Web release update December 17, 2022 – Support | Time Portal, LLC

Summary

The following updates are included in this release.

New: Time Sheet Summary Report feature
New: Location Summary Report feature
Updated: Import Time Sheets Module
Updated: Payroll Detail Report (Excel version)
Updated: Billing Rule Percentage Rounding
Updated: Crew Summary Report (Excel version)

The following sections provide details on each of these updates.

New: Time Sheet Summary Report feature

The Time Sheet Summary Report now includes the ability to group by Location, Job, Crop/Variety or Grower. When grouping by Location, for example, the PDF version of the Time Sheet Summary report will summarize time sheet information for the same time sheet onto separate pages. This new capability is useful in situations where a Crew performs work at multiple locations on the same timesheet.

When generating the Time Sheet Summary, notice the Group By option which can be left as "Default" to work as it did before or set to a value such as Location, Job, Crop/Variety or Grower to perform grouping.

Here is a report that has been grouped by Location to produce two pages for a single time sheet.

Please notice:

Both pages are for the same Time Sheet (number 340)
The hours and pieces for each page add up to the total hours and pieces for the Time Sheet.
The new "Grouped By" heading indicates Location.
The "Locations" heading is different for each page and the corresponding time sheet data is for the location.
The Growers, Jobs, Crop/Varieties, Piece Rates and Hourly Rates listed at the top of each page represent a summary of the information on the page. For example, the Crop/Varieties at one location include Strawberries while the Crop/Varieties at the other location include Blueberries.

New: Location Summary Report feature

The Location Summary Report now includes the ability to group by Location, Job, Crop/Variety or Grower. If default grouping is specified, the report will include information by Location and Crop/Variety on one page, as it did before. When grouping by Location, Job, Crop/Variety or Grower, the report will still include information for each Location and Crop/Variety but on separate pages for each group item.

As illustrated below, a separate page for each location is generated when the Location Group By option is selected.

Updated: Import Time Sheets Module

The Import Time Sheets module allows for the generation of Excel files which can be filled out with piece and time data then imported into Time Portal to generate Time Sheets. This update includes the following improvements:

Makeup Pay - The generated Excel Template includes formulas for calculating Makeup Pay based on Minimum Wage Rates that are included as spreadsheet columns and are determined from company or other settings. The Excel file previously used the entered Hourly Pay Rate as its Minimum Wage Rate which could sometimes lead to a warning message when uploading the template. Please ensure that the Minimum Wage Rate has been specified on the My Company Screen.
The Download Template screen, which may be used to generate a pre-populated Excel file for entry of employee pieces and hours, now includes additional options.
- Crop/Variety - Can be selected to prepopulate a new Excel column for entering Crop/Variety if you are tracking crop/variety and all work will be performed for the same crop.
- Location - Can be selected to prepopulate a new Excel column for entering Location if you are tracking locations and will be performing all work at the same location.
- Start Time - Can be specified to prepopulate a new Excel column for entering Start Time if all work will start at the same time each day.
- Hourly Hours - Can be specified to prepopulate a new Excel column for entering Hourly Hours if all employees are expected to work the same number of hours on hourly jobs each day. When importing the file, Excel (and Time Portal) will calculate Hourly Pay using Hourly Hours and the Hourly Pay Rate described below.
- Hourly Pay Rate - Was previously a required field and, when specified, is used as the pay rate for hourly work as well as the minimum wage for piece and hourly work. Now, if left blank, the hourly pay rate will be determined for each employee based on Company, Crew, Job, Worker Contract, Employee and Wage Rule settings as described in the article Hourly rates and how they are applied. The Hourly Pay Rate can still be edited within Excel and new (read only) columns for minimum wage rates are used in the Excel formulas to calculate Minimum Pay and Makeup Pay. In the rare situation (such as a Worker Contract change) where minimum wage rates change during a pay period, the average minimum wage rate for the period will be used when determining makeup pay for the period.
- Piece Work Hours - Can be specified to prepopulate a new Excel column for entering Piece work Hours if all employees are expected to work the same number of hours on piece jobs each day. When importing the file, Excel (and Time Portal) will calculate Makeup Pay using Piece Work Hours, Piece Pay and Piece Minimum Wage Rate. Time Portal will display an error message if Piece Work Hours are missing for any employee/date for which Piece Counts have been entered.
- Piece Rates - Has not been changed in this update. Up to ten piece rate values can be entered to pre-populate the piece rate column headings in the Excel template.
- Break Hours - Can be specified to prepopulate a new Excel column for entering Break Hours if all employees are expected to have the same break period each day. When importing the file, Time Portal will create Time Sheet records that skip the break period, if Break Hours and Break Start Time are entered into the Excel file. Time Sheet Records for piece work will be created first, if piece work hours have been specified.
- Break Start Time - Can be specified to prepopulate a new Excel column for entering Break Start Time if all employees are expected to start their break at the same time each day. When importing the file, Time Portal will create Time Sheet records that skip the break period, if Break Hours and Break Start Time are entered into the Excel file.
The Weekly and Daily Excel Templates now include additional columns for specifying piece work hours, regular hours, break start time, break duration, location and crop/variety. In addition, columns such as piece pay, regular hours pay, piece minimum wage rate, hourly minimum wage rate, minimum pay and makeup pay include formulas and prepopulated values that are used to compute total wages.
The Daily Excel Template now includes a Summary worksheet that provides totals for each employee for the entire period. Since Makeup Pay is paid for shortages across the entire period, rather than for each day, the Summary worksheet can provide a preview of Total Wages using the same calculations that Time Portal will use when the Excel file is imported.
The Import Data screen includes an improved Summary view that provides an overview of the information which was collected from the filled-out Excel file. This information can be reviewed prior to actually generating Time Sheets from the imported data. For example, an invalid date in the Dates list can provide an indication of data entry error.

A new Detail Tab provides a preview of the actual Time Sheet records that will be created from the imported data. The list of Time Sheet records includes a Warnings column that identifies assumptions or potential issues encountered when reading rows from the Excel import file.

Updated: Payroll Detail Report (Excel version)

The Excel version of the Payroll Detail Report now includes a "Makeup Pay" column which identifies the pro-rated makeup pay or "minimum wage adjustment" for a work activity. This new information is useful in understanding the Minimum Wage Adjustment value which is shown on the PDF version of the report. As illustrated in the illustration below, the Minimum Wage Adjustment (makeup pay) for the entire pay period is pro-rated, based on the hours worked, for each day.

Updated: Billing Rule Percentage Rounding

Billing rules that are based on a percentage of piece or hourly wages can now be defined with more granular rounding. Previously, billing rules would round the rate to 2 decimal places. In this release, rates are rounded to 4-decimal places for a more granular calculation. For example, it is now possible to bill at 1.0117 x Hourly Rate or 1.0846 x Piece Rate as illustrated below. This would represent a 1.17% markup on hourly pay and an 8.46 markup on piece pay.

Updated: Crew Summary Report (Excel version)

The Excel version of the Crew Summary Report presents a summary of hourly/piece rates, pieces, hours and makeup pay for each Crew, with a subtotals by Time Sheet and Job. With this update, the report now includes a "Crew Leader" column which identifies the name of the crew's Crew Leader as well as a "# of Workers" column which identifies the number of workers (not including the crew leader) who participated in the work activity represented by each Time Sheet. In addition, blank rows between Time Sheet information, provide an improved visual appearance.