Generating a Time Sheet Batch

SupportAbility is designed to produce Staff Time Sheets i.e. time and attendance data which can be exported from SupportAbility and imported into your organisation's Payroll system where award interpretation and the generation of payroll is completed. 

Performing the Activity Sign Off prepares all Staff Shifts within the Activity for inclusion in a Time Sheet Batch.

This article provides detailed information about how to generate, view and export a Time Sheet Batch.

Audience: Finance Team, HR Specialist, Team Leaders

Summary

The following list summarises the content within this article. Click on the links below to take you to the relevant sections:

Prerequisites

  • To access the Finance menu and generate a 'Time Sheet Batch', Staff Members require the Finance Admin privileges i.e. the ‘View Financial Information’ privilege in combination with either the ‘Edit ALL Client Records’, or ‘Team Leader for ALL Services’ privilege.
  • If the Staff Member does not have the 'Team Leader for ALL Services' privilege, nor the 'Human Resources for ALL Staff', then the Time Sheet results will be filtered to only include Time Sheets for Staff Members they have the Team Leader privilege for.
  • Payroll Configuration must be complete
  • An understanding of how SupportAbility categories Staff Shift hours is recommended, by reviewing the Award Categorisation Rules article linked below for reference.
    • N.B. There are some known issues with the way that SupportAbility is categorising the hours for some Staff shifts i.e. 'Inactive Night Shifts' commencing before midnight, and weekend shifts that occur after 8 pm. 
    • This issue is currently under review. Staff can, however, rely on the Time Sheet Batches to accurately report the number of hours Staff Members have worked for the reporting period.
    • More information is outlined in the Award Categorisation Rules article linked below for reference. 

Preparing Staff Time Sheets for a Time Sheet Batch

Staff can sign off their individual Time Sheets if this is a requirement of your organisation:

However, it is performing the Activity Sign Off that prepares all Staff Shifts within the Activity for inclusion in a Time Sheet Batch, regardless of whether individual Staff Shifts have been signed off or not:

The Activity Sign Off can be actioned by any Staff Member with access to the Activity and who has the 'Team Leader' Privilege.

Once the Activity has been signed off, the ability to sign off individual Staff Shifts will no longer be possible: 

The  'Finalised' data, as configured in System Preferences to use either 'Rostered' or 'Recorded' data, is used in all Timesheet Batches and associated exports. However, Staff with the privileges required to manage Activities for payroll can update this on a case-by-case basis as needed.

To edit the 'Finalised' data for payroll, prior to the Activity Sign Off, select the pencil edit icon next to Hours or Kms as needed: 

Be sure to save the Activity if any changes are made to 'Finalised' to ensure this flows through to the relevant reports. 

N.B. In the event that the Activity Sign Off is removed for any reason and a Time Sheet Batch has been generated for this Activity, the Time Sheets will remain locked and cannot be adjusted, nor can the Time Sheet Sign Off be removed.   This prevents the Time Sheets from being included in another Time Sheet Batch when the Activity Sign Off is performed again for this Activity.  

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How to generate a Time Sheet Batch

To generate a Time Sheet Batch select 'Finance' from the Dashboard:

Navigate to the 'Payroll' section of the Finance menu and select '+ Generate Time Sheet Batch':

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Time Sheet Batch search criteria

When generating a Time Sheet Batch a number of search criteria are available to assist with refining the results returned:

The full list of available search criteria includes the following:

  • Staff Member - a full list of Active Staff is available to choose from, however, only one Staff Member may be selected at a time
  • Activity Date: From/To - a range of Activity Dates may be selected using the From/To calendar functionality.
  • Type - options include 'Detailed' (default) or 'Summary', whereby the results returned for each type of Time Sheet Batch will be different:
    • 'Detailed' lists individual Time Sheets for each Staff Member on a separate line, thereby repeating the same Activity multiple times if there are multiple Shifts in that Activity 
    • 'Summary' combines the Time Sheets for each Staff Member in one line, thereby displaying each Staff Member on a separate line
  • Shift Includes Break - options include 'All', 'With Break', 'Without break'. This relates to whether the 'Includes Break' checkbox has been selected in the Staff section of Activities.
  • Shift is Paid - options include 'All', 'Paid', 'Not Paid'. This relates to whether the 'Not Paid' checkbox has been selected in the Staff section of Activities.
  • Employment Type - the options available to select from are relative to the options configured in the 'Staff: Employment Type' List on the Lists tab in System Preferences, and set in the 'Employment/Volunteer Type' field on the Human Resources tab of individual Staff Accounts.
  • Payroll Category - the options available to select from are relative to the options configured in the 'Staff: Payroll Category' List on the Lists tab in System Preferences, and set in the 'Payroll System Category' field on the Human Resources tab of individual Staff Accounts.
  • Services - All, None, one or several Services may be selected
  • Site - All, None, one or several Services may be selected

Use the search criteria to filter for the Time Sheets you wish to generate a batch for, then select the 'Search for Time Sheets' button to return a list of Staff Time Sheets matching the criteria selected. 

N.B. Only Time Sheets in Activities which have had the Sign Off performed i.e. approved will be available.

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Onscreen Search results

Once the 'Search for Time Sheets' button has been selected a list of results matching the search criteria selected will display onscreen.

The columns of information displayed in the results include the following:

  • Time Sheet # - SupportAbility automatically assigns a unique ID number e.g. #3654 per Time Sheet entry, be it per individual Staff Shift when 'Detailed' Type has been selected, or per Staff Member if Summary Type has been selected e.g. 1  
    N.B. each Staff Shift for the same Activity is listed as a separate row in the Detailed Time Sheet Batch. 
  • Add to Batch For Generation - the options available for selecting Time Sheets to include in the Batch, are the 'All' and 'None' buttons, or individual checkboxes which may be selected for those Time Sheets to be included in the Batch.
  • Staff Member - the Staff Member's full name
  • From (Date/Time) - the Activity From Date & Time related to the Time Sheet
  • To (Date/Time) - the Activity To Date & Time related to the Time Sheet
  • Service (@Site) - the Service and Site associated with the Activity and related Time Sheet
  • Activity - the Activity name
  • Location - the location where the Activity took place as entered in the Activity
  • Staff Clashes - options include 'Yes' and 'No'. This indicates if the Staff Member is rostered into another Activity with the same or overlapping date/times
  • Type - options include 'individual' indicating there is only 1 Client participant in the Activity, 'group' indicating multiple Client participants, or 'Staff' if there are no Clients participating in the Activity, known as a 'Staff only' Activity
  • GL Code - displays the GL code as entered in the 'Time Sheets' field on the GL Codes tab of Site records for the Site/Service the Activity, and subsequently, the Time Sheet relates to 

  • Standard Hrs - the number of hours in the Shift between the hours of 6.00 am and 8.00 pm, according to how SupportAbility categories the Shift hours
  • Evening Hrs - the number of hours in the Shift between 8:00 pm and 12:00 am, according to how SupportAbility categories the Shift hours
  • Active Night Shift Hrs - the number of hours in the Shift between 12:00 am and 6:00 am which have been entered as Active Night Shift hrs
  • Inactive Night Shift Hrs - the number of hours in the Shift between 12:00 am and 6:00 am, according to how SupportAbility categories the Shift hours
  • Time and a Half Hrs - all Saturday is time allocated as Time and a Half
  • Double Time Hrs - all Sunday is time allocated as Double Time
  • Company Kms - displays the value entered in the 'Company: Kilometers' field in the Staff section of the Activity
  • Private Kms - displays the value entered in the 'Private: Kilometers' field in the Staff section of the Activity
  • Incl. Break - options include 'Yes', and 'No'. This indicates if the 'Includes Break' checkbox was selected for this Staff Shift in the Staff section of the Activity
  • Paid - options include 'Yes', and 'No'. This indicates if the 'Not Paid' checkbox was selected for this Staff Shift in the Staff section of the Activity
     

N.B.

There are some known issues with the way that SupportAbility is categorising the hours for some Staff shifts, and this is currently under review by SupportAbility.  

  • SupportAbility is not currently recognising that when a shift commences before midnight, that all of that shift should be categorised as 'Inactive Night Shift'. It only recognises if the shift commences after midnight, that it is Inactive Night Shift. If the shift duration extends beyond 6:00 am, these hours will be categorised accordingly e.g. Standard Hours. 
  • In addition, weekend shifts that occur after 8 pm are being categorised as 'Evening Hours' incorrectly. 

Once the Time Sheet Batch has been generated the Detailed Time Sheet Batch export can be downloaded and reviewed as required.  

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Select Time Sheets to be included and Generate Time Sheet Batch

Select the applicable Time Sheets to generate into a batch either by selecting the 'All' button or selecting the individual checkboxes under 'Add To Batch For Generation':  

Then select the 'Generate Time Sheets For Batch' button:

The 'Generate Time Sheets' notification window will display questioning whether you wish to generate the selected number of Time Sheets. If you wish to proceed, select the 'Generate Time Sheet' button:

SupportAbility automatically attributes a Time Sheet Batch number for the newly created Time Sheet Batch e.g. #8, numbered sequentially from previously generated Batches:

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Exporting a Time Sheet Batch

Now that the Time Sheets have been generated, they are ready to be exported for your organisation's Payroll system. To do so, navigate to the 'Actions' menu found in the top right corner of the screen: 

Select the applicable Time Sheet Batch for your organisation. 

N.B. If your organisation has had a custom Time Sheet Batch export created, only your organisation will see this as an option for selection here.  If your organisation uses a Payroll system that an export is not currently available for, please review the Payroll Integration article, linked below.

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Standard Time Sheet Batch Exports

There are two standard Time Sheets Batch exports available for download, 'Detailed' and 'Summary'.

The 'Detailed Time Sheets' export displays each Time Sheet, per Staff Member, in a separate row and provides detailed information for each.

The 'Summary Time Sheets' export, lists each Staff Member once, providing a summary of their information for the Time Sheets included in that Batch export.

N.B. While Staff Members' first and last names are displayed together in one column (i.e. 'Staff Member') in the onscreen list results:

Staff Member names are separated into two columns i.e. 'First Name' and 'Last Name'  in the 'Detailed' and 'Summary' Staff Time Sheet Batch exports, to facilitate easier sorting of data by surname and potentially more easily match data fields when importing the data into your Finance/Payroll System:

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Detailed Time Sheets export

The Detailed Time Sheets export uses the data in the 'Finalised' column for each Time Sheet and includes the following detailed information:

  • Activity ID
  • Shift ID - the SupportAbility Staff Shift record ID 
    • It is important to note that the Shift ID is not viewable in the Activity record. This has been added to assist providers using multiple exports together and to determine when different shifts belong to a single Activity. 
  • Staff ID - the SupportAbility ID number as listed in the 'Human Resources Details' section on the 'Human Resources' tab of the relevant Staff record
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Employment Type - as configured in the 'Human Resources Details' section on the Human Resources tab of the Staff record (e.g. Casual, Part-Time, Permanent Part-Time, Full Time) 
  • 7 Day Roster - this indicates whether the Staff Member is working a 7-day roster as configured in the Human Resources Details section, on the Human Resources tab of the Staff record ( e.g. 'Normal' or '7 Day') 
  • From Time - the 'Finalised' Shift Date and Time 
  • To Time - the 'Finalised' Shift Date and Time 
  • Service - the Service, including the relevant Site, relevant to the Time Sheet
  • Type - the Activity Type (e.g. Individual, Group, Staff) 
  • Activity - Activity Name
  • Location - the Location where the Activity relevant to the Time Sheet, is being facilitated or managed from, as configured in the Activity record
  • GL Code - the Staff Timesheet GL Codes for the Sites/Services your organisation are generating Timesheet Batches for, as configured in the 'GL Codes' tab, of your organisation's Site records in System Preferences: 

  • Standard Hours
  • Evening Hours
  • Active Night Shift Hours
  • Inactive Night Shift Hours
  • Time and a Half Hours
  • Double Time Hours
  • Company Kms
  • Private Kms
  • Total Hours 
  • Total km
  • Includes Break - e.g. Yes, No

  • Paid - the payment status of this Time Sheet (e.g. Yes, No)
  • Payroll Identifier - the Staff Member's unique ID (either created by SupportAbility or your Payroll System) and recorded on the Human Resources tab of the Staff record in the Payroll details section. 
  • Payroll Category - Payroll System Category as configured in the Human Resources tab on the Staff record under the Payroll Details section, to align with your organisation's Payroll system.

The following columns will be populated with data when organisations are using these optional areas of functionality:

  • Activity Program - optional additional feature for Activities to provide a more granular categorisation for invoices and timesheets exported to Finance and Payroll systems. Programs are configured in the 'Activity: Programs' list in System Preferences and added in Activities.
  • Job Code - optional additional categorisation to enhance the analytical value of revenue and timesheet data. Entered for each Service on the Services tab in System Preferences.
  • Working Hrs - as recorded in the 'Working Hours:hrs' field in the 'Human Resources Details' section on the 'Human Resources' tab of the Staff record.
  • Working Hrs unit - as recorded in the 'Working Hours:per (unit)' field in the 'Human Resources Details' section on the 'Human Resources' tab of the Staff record.
  • Activity Tags - optional additional categorisation that applies to the Activity as a whole. These may also be used to identify Activities that contain Shifts with specific attributes e.g. Split Shifts.

Additional columns of information:

  • Staff Clashes -  'Yes' indicates that the Staff Member is rostered into multiple Activities occurring at the same or overlapping times
  • Activity ID - this is the SupportAbility unique identifier for individual Activity records

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Summary Time Sheets export

The Summary Time Sheets export provides a summary of the 'Finalised' data for each Staff Member including the following information: 

  • Staff ID - the SupportAbility ID number as listed in the 'Human Resources Details' section on the 'Human Resources' tab of the relevant Staff record
  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Employment Type - as configured in the 'Human Resources Details' section on the Human Resources tab of the Staff record (e.g. Casual, Part-Time, Permanent Part-Time, Full Time) 
  • Report From
  • Report To
  • 7 Day Roster - this indicates whether the Staff Member is working a 7-day roster as configured in the Human Resources Details section, on the Human Resources tab of the Staff record ( e.g. 'Normal' or '7 Day') 

  • Standard Hours
  • Evening Hours
  • Active Night Shift Hours
  • Inactive Night Shift Hours
  • Time and a Half Hours
  • Double Time Hours
  • Company Kms
  • Private Kms
  • Total Hours 
  • Total km

  • Payroll Identifier
  • Payroll Category
  • Working Hrs
  • Working Hrs unit 

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Viewing Time Sheet Batches

Time Sheet Batches that have been created may be viewed at any time from the Payroll section of the Finance menu, accessible to Staff who have the Finance Admin privileges.

Select 'List Time Sheet Batches:

This will open the Time Sheet Batch List:

Once Time Sheets have been generated, the Activity will display the relevant Status icon to indicate a Time Sheet Batch has been generated for that Shift.  Hovering over the icon will reference the relevant Time Sheet Batch number e.g. #7: 

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