Time and materials tracking

SortScape can also help you track time and materials spent on a visit which you can then use for invoicing. With time and materials tracking enabled, you’ll have the following features:

Your employees can enter the following onto a visit before or after marking it complete (but before the visit has been invoiced):

• Time spent on the visit
• Materials used and
• A description of the work done.

Once a visit has been invoiced, it is locked and logged time and materials can no longer be added or removed. To make changes after invoicing, use Remove invoiced status on the visit, make your edits, then mark it invoiced again. See Editing time or line items after a visit has been invoiced.

What time and materials is for

Time and materials tracking records what was used on a job (time, materials, and work notes on a visit) so you can schedule and invoice that work accurately. It is not a place to track costs for the overall business, such as fuel paid on a debit card, equipment you buy for the company, insurance, or subscriptions.

If you need a general expenses or purchases register for tax or bookkeeping, keep that in your accounting software (for example Xero or QuickBooks). SortScape does not currently have a separate expenses or purchases area.

Adding time to visits

There are two ways to add time to a visit:

1. By opening the visit and clicking the “add hours” button. From there you can enter a start time, end time and break minutes for one or more employees. The Hours box shows the total as you type (end time minus start time, minus the break), so you can check it before you save.
2. By using the visit timer.

Job hours on visits are for billing and reviewing profitability. Hours entered on Timesheets are for payroll and do not appear on visits. See Job hours vs timesheet hours.

Adding material to visits

Open the visit and click Add material, then select the material and enter the quantity used.

On a repeating visit, add the material while viewing the visit so it stays on that visit (a “1” icon). If you add it with Edit, choose This visit only when asked. See One-off charges on a single visit and Update one visit in a repeating series.

By default, non-administrators cannot see the price charged for materials. An administrator can change this in Settings → Time & materials → Settings.