Another unique feature of expense entries is expense types. Just like you would specify the employees or clients for an
entry, expense types can also be defined for things that are used frequently, such
as shipping costs or travel expenses. This feature allows you to pre-define everything from
the expense name, description, price, quantity, markup/markdown, tax, and whether
it is inactive or active. You can also determine if the expense is an expense group,
and the values within the customized element fields (for example, accounting codes
or audit codes).
Expense Entry Values
Before entering an expense entry, there must always be a task for that expense to
associate. For each task created, Office Timesheets creates a row for the task in
the expense sheet view, just like in the timesheet view. The values that define
an expense entry can either be entered in manually at the time that the expense
entry is created, or they can be pre-determined to be task-specific. The values
and options that you can give an expense entry include:
- Description
- Price
- Quantity
- Markup/markdown
- Tax
- Apply tax to markup/markdown
The description can be anything that is associated to that certain expense, such
as “company based charge” or “Hotel’s daily rate.” To calculate the total price
of an expense, simply enter in the price of the expense and then the quantity, and
Office Timesheets automatically calculates the total price of the expense. You can
also apply a markup or markdown to the total, as well as a tax percentage. The tax
can also be applied to the markup or markdown if necessary. After each value added
or changed, Office Timesheets automatically recalculates the total expense for you.
This total will be the amount displayed in the cell within your expense sheet view.
Remember, if an expense entry is given a specific expense type, all of these fields
can be filled in for you, making the process of entering expense entries much faster.
Expense Entry Statuses
As with time entries, Office Timesheets expense entries can also be given customized
statuses. These statuses can be for the approval process and/or other customized
statuses (such as Billable, Overtime, etc.). Remember, administrators can also lock the expense entries
once a task has been marked to a specific status, such as “Cancelled”. This prevents
users from adding, editing or deleting the expense entries for a task for security
and/or accounting reasons.
Expense Entry Notes
Office Timesheets also offers the ability to add notes to expense entries. Expense
entry notes are exclusive to that expense entry, and could include things
like “Included insurance with FedEx shipping charges” or “Markdown included for
AAA member hotel pricing.” After a note is added to an expense entry, a small red
square appears in the cell beside the expense entry on the expense sheet to remind
the user that there are notes associated with the expense entry.
Expense Reporting
Reporting expense entries can be just as important as reporting your time entries.
With Office Timesheets, reporting your expense entries is available in just about
every way possible. Customizing detailed reports and summary reports is quick and easy. For
example, you can report an entire expense sheet for certain employees or employee group
for a specific reporting period; or pull all expenses by date. The possibilities
for expense reporting are endless with Office Timesheets. See the
Reporting
section for more details.
