1. Timekeepers Enter Time
Set up employees (and sub-consultants too) as Users in BillQuick, Web Suite or BillQuick Online. They will then enter their own time and expenses.
Why? Never Enter Data Twice. It wastes billable and productive time, increasing overhead.
With the intuitive Simple Time Card screen (among others), users spend 1 to 2 minutes a day entering their hours. Expenses entered on a weekly or biweekly basis takes only minutes with the Simple Expense Log or Expense Log screen. There is no reason to record hours, costs and notes on a piece of paper or into an Excel file.
2. Auto Complete
Auto Complete lets you assign standard longhand text to a shorthand abbreviation like “time1″ or “miles5″. You can define as little or as much text as desired — a phrase, sentence, paragraph or pages. The text can describe different activities, expenses and situations. In a time or expense memo field, you simply type the Auto Complete abbreviation and press Space or Enter. Instantly, the longhand text displays.
In addition, you can save any text entered in a Memo field as a new Auto Complete item. Just highlight the text, click the Add New Auto Complete icon in the memo control panel (it displays when you click on a memo field), then give it a unique shorthand abbreviation. The Auto Complete item can be shared with all other users, or remain private to you.
Auto Complete dramatically reduces the time required to communicate details about the work done. Equally important, consistent and complete information helps owners, billers, managers and clients better understand the work done. In short, you spend less time communicating critical information.
3. Use Default Codes
When you apply mostly one activity code to time entries, or charge time to mostly one project, using a default code saves time and effort. BillQuick includes two types of defaults.
First, on the Sheet View-More screen, you can set a default Activity Code and/or Project ID for a time entry session. Similarly, you can set defaults on the Expense Log-More screen.
Second, you may work with a group of activities assigned to your department or other employees like you who carry out the same tasks. In this case, you can save time and effort by having BillQuick automatically insert the ‘prefix’ (the Code portion) of the Activity ID. You just enter the Sub-Code portion, or when you click the dropdown arrow, BillQuick jumps to the nearest match. You can set a prefix for both activity and expense codes in the User Preferences-Format screen.
Bonus
For BillQuick Pro and Enterprise users, you can also assign activity and expense codes to employees using Employee Control. Then when they enter hours and expenses, whether in BillQuick, Web Suite or BillQuick Online, the dropdown list is limited to just assigned items.
