The Time function allows you to create time entries within FYI. For practices integrated with Xero Practice Manager (XPM), the time entries are synchronised to Xero Practice Manager, allowing you to complete all your daily time functions directly within FYI.
Note: Time functions are only available for practices on the Pro and Elite plans. Refer to Subscribing to an FYI Plan.
Time entries are recorded against a Client, with a Job and an XPM Task. You can add a Time entry directly for the Client/Job or add Time to an email, document, task or job. If using Workflow Jobs, the Job in Xero Practice Manager (the Billing Job in FYI) must have Tasks in Xero Practice Manager to submit time against. Refer to Workflow Jobs.
When integrated with Xero Practice Manager, time can only be added for users assigned to the Job or Task. Refer to the Synchronisation with Xero Practice Manager section below.
Individual Time Entries and Bulk Time Entries
Adding Individual Time Entries
You can add individual Time entries in the following ways:
- Create a new Time entry using the + button in the menu bar and selecting Time,
or press the shortcut key I. - For an email, document, task or job selected in a list, click the Add Time icon in the tools at the top of the drawer.
- Expand the Time section in the drawer of an opened email or document and click Add Time.
Note: Time Entries cannot be added to completed or cancelled jobs.
You can add time as "Draft" or "Submit". Time entries with the Status set as "Submit" are synchronised to Xero Practice Manager. In your Home - My Time, you can display all the time entries you have added for a day, update any and either submit them one at a time or all entries for a day at one time.
Bulk Time Entry
You can also use the FYI Bulk Time Entry feature to add draft time for selected emails and documents. This allows you to create draft time entries for the documents you have worked on and then review these in your My Time and add the time for each before submitting them to Xero Practice Manager. Refer to Using Bulk Time Entry to Create Draft Time.
Adding Individual Time Entries
- Click the + button in the menu bar.
- Select I from the list of document types. You can also press the shortcut key I for a new Time entry.
Or
From an open document, click the Add time icon in the header of the Drawer.
Or expand the Time section in the drawer of an opened email or document and click the Add Time button.
The Create Time displays.
- Select or enter the filing fields, or change the defaults that are given. Required fields are shown as highlighted.
The following is an example of a completed Time entry created with the + button.
When creating the Time entry for a selected email, document, task or job, the Client (and, if relevant, the Job) are shown as default but can be changed if needed.
Date - Date defaults to today's date. To change this, click the Date field and select the date from the calendar.
User - The User is set by default to your name. If adding the Time for a different person, select the name from the drop-down list. Note: If integrated with Xero Practice Manager, when synchronising time a user must be assigned to the Job or Task. If there is no user assigned, the user on the submitted time record will be used instead.
Client - type at least three characters of the client name to display all clients containing those characters anywhere in the Client Name. Then click to select the required client.
When adding a Time entry for an open document, this defaults to the client of the selected document and can be changed if relevant.
Job - Select the Job for the client (refer to Jobs).
When adding a Time entry for an email or document, this defaults to the Job of the selected email/document and can be changed if relevant. You can only select a job that is still open.
If your practice has Workflow Jobs enabled, the Workflow jobs are displayed in Job drop-down as well as the Billing Jobs when adding a Time entry. Billing Jobs must have a Task in Xero Practice Manager to submit time against.
Note: The Jobs that display depend on how the option Show Jobs by Client is set in your Practice Settings. When Show Jobs by Client is enabled in the Practice Settings, only the jobs for the specific client are included for selection. When Show Jobs by Client is not ticked in the Practice Settings, the list of jobs includes all jobs for all of the clients in the Client Group. Refer to Managing Practice Settings for Jobs.
XPM Task - If your practice has Workflow Jobs enabled, if a Billing Job is selected in Job drop-down, the corresponding Workflow Jobs are displayed in the XPM Task drop-down.
If there is only one Workflow Job, this is automatically selected as the XPM Task for the Time entry. Billing Jobs must have a Task in Xero Practice Manager to submit time against.
If your practice does not have Workflow Jobs enabled, when creating or editing a Time entry for a Standard Job, the XPM Tasks are shown and if there is only one XPM Task for the Job this is automatically selected for the Time entry.
Time - Enter the time taken. This is entered in hours and minutes in the format hh:mm.
Enter the time without the colon (:). FYI will automatically add the colon. For example,
to enter 1 hour 30 minutes type 0130
to enter 15 minutes type 0015.
To change the time entered, click the X in the Time field to delete it and then enter it again.
Status - Select the Status as "Draft" or "Submit".
"Submit" submits the Time entry to Xero Practice Manager.
"Draft" leaves the Time entry in FYI as draft. You can then submit the individual entry as "Submit" from your Home - My Time or by submit all the draft times for a day at the same time. Refer to Displaying and Updating Time.
Notes - add any notes for the Time.
When adding a Time entry for an open email, document, task or job, this defaults to the type and the name of the selected document, for example "Letter: ATO Overdue Payment", "Email: BAS Due", "Task: Follow up with client", "Job: 2020 Compliance" and this can be changed if required.
Billable - This defaults to "On". If the Time is not billable, click this to switch Billable to "Off".
Document - When adding Time from the Time section in the drawer of an opened email or document, the document name displays.
-
Click Create
The Time is saved in FYI and can be displayed in your Home on the My Time tab.
If you are not assigned to the Job
If you are not one of the Assigned Users for the selected or defaulted job, FYI will need to add you temporarily and then remove you. It is a requirement of Xero Practice Manager that, before time can be entered for a staff member, they need to be assigned to the job and task that the time is being recorded against.
When FYI assigns and then removes the user as assignee, you may receive a notification from Xero Practice Manager.
Displaying/Adding Time in the Email or Document Drawer
Expanding the Time section in an email or document drawer shows any Time that has been recorded for the email/document. This is useful to check if you have already entered the time details for that email/document.
You can also add Time for the email/document by clicking the Add Time button in the Time section. This displays the Create Time in the drawer with the client and job pre-filled.
Displaying and Updating Time
Go to your Home - My Time tab to see how many hours you have recorded with individual time entries for the relevant day and to check and add hours to any time created by the Bulk Time Entry. Refer to Displaying and Updating Time.
Synchronisation with Xero Practice Manager
Time Entry Status
Time entries with the Status "Syncing" are yet to be synchronised to Xero Practice Manager.
Time entries with the Status set as "Submit" are synchronised to Xero Practice Manager. Time entries are queued and can take up to 15 minutes to sync.
Users Assigned to the Job or Task
Due to limitations of the Xero Practice Manager (XPM) API, users must be assigned to a Job or Task before they can submit time.
This means that for each time entry synchronised to XPM, multiple requests are made by FYI:
- Assign the user to the Job or Task,
- Submit the time,
- Remove the user.
Depending on the number of time entries submitted each day, this may increase the risk of reaching the Xero Rate Limit, and no further data can be synchronised. Refer to Xero Practice Manager Rate Limiting.
Where practices have a number of users working on a single Job or Task, it may be recommended to log time directly in Xero Practice Manager.
Making Changes and Displaying Time for Other Users
- Any changes to a Time entry that has the State set as "Submit" must be done in Xero Practice Manager.
- If you need to display Time for another user, this needs to be done in Xero Practice Manager.
Recommended Approach to Recording Time in FYI
We recommend recording your Time from within FYI, rather than via Xero Practice Manager. This allows you to leverage the data that is already in FYI by recording your time against the documents and client interactions in FYI. The better the filing of your documents, the more optimised your time recording will become.
One approach is to record your time at the end of the day as follows:
- From your Home in FYI, display the My Recent tab.
- This displays all the emails and documents you have created or modified. The My Last Edit column shows the date and time you last modified the email or document.
By default, this displays the emails and documents you have modified in the last five days. You can change this by filtering the list on the My Last Edit date. For date columns, you can use the selector to quickly set the Start Date and End Date. Display the date column filter and click the button next to the dates to display a list of selectors that can be used, for example, "1D" for one day, "2D" for two days. Refer also to Filtering on a Date in Sorting and Filtering.
- You can then add an individual time entry to the relevant emails and documents, either as "Draft" or "Submit time.
and/or
Select the relevant documents and use the FYI Bulk Time Entry function to create draft time entries that you can review.
Adding Individual Time Entries
From your Home - My Recent (or any other list), you can click on each of the relevant documents and assign time to each from the FYI drawer as detailed above.
Creating Bulk Time Entry
From your Home - My Recent (or any other list), select any emails and documents you have worked on and click Time Entry in the toolbar. Or right-click and select Time Entry from the toolbar pop-up menu (refer to Using the Document Action Tool Bar).
