Sections in this article:
Overview
From: Finance > Billing > Resource reports
As an alternative to Monthly reports, resources in the system can be paid based on Resource reports.
The purpose is to offer a solution to non-monthly based payments to resources.
Resource reports are not time-based, so tasks can be picked freely to create reports that can be treated individually.
The approval process can have between 1 and 4 steps, as needed.
Configuration
User configuration
There are two user settings relevant for this functionality: Approval manner and Payment manner.
Setting up the Approval manner for all Resources (system level)
From Administrator > Web administrator > Configuration > Settings
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Select the Default resource approval manner
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Click “Apply to all users”
Applying to all users will overwrite any user-specific changes to this field.
The Approval manner and Payment manner can also be set at the resource level from the dropdown menus in the user’s profile:
These fields can only be seen and edited by managers.
For more information on Payment manners, please check the Payment manner article.
Other relevant roles
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Can delete Resource reports created by other users
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Enables the user to delete resource reports created by other users
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Can edit the “Payment due on” field in Resource reports
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Enables the user to edit the “Payment due on” field in the Resource reports pages.
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Can see resource rate related info in basic user pages
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Will show information such as rate breakdown in the My menu > Resource report generator page
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System configuration
By default, the system applies one approval step to the Resource reports.
Setting up approval steps
From: Administrator > Web administrator > Configuration > Settings
Under the Finance Settings section, choose the needed number of steps from the “Number of resource report approval steps”.
Relevant roles
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Can approve resource report step 1
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Allows the user to approve or un-approve the first step in the approval process.
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Can approve resource report step 2
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Allows the user to approve or un-approve the second step in the approval process.
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Can approve resource report step 3
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Allows the user to approve or un-approve the third step in the approval process.
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Can un-approve resource report at all levels
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Allows the user to un-approve any step in the approval process.
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Requiring manager approval for resource report items
The creation of resource reports by resources can be limited based on an approval step performed by a manager.
From Finance > Billing > Resource report generator, it’s possible to add an additional column, Approve for billing.
Only items that have been approved for billing can be used to generate a resource report.
Naming conventions
The names of the steps can be customized from Administrator > Web administrator > Name conventions.
Once a user submits their resource report, it will be available on this page, where managers can keep track of the current status of a report.
Resource reports page
Key columns
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Resource - The resource the report belongs to
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Resource report number - The unique ID of the resource report
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Description - An editable field. Defaults to “billing in (report currency)”
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Full view - A detailed listing of the tasks and files included in the resource report
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Items - A detailed listing of the tasks included in the resource report
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Total billed - The total amount due in the resource report
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Currency - The currency of the resource report
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Submitted by resource - Confirmation if the resource report was submitted or not
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Submitted on - The date in which the resource report was submitted
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Reject by accounting and send rejection mail - Click to reject a resource report. More info under Rejecting a resource report
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Processed by accounting - Current status of the approval
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Billing messages - Messages related to the resource reports. More info in the billing messages article
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Accounting date - The date in which the approval process was completed
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Billing Hold - A toggle (Can Pay/On Hold) to flag if a resource report can, or cannot, be paid
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Payment due on - The date the payment is due. Can be autopopulated using the Payment manner
Approving a resource report
After being generated, resource reports will be shown in the Resource reports (Finance) page.
The approval can be done from the “Processed by accounting” column and may have between 1 and 4 steps.
Please refer to the User or System Configuration section for more info on how to set up a multistep approval process.
If the user has the necessary role for the current step, a prompt will appear, and the approval will move to the next step after clicking “Yes”.
The complete log of approvals can be read on the tooltip of the “Processed by accounting” icon.
Resources cannot approve their own resource reports.
Management review
Management review is an optional approval step.
This step can be approved at any moment, and is unaffected by the current approval step.
Required role: Can perform management review
Users with this role can approve or unapprove the “Management review” column items
Billing hold
If necessary, the approval of a resource report can be suspended by using the “Billing Hold” option.
Required role: Can put resource report on hold
Users with this role can change the status of the Billing Hold.
Users with the necessary role can approve and unapprove a step: Can unapprove resource reports at all levels.
If the approval has already been done, clicking on the icon will instead ask the user if the step should be unapproved.
This will also clear that step from the approval log in the tooltip.
Rejecting a resource report
Submitted resource reports can be rejected by using the “Reject by accounting and send rejection mail” column.
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Click on the envelope of the report to reject.
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If necessary, edit the message body. Then, click “Send”.
