The Generate Timesheets utility enables administrators or supervisors to generate timesheets for employees for the current timesheet period, the previous period, or the upcoming period. A common use of this utility is to facilitate timesheet entry for employees who consistently enter time against the same charge codes.
You can generate timesheets with charge codes only or with both charge codes and default hours. You can also save sets of employee selection criteria and reuse them when you generate timesheets in the future.
To open the Generate Timesheets dialog box, click Utilities » Generate Timesheets on the Time & Expense with ESS main menu.
You can generate timesheets with hours for employees assigned to a timesheet class for which Generate Exception-Based Timesheets is checked on the Basic Information tab of the Timesheet Classes screen. The hours assigned are based on each employee's work schedule, charge favorites, and the work percentages associated with his or her charge favorites.
You can generate timesheets without hours for any employee. Companies that do this often print the timesheets and distribute them to employees as a worksheet for recording their hours for the period. In this case, Time & Expense with ESS prints the timesheets in a special format designed for recording hours by hand.
To set up Time & Expense with ESS to provide timesheet generation, do the following:
Make sure the security roles for those who will generate the timesheets grant them access to the Generate Timesheets dialog box.
If you are going to generate exception-based timesheets (timesheets with default hours) for some employees, check Generate Exception-Based Timesheets on the Basic Information tab of the Timesheet Classes screen for the timesheet classes to which those employees are assigned.
Make sure the employees have charge favorites established for the charge codes you want to appear on the generated timesheets. Those charge codes should include codes for holiday and vacation time.
If you are going to generate timesheets with hours, make sure that those employees have work percentages associated with their charge favorites and that those percentages add up to 100 percent.
To generate timesheets, do the following:
On the Time & Expense with ESS main menu, click Utilities » Generate Timesheets.
If you want to use an existing saved set of parameters to generate timesheets, click Search and use the Parameter Code Search dialog box to select that set of parameters. Skip to step 4.
If you want to enter a new set of parameters, continue with step 3.
Under Criteria, select the criteria you want to use to select employees and generate timesheets. For details, see Generate Timesheets Screen.
Click Execute to display a list of candidates in the Results grid.
Check the box in the first column next to those employees for whom you want to generate timesheets.
Click Generate to generate the timesheets.
If you want to preview or print the Generate Timesheet report to make sure all the timesheets were generated successfully, click Preview/Print and select the Summary Report option.
If you want to save the set of parameters you entered under Criteria so you can use it again at a later date, click Save, and make the required entries in the Save Parameters dialog box. For details, see Save Parameters Dialog Box.
If you want to notify employees that timesheets are awaiting their signatures or supervisors that timesheets are ready to be approved, you can use the Time Sheet Status inquiry screen. Click Inquiries/Reports » Timesheet Status on the Time & Expense with ESS main menu to open that screen.
If you want to print the timesheets you just generated, click Preview/Print. If you generated timesheets with hours, select Timesheets in the Print dialog box. If you generated timesheets without hours, select Pre-Printed Timesheets in the Print dialog box. (If you generate and print timesheets without hours, they are printed in a worksheet format designed for recording hours by hand.)
If you are generating timesheets with hours, a timesheet won't be generated for an employee if any of the following are true:
The employee already has a timesheet for the period.
The work percentages assigned to the employee's charge favorites don't add up to 100 percent.
The employee is scheduled for a holiday but either has no holiday charge favorite or has more than one holiday favorite.
The employee is scheduled for vacation but either has no vacation charge favorite or has more than one vacation favorite.
If you are generating timesheets without hours, a timesheet won't be generated for an employee if any of the following are true:
The employee already has a timesheet for the period.
The employee does not have at least one charge favorite.
The employee is scheduled for a holiday but either has no holiday charge favorite or has more than one holiday favorite.
The employee is scheduled for vacation but either has no vacation charge favorite or has more than one vacation favorite.
Use these application options to add new sets of parameters, display existing sets of paramenters, save new or changed sets of parameters, or remove sets of parameters.
Click the New option to reset the screen so you can begin entering a new set of parameters.
If unsaved entries exist when you click New, a message appears asking if you want to save your work.
Click the Save option to save a new or changed set of parameters.
If you are adding a new set, the Save Parameters dialog box opens so you can enter a code, descriptions, and other properties.
The Save Parameters dialog box also opens if you try to save changes to a set of parameters that you did not create. Because you cannot change a set of parameters you did not create, you must instead add a new set by assigning a new code to the modified set.
To delete a saved set of parameters, display that set in the Generate Timesheets screen and click the Delete option.
If you want to use an existing saved set of parameters to generate timesheets, click the Search option. In the Parameter Code Search dialog box, select the set of parameters you want to use and click OK.
The only parameter sets available for selection are the following:
Sets you created
Sets created by others and marked as "public".
If unsaved entries exist when you click Search, a message appears asking if you want to save your work.
Use these screen components to select employees and generate timesheets:
In Timesheet Schedule, enter the timesheet schedule assigned to the employees for whom you are generating timesheets.
In Period Ending, select the payroll period for which you want to generate timesheets for the employees. Your choices are
The current period for the timesheet schedule, based on the current date
The previous period for the timesheet schedule
The next period for the timesheet schedule
When you select a saved parameter set, Time & Expense with ESS sets the default period based on the saved period (Previous, Current, or Next) and the current date.
The status you want to assign to the generated timesheets: Open, Signed, or Approved.
Check Generate with Hours if you want to generate timesheets with both charges and default hours for those charges. After you generate timesheets, you have the option to print them for review or distribution.
Leave the box unchecked if you want timesheets that show charges but no hours. After you generate timesheets, you have the option to print them (so you can distribute them to employees so they can record their hours by hand, for example).
If you check Generate with Hours, you can only generate timesheets for employees assigned to timesheet classes for which the Generate Exception-Based Timesheets check box is checked in the Timesheet Classes screen.
The valid selections in Function are those functional roles that meet both of these criteria:
The functional role is assigned to you on the Supervisors tab of the Employee Groups screen for one or more employee groups.
The functional role has rights to modify timesheets.
If you are adding a new set of parameters and you have more than one role that meets these criteria, "Select" appears in Function. In that case, you can select one of them, or you can select "All."
The selected role or roles in turn control which groups are displayed for selection in the Groups list box. The only groups listed are those for which you are assigned one of the selected roles.
In Group, select the employee groups to which the employees belong for whom you want to generate timesheets. You can select one group, all groups, or any combination of them.
Your selection in Function controls which groups are displayed for selection. The only groups listed are those for which you are assigned one of the selected roles.
Click Select All to select all employee groups shown in the list.
If all groups are selected, the button label changes to Deselect All.
In Class, select the timesheet classes to which the employees for whom you want to generate timesheets are assigned. You can select one class, all classes, or any combination of them.
The Generate with Hours check box controls which classes are displayed for selection:
If that box is checked, the list includes only timesheet classes for which the Generate Exception-Based Timesheets check box is checked in the Timesheet Classes screen.
If that box is not checked, all timesheet classes are listed.
Click Select All to select all timesheet classes shown in the list.
If all classes are selected, the button label changes to Deselect All.
In Sort, indicate whether you want the employees listed under Results by employee ID or employee name.
Click the Execute button to display a list of employees in Results. The employees are selected based on your entries under Criteria.
When you click Execute, the employees selected based on your entries under Criteria are listed under Results.
To select the employees for whom you want to generate a timesheet, check the box in the first column next each of the employees.
If you want to select most but not all of the employees, you can check the box in the heading area of the grid to select all of them and then clear the boxes for those employees you want to exclude.
Click Generate to generate a timesheet for the specified timesheet schedule, period, and status for each of the employees you selected under Results.
Once you have generated timesheets, you can do either of the following:
Preview or print the Generate Timesheet report to make sure all the timesheets were generated successfully. To do that, click Preview/Print and select Summary Report in the Print dialog box.
Print the timesheets that were generated. If you generated timesheets with hours, click Preview/Print and select Timesheets in the Print dialog box. If you generated timesheets without hours, click Preview/Print and select Pre-Printed Timesheets in the Print dialog box. (If you generate and print timesheets without hours, they are printed in a worksheet format designed for recording hours by hand.)
Click Cancel to close the Generate Timesheets screen without generating timesheets.
When you click Save in the Generate Timesheets screen, the Save Parameters dialog box opens. Use this dialog box to assign a code, description, and options to a new set of paramenters or to change the description or options for an existing set of parameters:
In Code, enter a unique code to identify the set of parameters you are saving.
In Description, enter a description of the set of parameters you are saving.
If you want other users to have access to the set of parameters you are saving, check Public.
The Print Report check box is not used in the current version.
After you generate timesheets, you have the option to also produce the Generate Timesheets report in .PDF format. You can then review that report online or print it.
The Generate Timesheets report lists each employee for whom you attempted to generate a timesheet. If the timesheet was generated, the Results column on the report contains "Timesheets Successfully Generated." If Time & Expense with ESS was unable to generate a timesheet for an employee, the Results column provides an explanation so you can correct the problem.