The Bill4Time Blog

We’re pleased to announce our latest accounting feature to our time billing software: project-level accounting. This is to compliment the accounting on the client level.

Accounting Organized Per Project

Now, on the project level, you go to the project’s details page and then click on the Accounting tab. There you can see all the cash in-flow (payments received, credit balances) and cash out-flow (invoices sent out, debit balances) exclusively for that project. This way you can keep track of what has been billed and what has been paid throughout the project. You can also receive payments and make balance adjustments on the same screen. Any accounting done throughout the system for any projects is reflected in the project’s details.

Receive Payments Per Project

When you receive a payment, you can allocate it for a certain project. This is particularly useful when a client has given you a down payment but only for a specific project. This way, you can make sure that amount is only used for that one project.

Assessing a Project’s Efficiency

This new feature also makes writing up or writing down invoices easier to use as an efficiency tool. If you charge a set total for labor and expenses, not only can you compare actual amount of labor and expenses to the set amounts on the client level, but now also on the project level. What does this mean? This means you can assess the efficiency and value of your labor/expenses per project. You can quickly go through one invoice after another for this project and easily get an idea of how well you are using your labor hours and sticking to the budget.

For more information on enabling project-level accounting for your subscription, just check out the Bill4Time Knowledge Base.

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What is it?

Project due dates enables you to set a specific date for a project to be done.

What does it do?

It helps you keep on schedule. This is particularly useful when you have multiple projects with different due dates. With its accompanying dashboard widget, you can see at a single glance the due dates for all open projects.

How do I use it?

To Enable the “Projects Due Dates” Feature:

1. Click on Settings at the top right corner of the screen.
2. Click on the System tab.
3. Click on the Edit Settings button.
4. Put a check next to Track Project Due Dates.
5. Click on the Save Changes button.

To Set a Due Date for a Project:

1. Click on the blue Project tab.
2. Click on the desired project.
3. Click the Edit Project button.
4. Click the calendar icon next to Project Due Date and choose the desired day.
5. Click the Save button.

To Have the Project Due Widget on the Dashboard:

1. Click on the blue Dashboard tab.
2. Click on the gear icon at the right of the screen.
3. Scroll down and look at the bottom of the left column.
4. Choose Projects Due at the pull down menu.
5. Click the Add button.
6. If you would like this widget to be at the top of the dashboard, just click and drag the title to the top of the column.
7. Click the gear icon again to finish.

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Bill4Time has released the latest updates and changes to the Bill4Time system. In addition to numerous fixes and improvements, here are some noteworthy additions.

New Dashboard Widget: The Time Entry Grid

Now you can quickly enter time entries right from the dashboard. Once you choose the client, project, and hours, a time entry will be created immediately. Any changes or additional information you include will be saved as soon as you finish typing. Click the “plus” icon to create another entry, or click the “clipboard” icon to bring up the detailed time entry screen.

Summary Invoices

If you prefer to create invoices with summary of services instead of showing detailed line items, is there is a new “Invoice Summary” tab when creating invoices. When creating an invoice, click the Summary Tab and check the “Use Summary” checkbox. Enter in your summary text below and click “Save.” This particular invoice will now appear in summary form.

Writing Up or Down an Invoice

This new feature allows you to have a set billable total for labor and expenses regardless of activity performed. This is for people who need accurate details of the hours worked and standard rates, but want to adjust the invoice total, usually to match a pre-arranged amount.

To write up or down an invoice, find the “Labor Total” and “Expense Total” edit boxes on the Invoice Details screen. Check the box to indicate you would like to adjust the total, and enter the adjusted amount. Bill4Time will automatically adjust all the records to match the set total. The amount prior to adjustment will not be displayed on the actual invoice.

Coming Soon: Project Accounting

We are putting the final touches on the ability to manage accounting per project, in addition to per client. Expect an announcement in the coming days.

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The new invoice template feature is here! It’s a completely new customization feature that we are introducing and will continue to expand upon throughout the year.

Invoice Designs

In addition to the standard invoice design that has always existed in the system, there are two additional designs to choose from. More designs will be added throughout the year.

Customizable Header & Footer

Use your company’s stationery on your Bill4Time invoices. You can change your header and footer to be text, an image, or just space for your letterhead.

Client Details

With the new invoice designs, you can customize the contact information for the client. You can make it as detailed or as basic as you want. The new designs allow you include additional client details: phone, fax, and a custom line. The custom line allows you to insert any extra information.

Specialized Templates Per Client

Create as many invoice templates as you need. You can assign one for the entire system that will be applied to all invoices, or create unique invoices for specific clients. Tip: when making an invoice template for a specific client, note that in the template name. This will make it easier for you to remember.

You will find the invoice templates under Settings > Invoice Setup. It is also located under the Invoice Presets tab of your Client Details screen. Want to learn how to design your own template, upload an image to your header, or assign a template to a client? Learn more about how to use the invoice templates in the Knowledge Base.

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As an invoicing software company, more invoicing flexibility has been an in-demand feature that our development team has been working on for quite some time. Although they are still working on it, they’re soon coming to a point where you can already benefit from their ongoing development.

Extra Invoice Layouts

In a short time, you will see an extra feature in your invoice setup. You will have other invoice layouts to choose from. All layouts will contain the same information, including company logo and contact information. However, you can now choose which one best fits the needs of your company and your client. Any of the layouts can be applied to a specific client or used as the default.

Invoice Detail Columns on the Client Level

Just like in the Firm/System Settings’ Invoice Setup, you will be able to decide how detailed you want your invoice to report: date of service, hours, services by, rate, activity type, amount, service summary, and labor start/end time.  This is particularly useful when one client wants a more detailed invoice than another client.

Future Invoicing Software Features

There will be more invoicing features to come. This is just the first ones amongst many this year. Expect more invoice layouts, image options for the header/footer, and font styles. We’re looking forward to future ones and will keep you informed when they soon are ready for the public.

Your Feedback

We’re releasing the new invoice layouts in batches. If you would like to be in the first batches, just let us know in the comments. Have any layouts you’d like to see in the future? Let us know at ideas.bill4time.com or in the comments of this blog post.

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Our development team has fixed some bugs and added some requested functions when it comes to invoicing, client info, time entries, and more.

Invoicing

• Flat Discount – You can now apply a flat discount to an invoice. Previously, you could only apply a percentage discount.
• Pre-Bill – Style issues were corrected when using the “Create Pre-Bill” button on the Invoice Management screen. Previously, pre-bill had some issues with fonts, background coloring, etc. This has been corrected and the pre-bill has the same styling as a normal invoice.
• Applying Payments – In order to apply payments to invoices, the “Track Paid/Unpaid on Invoices” setting must be checked in the Invoice Setup settings. Previously, this wasn’t necessary to apply payments.
• Send Invoice Icon – We fixed an issue that prevented the “Send Invoice” icon (the small envelope icon on the Invoice Management screen) from bringing up the Send Invoice screen. If you have not tried this feature yet, it’s a great way to email invoices to your clients.

Client Info

• Client Note - You can now click anywhere on the row to edit a client note. Previously only clicking the subject text would prompt the note edit screen to pop-up.
• Client Info – We have added a phone and fax number to the client information and edit screens.

Time Entries

• Override Rate – Previously, if you entered “0.00″ as an override rate on a time entry, it was ignored and replaced with the default rate. Now you have the option to set a zero value as an override rate on your time entries.
• Time Entry Details – We added the date and time of the time entry to the floating tooltop you see when hovering over a row on the Time Management screen.

And More…

• Entering the Date – All date controls in the system will now allow you to manually enter in a date. Previously, the only way to select the date was to click on the pop-up calendar control.
• International Phone Numbers - We fixed a bug that occurred when an extended international phone number was entered into the phone fields.

Let us know if you have any questions at support@bill4time.com.

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