If the product or service is not in the list then all the fields in that line will have to be entered manually (click on the field and then type the information). The code drop down list box contains all the valid types of codes. Only one of these can be selected. The total price at the bottom will be updated as soon as the cursor moves off that line. To add another service or product to the quote just repeat the above procedure on the blank line at the bottom of the calculation sheet. New blank lines will appear at the bottom as information is added. Calculation sheet lines can be deleted from the calculation sheet by clicking on the grey box to the left of the binoculars (to the left of the description field) and then pressing the delete key.

Margin

The margin box below the calculation sheet (bottom left) shows the total difference between the cost price and the sell price of all the items on the calculation sheet. This is the profit which you would make on the job.

VAT/GST/TAX

The VAT/GST/TAX rate in the VAT/GST/TAX box can be altered or set to zero if VAT/GST/TAX does not apply (for example export items). The VAT/GST/TAX rate is stored individually for each quote (each quote can have a different rate if required). The automatic default VAT/GST/TAX rate is set in the setup wizard.

5.7 Finding a Quote

Click on the quotations button from the main screen to show the list of quotes. If you are already on the quotation screen click on the large binoculars button (or press F5). The most recent quotes are listed first. If the quote you need cannot be seen then you can use the search box to search for it. You can search for a quote using any of the following: quotation number, date, any part of the company name, or quote description. When you've entered your search criteria, press enter to get the search results. Once you have found the quote you are looking for, select it (use scroll bars if necessary) by clicking on it, then click on OK. The quotation screen will show all the quote details.

5.8 Changing a Quote

Once the particular quote has been found most information can be changed. The quote number cannot be altered. Click on the field to change and type the new information.

Important: If you change the data in the calculation sheet, it will not automatically be changed in the word processor. This will have to be done manually.

5.9 Deleting a Quote

Normally quotes should not have to be deleted, to keep records available if clients refer to them. If a quote has been accepted by the client, and the project has started using the quote, then the quote cannot be deleted. If the quote is not connected to anything it can be deleted once it has been selected and brought up on its quotation screen (see Finding a Quote above) by pressing the delete button (or the F8 quick key). If a quote has been entered incorrectly it can be changed without the need to delete it.

5.10 Printing a Quote

Find the quote (see Finding a Quote above), and from its quotation screen click the print button (above the quote description). All the quote details will be printed in a table format, ready to hand to your client. To preview the printout before printing, click on the preview button (next to the print button), and use the scroll bars to view it. To close the print preview, click on the small "X" at the top right of the preview window.

5.11 Using a Word Processor for a Quote

Cashbook Complete now uses a default template file for producing a document file. It can be used to enter your company logo (letterhead), standard terms, etc. The template file is called Default.rtf, and resides in My Documents under the Cashbook Data\Letters\<Company Name> folder. First select the type of word processor that you want to use (Word or Wordpad). It is strongly recommended to use MS Word because it allows you to enter a graphic for your letterhead, and tables. You can edit default.rtf by clicking on the button. For more information, click on the Help button from the quotes screen.
Once you have set up the template file (Default.rtf), you can then generate the document by clicking on .

5.12 Products and Services

This screen lets you configure your Products and Services, and see a summary of your sales history. Use the horizontal scroll bar to see more fields on the right hand side. The fields are as follows :-

Group If you want to group your products and services, you can add a group name here. If you are entering lots of items with the same group name, then enter that group name in the default field at the top of the screen. If you don`t want to use groups then leave this field blank.
Code This is the Product / Service code. If you don`t want to use product codes then leave this field blank. The sales history in the last 4 columns is only calculated for items with a code.
Description This is a description of the item and is a compulsory field.
Units Enter the units for the product or service. Eg. Hours, kms, miles, m, m�, m�, Sheets, Box, Box 20, Box 50. If you enter m2 or m3 the units will change to m� or m�.
Cost Price This is the price you purchase the goods for, or the cost of the services to you. The sales tax setup screen in the setup wizard specifies whether the prices include or exclude GST.
Sell Price This is the price you sell the product or service for. The sales tax setup screen in the setup wizard specifies whether the prices include or exclude GST.
Type There are 4 types. 'Inventory' means a product for which you want to keep track of stock levels. 'Non Inventory' means a product for which you do not want to keep track of stock levels. If you have upgraded from an older version of Cashbook Complete the Type is set to 'Unassigned'. Please change these to the corrrect type.
On Hand This is the quantity you have in stock at the moment, and is only available for products (not services).
On Order This is the quantity you have on order. When you order product, enter the quantity you ordered in this field. When you receive the product, you can use the Stock Received screen to add to the On Hand value, and subtract from the On Order value.
Min Level This is the minimum quantity that you want the stock to get down to. You will be notified that you have gone below the minimum when you sell (invoice) it and "On Hand" + "On Order" is less than "Min Level". You can also print the "Products to Re-Order" report (see Report Writer, Products/Services).
Supplier This is the supplier of the product / service.
Notes Enter any further notes about the product such as the supplier, quantity on order, etc.
Sales YTD This is the sales of this item for the Year To Date. The sales tax setup screen in the setup wizard specifies whether the prices include or exclude GST.
Qty YTD This is the sales quantity (in units) of the item for the Year To Date.
Sales LYR This is the sales of this item for Last Year. The sales tax setup screen in the setup wizard specifies whether the prices include or exclude GST.
Qty LYR This is the sales quantity (in units) of the item for Last Year.

This screen is sorted by group and then by code. You can change the sort order by clicking on the field you want to sort, and then selecting Sort A-Z from the Edit menu.

New products or services are always added at the end. The next time you open this screen, the records will be sorted.