Virtual Time+Expense Overview Contents Introduction... 2 Concepts Overview... 3 Roles and Responsibilities... 3 State Overview... 4 Workflow... 4 Navigating Virtual Time+Expense... 5 Data Entry... 6 Approval... 7 Processing... 8 Billables... 12 Payables... 15 Workflow Complete!... 19 Virtual Time+Expense Overview 1 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Introduction Welcome to Virtual Time+Expense! You re on the fast track to saving time and money by taking control of your company s timecards and expense reports. Here are a few of the key areas that Virtual Time+Expense will help you with: Collect all time and expense reports from employees via the web Obtain manager approval(s) via the web Make necessary changes before exporting data to the accounting system Sync all list data with QuickBooks or Peachtree at the touch of a button Generate detailed invoices into your accounting system without redundant data entry Calculate gross payroll Export W-2 payroll to your payroll provider Export contractor vendor payments into your accounting system (1099 and Corp2Corp) or included with payroll Reimburse employee expenses Generate reports for management, clients, etc. Virtual Time+Expense is a flexible tool that works alongside your existing accounting and payroll systems. As such, any or all of these features may be used or omitted based on your company s needs. Figures 1 and 2 below show a high-level overview of how Virtual Time+Expense operates as the front-end process of the time and expense processes that eventually flow into your accounting and payroll systems. Figure 1: Timecard Process Overview Virtual Time+Expense Overview 2 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Figure 2: Expense Report Process Overview Concepts Overview Virtual Time+Expense uses an easy-to-follow six-step process. These six steps (or states) flow naturally from one to another to help you ensure that all time and expense information is accurately recorded. The six states are: Before we walk through each of these states, let s first discuss roles and responsibilities: Roles and Responsibilities There are three basic categories of users in Virtual Time+Expense: Employees, Managers and Accounting. Employees/Contractors: These are the individuals who submit time and/or expense reports. To make this overview simple, we will refer to both employees and contractors as employees unless there is a specific difference to mention (and Virtual Time+Expense does know the difference). Managers: Any individual who approves time or expenses is considered an approver. Approvers include your internal managers as well as any external client manager who approves your employee s time and/or expense reports. Accounting: The person or persons responsible for overseeing the timely accounting for time and expenses. Note that a user can assume one or more of these roles. Virtual Time+Expense Overview 3 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Here s how the roles and responsibilities line up with the states. Each state has been color-coded based on these roles and responsibilities: State Overview Now let s briefly review the six states of Virtual Time+Expense. This summary level will give you a sense for the activities in each state and we will spend the majority of the remainder of this manual providing you with a more comprehensive explanation of each. Data Entry is typically performed by the employee. Employees submit their information for approval based on the cycle defined by your company (most often tied to the pay cycle). Approval of time and expense is performed by the managers you define. These are typically an external client manager or an internal project manager. Processing describes the accounting level review and the preparation of data before export from Virtual Time+Expense to your accounting software. Once processed, your data is now ready to be billed (invoiced) and paid (payroll/contractor payments/expense reimbursements) - in either order. Billing exports generated invoices into your accounting software. Paying exports generated gross W-2 payroll to external payroll systems, and vendor payments and expense reimbursements to your accounting software. Complete is the final state reached after the cycle s information has been billed and paid. This data remains available for viewing or reporting. At any given time, each timecard and expense report is in one of the six states mentioned above. By employing this left-to-right process, Virtual Time+Expense helps move this data from start to finish as quickly and efficiently as possible. Workflow Workflow describes the movement of information through Virtual Time+Expense. So far we ve introduced the simple six-step process. Next we will render the six-step process with a little more detail. Here is a graphic representation of the Virtual Time+Expense workflow in more detail, color coded based on roles and responsibilities we identified earlier: Virtual Time+Expense Overview 4 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Figure 3: Virtual Time+Expense Workflow The states in the workflow can once more be simplified as shown in figure 4 below (again color coded for who is responsible). From now on we will use this diagram to highlight what state of the workflow you are currently reading about. Figure 4: Simplified Virtual Time+Expense Workflow Navigating Virtual Time+Expense Each of the primary states in the workflow described above is represented by an "area in Virtual Time+Expense. The areas are navigated by using the navigation bar on the top of each screen. In each area you ll typically apply three concepts: 1. View the data that is waiting to be accepted in that state; 2. Utilize the tools to complete the objectives for that state; and 3. Accept the data and move it to the next state A simple example can be found in the "To Be Approved" area. When viewing this area, a manager is presented with a list of time and expense awaiting their approval. The tools in this area allow the manager to review the details of each timecard. To move this data from the state, they can approve, reject, or forward to another manager. Once approved, rejected or forwarded the time or expense is removed from the manager s list of pending approvals. Virtual Time+Expense Overview 5 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Key Concept: All pending data is always shown Key Concept: Timecards and Expense Reports are always clearly visible. This example highlights a key aspect of Virtual Time+Expense: data waits at each state (like a "to-do" list) until the appropriate user selects and moves it to the next state. This means nothing can be lost in the system because you re always shown all pending data at once. This allows you to spend less time determining what needs to be done and more time reviewing and accepting the data. Timecards and expense reports are always visible as they make their way through Virtual Time+Expense. Employees can see if the information they submitted has been approved and know where to follow up as necessary. This transparency reduces follow up time and provides employees with the assurance that their information can never be lost. The benefit of transparency also extends to the accounting department. Each pay cycle, the accounting department can easily see which employees and/or managers need to submit or approve their information, and can send system-generated email reminders at the touch of a button. Data Entry Section Topics: How employees enter time and expense into Virtual Time+Expense Process Owner: Employees All timecard and expense report data is typically entered by the employee. The process is very simple and straight forward: Employees login to Virtual Time+Expense via the web Employees view their time in the Calendar area and enter it via the Timecard Employees enter their expense report data in the Expenses area When completed, employees submit the time and expense information, where it proceeds to the approval state. The approver is notified via email. Virtual Time+Expense Overview 6 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Both the approver and the administrator will want to ensure that all time and expense are received and approved in time to meet billing and/or payroll obligations. The steps for doing so are covered in the next two sections: approving and processing. Approval Section Topics: How managers review and approve time and expense in Virtual Time+Expense Process Owner: Managers When time and expense are submitted by employees, the next state is the approval process. Approving managers are defined in the setup process and can be assigned to either an employee (typically the employee s direct manager) or project (typically the client project manager). In some cases the accounting department performs the approval function. In all cases, the process is very simple and straight forward: Managers login to Virtual Time+Expense via the web Managers review the timecard and expense report data as submitted to them by the employees in the To Be Approved area Managers can accept or reject each timecard or expense report Managers can also forward the information to other managers for approval Accepted timecards and expense reports proceed to the processing state Rejected timecards and expense reports are returned to the employee with manager comments. The employee is notified via email that their data was rejected. The administrator will want to ensure that all time and expense reports are approved and received in time to meet billing and/or payroll obligations. The steps for doing so are covered in the Processing section. Virtual Time+Expense Overview 7 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Processing Section Topics: How to ensure all time and expense has been submitted and approved How to use the tools to shorten your closing of the period How to review, modify and accept data to be sent to the Billables and Payables steps Process Owner: Accounting Concept Overview Typically, at the end of your predefined time period (pay cycle, invoicing cycle) one must assess two questions: Do I have all my timecards? Do I have all my expense reports? Gathering this information involves many people, and typically the information cannot be found in one place. For example, if an employee has not submitted their timecard you must call them to determine the reason, or if a manager has not approved an expense report, you must remind them to do so. In most cases, a company can not close out a period of time until all information is approved and in the hands of the accounting department. The following figure shows this workflow: Virtual Time+Expense Overview 8 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Figure 5: Process Workflow Let s look at a simple example of how most manual time collections process works. With this example in mind, you ll be able to easily visualize how Virtual Time+Expense helps keep the information flow organized and working smoothly: Assume that you close your time-reporting cycle each week. In order to close, you begin by collecting approved timecards for all of the employees. Upon review, you note that you are missing two timecards. You contact the employees and learn that one person forgot to submit their timecard and the other submitted the timecard but it is still awaiting the manager s approval. You remind the one employee to submit the timecard, and then send an email to the other manager to expedite approval. The next day you once again check the status of the two delinquent timecards, and find they have both been approved and are waiting in your inbox. With all timecards approved and received, you are now ready to close the previous week to run payroll and invoice your customers. This simple scenario illustrates the time delay between the end of a period and when all approved information has been gathered (Figure 6). The more employees, contractors, managers, and customers that are involved in this process, the more complex it becomes and the longer it takes. Minimizing this delay will save you time and allow you to bill customers faster for services rendered. Virtual Time+Expense Overview 9 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Figure 6: Data Collection Delay Virtual Time+Expense helps you with this process by providing you with complete visibility into all missing and unapproved information, and the means to expedite collection by reminding both employees and managers. We ll discuss these features in the next section. Virtual Time+Expense s Process Virtual Time+Expense identifies all unsubmitted and unapproved timecards and provides them to you in the "To Be Processed" area. This management dashboard gives you a birds-eye view of all pending time and expense data, and provides the tools to act on this information. Processing encompasses two concepts: the accounting level of approval, and preparing the information to be exported for invoicing and/or payroll. By adding the processing state after approval, Virtual Time+Expense gives accounting complete control of accepting data (and is essentially a gateway to your ERP). While approval is typically handled by many people both inside and outside your company, processing acts as an internal information funnel. The tasks you can perform from the To Be Processed area include: Identify all timecards that haven't been submitted for a given week Identify all timecards and expense reports that have not yet been approved Instantly send email reminders to any delinquent parties Review all approved timecards and expense reports Make changes as necessary Enter timecards and expense reports on behalf of any user Virtual Time+Expense Overview 10 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Utilizing these tools will allow you to stay on top the process and minimize any delays in closing each period. Once you review and process the data, it then simultaneously proceeds to both Billables and Payables, which comprise the next states in the workflow. Note that depending on your needs, either of these steps are optional and can be performed in either order. Key Concept: All pending data is always shown Regardless of when or for what time period data is entered, when submitted and/or approved it appears in the To Be Processed area - queued with the rest of the unprocessed data. Again, this to-do list concept means nothing is missed or duplicated, and everything is eventually invoiced or paid once. Virtual Time+Expense Overview 11 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Billables Section Topics How to generate and export invoices The difference between timecard and invoice data Handling both billable and non-billable time Process Owner: Accountant After data have been processed, the last two states in the workflow are Billables and Payables. It is from these areas that data flows from Virtual Time+Expense into your accounting system. Billables is used for invoicing your customers for billable time. If you do not invoice customers for time, feel free to skip this section. From the Billables area, you export timecards and/or invoices into your accounting software, as shown in figure 1 below. Figure 1: Billables to External Systems There are two options for invoicing customers from the Billables area: 1. Export invoices: Virtual Time+Expense calculates the amounts to be invoiced and exports the details directly to the invoicing module of your accounting software. By leveraging your existing accounting software, this process saves you invoice calculation and data entry time while still retaining all of the benefits of your accounting software (such as receivables tracking and revenue reporting). 2. Export timecards: Virtual Time+Expense will export timecard data directly into your accounting software. If you export time and invoice data (above), the billable time will be marked as has been billed appropriately, preventing double billing. If you export timecards only and still want to generate invoices within your accounting software, the billable time will be marked as to be billed. When generating an invoice, Virtual Time+Expense is able to combine information entered by employees on timecards (i.e. the project and hours) with the information initially setup by the Admin (i.e. billrates and items). By limiting both data entry by your Virtual Time+Expense Overview 12 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
employees and manual data transcription by your accountant, you are also eliminating the potential errors by either party. Key Concept: Limiting employee choices eliminates invoicing mistakes Some information that appears on an invoice will not change on a regular basis. For instance, if an employee only bills time using one item, or a project is only associated with one class, Virtual Time+Expense allows the administrator to set these static options once. In doing so, entry for the employee is easier and less error-prone. This process of resolution, controlled by the administrator during setup, guarantees accuracy without unreliable and resource draining spotchecks. In the Billables area, data is presented as aggregated billing information instead of as individual timecards and/or expense reports. For example, the fees generated from hours worked on a client engagement are calculated and totaled for invoicing. Although some calculations and combinations are performed, none of the original information is ever lost. As you process timecards and the data arrives in Billables, it will either cause a new invoice to be created, or if possible it will be added to an existing invoice that is already waiting in Billables to be exported. Virtual Time+Expense also lets you control how often you invoice. Whether you bill all of your customers at the same time or on customer-specific schedules, Virtual Time+Expense offers a variety of billing options. Key Concept: Invoicing cycles Invoices are generated based on your billing cycle. The billing cycles supported by Virtual Time+Expense include: Weekly Bi-weekly Semi-monthly Monthly All (all unbilled amounts are aggregated together). You may elect to use more than one type of billing cycle by simply defining a unique billing cycle on any customer or project in the Admin section. With these settings in place, customers to be billed on a weekly cycle will be grouped for weekly billing, customers billed monthly will be grouped for monthly invoicing, etc. Other options to control invoice grouping include invoicing per employee and billing project time to the parent company. Non-Billable Time Virtual Time+Expense allows you to designate by project if time is billable or nonbillable. Examples of non-billable time include: internal administrative time, paid time off, time spent on fixed price contracts or any other reason to not bill based on hours. Virtual Time+Expense Overview 13 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
The timecard data will still appear in Billables as a $0 invoice for easy identification (and to select the time for export if needed). If a project can be billable, you can also enable an employee to mark specific hours for that project as non-billable (but this is not the default). Wrapping Up As you export invoices to your accounting software, the timecards are marked as billed and the information is removed from the Billables area. This exported information is still accessible by looking at previous exports, running reports or viewing past timecards. Virtual Time+Expense Overview 14 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Payables Section Topics How to generate and export gross payroll How to generate payments to subcontractors How to generate expense reimbursements Handling both payable and non-payable time Process Owner: Accountant After data have been processed, the last two states in the workflow are Billables and Payables. It is from these areas that data flows from Virtual Time+Expense into external systems. Payables is used for paying workers for time and expense. If you do not pay based on time or use expenses, feel free to skip this section. From the Payables area, you can export timecards, employee gross hourly W2 payroll to your payroll software, payments to contractors for time, and payments to both employees and contractors for expenses. This flow is shown in Figure 1 below. Figure 1: Payables to External Systems Your payment options are affected by the type of payee and the type of payment (time or expenses). Payees can be grouped into three basic categories: Employees (Hourly and or Salaried) Contractors (1099 s) Companies (a company represents one or more Contractors aka Corp-to-Corp) Let s walk through the payment options for each: Employee Payroll: Virtual Time+Expense Overview 15 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Virtual Time+Expense will calculate gross payroll per employee and export the data to an external payroll provider (i.e. ADP, Paychex). Gross payroll is calculated based on all of the pertinent data in the system (hourly vs. salaried, hours worked, payrates, overtime rules, etc.). Virtual Time+Expense also supports exporting timecards to the time tracking module in your accounting software. This option skips the gross payroll calculation and simply exports the timecard data. This option won t impact the way that you process payroll or how you use your accounting software. In this case, Virtual Time+Expense simply saves you the manual data entry. Contractor Payments Contractor payments for time worked, whether for 1099 contractors or Corp-to-Corp, can be exported three different ways: To Accounts Payable: A bill for the amount due is added to accounts payable for each payee. Directly to check: This option bypasses accounts payable and creates a check (to be printed) for the amount due the contractor directly in your bank register for immediate payment. To the payroll software: This option is useful for contractors who are paid through the direct deposit feature offered by the payroll service. Virtual Time+Expense Overview 16 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Expense Reimbursements: Expense reimbursements can be exported four different ways: To Accounts Payable: A bill for the amount due is added to accounts payable for each payee. Directly to check: This option bypasses accounts payable and creates a check (to be printed) for the amount due the employee directly in your bank register for immediate payment Credit card entry: Virtual Time+Expense records charges made on a company credit card and exports these transactions to your accounting software as a credit card charge linked to the corresponding credit card account register. Journal Entry: Virtual Time+Expense exports a journal entry of expenses that are billable to a client. This feature can also be used for amounts reimbursed through the company s payroll service any other means independent of your accounting software. Virtual Time+Expense Overview 17 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Virtual Time+Expense Overview 18 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.
Workflow Complete! Section Topics Recap Running reports Process Owner: Accountant Congratulations! You ve made it to the final section of the Getting Started Guide. Let s recap the process so far: Employees enter time and expenses into Virtual Time+Expense Managers approve time and expenses Accounting reviews the data to ensure completeness and accuracy Invoice data are generated and exported as appropriate Payables data are exported to the payroll and/or accounting systems You now also know that as new data enters each area, they are held in that area until processed. Once processed, they are removed from the list of to-do s in that area and are passed to the next step. This keeps each area clean and users focused on items that require their attention. Once data have completed their way through the workflow, they can be viewed in the Reports area. This area contains a number of standard reports such as Time by Project, Expenses by Employee and Invoices by Customer. These reports allow you to slice and dice processed information by employee, project, date range and more. Take some time to explore this section. You ll find data mining benefits that paper processes simply cannot offer. This concludes the Getting Started Guide. You re now up to date with the key concepts of Virtual Time+Expense and should be ready to begin your implementation! Virtual Time+Expense Overview 19 Copyright 2009 Virtual Software Inc.