If you are currently evaluating timesheet and/or time tracking software, you’ve probably found that many commercial applications out there don’t offer a great deal of flexibility in terms of customization and configuration without the need for development/programming expertise.

One of the things Lookout Software takes great pride in with Office Timesheets is that it is like a blank canvas with a few core conventions for entering time and expenses. Everything else within Office Timesheets is meant to be customized and configured so that it adapts to your organization’s unique terminology, policies, processes and procedures; and not the other way around. Of course, we supply you with a simple pre-set structure for tracking time and expenses, for which you may change and add to immediately or as time goes by; and by which your organization’s policies and procedures, and employee time tracking and expense reporting evolve.

A few things you’ll find with Office Timesheets include:

• A customizable interface which can be totally unique by user account (via the user’s assigned security policy)
• Fully customizable data collection buckets (element levels)
• Customizable rules for entering time collection data
• Custom rate tables with both standard and overtime rates applied by effective dates
• Fully customizable reporting periods, approval process, alerts and notifications

Customizable Timesheet Application Interface for All User Types

User Security Policies within Office Timesheets not only determine what a user can do, but can also determine precisely what tabs, ribbon groups, and functions within each ribbon group that a user can see when logged into the application. Not only does this make the application more secure, it also protects data, and makes the interface less cluttered and confusing to the end-user, making it much easier and faster to use. This is highly important since time collection processes must be quick and simple to ensure that the imported data is accurate and truly meaningful.

A good example of harnessing this type of control would be to create unique interfaces for primary user types within your organization. Let’s say your primary user types are Employees, Managers and Administrators. Within Office Timesheets, you have the ability to deliver to each of these user types an entirely unique interface with only those features and functions that each user will need to see and use. Everything else would be hidden away. Let’s take a look at how we might set up Office Timesheets to deliver a time and expense tracking interface precisely tailored to each of these example user types.

Customizable Time & Expense Tracking Data Collection Elements

Office Timesheets allows you to create up to ten (10) customizable data collection buckets (element levels). A few examples of Element Levels you can create within Office Timesheets include:

• Clients
• Projects
• Phases
• Sub-tasks
• Matters
• Jobs
• Cost Centers
• Cases

While Office Timesheets includes a default configuration of Element Levels upon installation, you can re-name them to whatever you want, and start tracking time using a unique structure that matches your organization’s specific needs…all within a matter of a few minutes. Once time is collected at these levels you’ll be able to quickly analyze every aspect of your business using one of our two built-in reporting tools or even further slicing and dicing within Microsoft Excel.

Customizable Rules for Entering Time Collection Data

Office Timesheets includes comprehensive rules configuration to enforce proper task creation to match your company’s policies, processes and procedures for time tracking and expense reporting. Office Timesheets' comprehensive rules engine includes Element Level dependencies for task creation; required Element Level selection; and much more.

Customizable Employee Rate Tables

Office Timesheets includes five customizable employee rate tables. You can customize these rate tables to:

• Include standard rates and overtime rates
• Rates by effective date
• Examples: Billing Rates, Overhead Rates, Pay Rates, Shift-Differential/Hazard Rates, etc.

Customizable Reporting Periods, Approval Process, Alerts and Notifications

• Reporting periods by employee type, region, country, etc.
• Reporting period time is due, time is not due, time is overdue; all with custom email alerts to employees and employee managers
• Multi-level approval process with email notifications for employee and managers