Recently in Timesheets MTS Category

I've just uploaded a new version of Timesheets MTS that includes a number of bug fixes and a couple of new features. Details are below.

• Replaced the "parent project" drop-down on the Task Maintenance page. Somehow this went missing in version 2.4.25.
• Modified the Weekly Time Display to include the week start date in the header of each weekly column.
• Added a 'prevent over-budget posting' setting to tasks. If you're using a task based budget and have estimated labor hours set then the software will prevent posting of times to a task that is over-budget (or will be made over-budget by a new posting). Note that you must have the estimated hours budget set to more than zero for this to function.
• Fixed a couple of resizing problems on the project maintenance page and the invoice maintenance page. Also fixed a small display issue with the find contact text box on the contact maintenance page.

Thanks again must go to users of Timesheets MTS who told me about most of these errors, some of them are fairly obscure and I can't fix them if I'm not told! Also thanks to other users who suggested the couple of features that I included, they are pretty useful and I am sure they will get used.

I've just released a new version of Timesheets MTS addressing some reporting issues as well as some tweaks to some reports, and changing the way that the add time screen works slightly. Details of the release can be found below.

• Added an 'invoiced' column to the Project Expenditure Report.
• Added three new columns to the Issue Report, the start date, the due date, and the project notes.
• Changed the way that the project and task drop downs work on the add time screen. You can just type in the first few letters/numbers of the project number or task number and the software will match up project or task for you from your list of projects or tasks. Makes things a lot easier if you have a very long project or task list.
• Added a 'Use Employee Abbreviation' setting to the Detailed Activity Report. Simply allows you to show the employee abbreviation rather than the full name on the report.
• Fixed up a small formatting problem with the project task report.
• Fixed up some resizing problems with the add/edit times screen that users on Vista and Windows 7 were seeing.

Ouch. I'd forgotten that this blog existed, many apologies to anyone who was coming here to see if there was any news. There's a little bit today that some users may find interesting. I've made a release of Timesheets MTS today that includes a number of fixes, new debugging code to track down persistent errors and some interesting new features and reports. Key changes include:

• A bunch of new debugging code to try to track down 4 or 5 persistent (but minor bugs).
• Added the project classification to the current projects report.
• Added the labor variance report. It's basically a cut down version of the Productivity Report but with a stronger focus on labor metrics.
• Adjusted the default values for estimated task start and end dates so they set themselves to the task creation date rather than some date back in 2005 which is what it was doing.
• Added dependent task timing. Basically this allows you to define an elapsed task duration (which is different to estimated labor hours). Each task can then be given a predecessor dependency and a rough and ready project critical path built up. Task estimated start and end dates are automatically calculated based on the duration of the task and the predecessors that it has.
• Added the project gantt report. This report prints out a gantt style chart of a project showing task timing and also includes a lot of useful labor metrics which are very useful for project tracking.

That's it for this entry. Hopefully it wont be a year until I update this blog next time!

Based on my experience on working with contractors it is not all that unusual to receive an invoice for every project they happen to be working on with you. In some cases this isn't a bad thing and actually makes your ( the customers) internal accounting procedures a little easier. Of course some customers don't like getting one invoice for every project and would prefer to receive one invoice bundling up charges for all projects that you, as the consultant, are working on. Timesheets MTS allows you to use either of these two methods. In a nutshell here's how to do it:

1. Log into Timesheets MTS with a user account that can generate invoices (financial user or super user) and go to the Invoices screen (using the main toolbar).
2. Click the New Invoice button.
3. Give the new invoice an invoice number (if you don't have auto numbering switched on) and select the invoice customer.
4. Now we have to allocate billable activity to the invoice. Click on the Invoice Line Items tab and then click the Get Invoice Line Items button.
5. On the left hand side of the new window that will pop up you can see a project list. This is where you can choose to invoice one, many, or all of the projects for the selected customer. Just select the projects you want to invoice.
6. Select the date range for the activity you are going to bill, and then click the Get Details button to get the billable activity. If you are happy with the details click the Accept Details button. You'll be taken back to the main Invoice screen now.
7. If you are happy with the invoice you can now save it, and print it out for issuing to your customer.

A common question I am asked is whether you can use Timesheets Lite data with Timesheets MTS. The simple answer is no, the products are very different, the data used is very different, and the databases themselves are very different. However, I do have a tool I can use to upgrade the database for you. Here's what you need to do to get your Timesheets Lite database upgraded:

1. Email me your Timesheets Lite database.
2. The Timesheets Lite database can be found in c:\Program Files\Timesheets Lite\ unless you have moved it.  Ideally you should zip up the database with Winzip or something similar before emailing it.
3. When we have received your database we will export all of the data from it into a brand new Timesheets MTS database.
4. Within 24 hours we will email this new database back to you.  Just unzip it and copy it over your existing Timesheets MTS database.
5. The Timesheets MTS database can be found in different locations depending on your version of Windows.  In Windows Vista you'll find it in c:\ProgramData\Timesheets MTS\Database.  In versions of Windows prior to Vista you'll find it in c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Timesheets MTS\Database . Of course in both cases if you've moved your database then it will be somewhere else.
6. All Timesheets Lite projects will have equivalent projects created in Timesheets MTS.  Timeshets MTS tasks will be created for each Timesheets Lite Common Activity.  Time data not booked to a Common Activity in Timesheets Lite will be booked against a non allocated task in Timesheets MTS. All time activity booked against a common activity in Timesheets Lite will be booked against the corresponding task in Timesheets MTS.

That's all there is to it. If you do want to upgrade your Timesheets Lite database to try out Timesheets MTS then just let me know.