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TimeKeeping in Field Service vs Employee Center

Last post 01-04-2011 4:11 PM by Matt. 2 replies.
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  • 01-04-2011 1:50 PM

    • LilAaron
    • Top 100 Contributor
    • Joined on 07-04-2010
    • Austin area, TX
    • Posts 48

    TimeKeeping in Field Service vs Employee Center

    How does one handle travel time for service technicians that is not charged to the job but for which the technician would be compensated? I understand that, with programming, we can have a Start/Stop/(less lunch)/Start/Stop for the technician.  However, how do you handle the time between jobs (such as travel) in Field Services?  Here's the scenario:

    1) The technician is paid from the time they arrive at the company office, less lunch time until the time they check out in the afternoon at the office. 

    2) The customer is charged only for the time the technician is working at the customer's site. 

    So how (and where) is the time entered so the technician receives his full pay and the customer is only charged for time spent at his site?  This needs to be kept simple for the technicians. 

    Thanks!

     

    Lillian Aaron
    Business Accounting Software, Inc.
    512.267.2277 x800

    Supporting:
    QuickBooks Enterprise
    TRAVERSE Accounting Software
    Open Systems Accounting Software
    Method CRM
  • 01-04-2011 3:44 PM In reply to

    Re: TimeKeeping in Field Service vs Employee Center

    Answer

    Hi LilAaron,

    Currently I don't believe there is a means in Method to handle travel times but you should be able to handle it through some customization.

    The solution I can see for this is to track the Time In / Time Out in field services for each job as you normally would but then create a screen based on the TimeTracking table with actions that will take into account the employees Start and Stop times for the day minus the time spent on lunch and then subtract the total time for all the services that employee has had for the day effectively giving you the ‘Travel Time" you can then take the Travel Time and insert it into the TimeTracking table.

    For example:

    Jobs For the day
    Job 1:  60 mins
    Job 2:  20 mins
    Job 3:  100 mins
    Total Job Times: 180mins

    Total work day
    Start:   9:00AM
    Stop:   6:00PM
    Lunch start:   1:000PM
    Lunch Stop:   2:00PM
    Total actual work time: 480mins (8 hours)

    Difference from Job times: 300mins (6 hours)

    Travel time would be inserted into the TimeTracking table with duration of 300 minutes 

    Please note then you would need to take into account the specific employee and Date when creating these actions.

    HTH

    -Michael

     

    Michael Melo
    Product Manager
    Method Integration Inc.
    Website: http://www.method.me
    LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/MichaelMelo
  • 01-04-2011 4:11 PM In reply to

    • Matt
    • Top 10 Contributor
    • Joined on 11-04-2008
    • Posts 877

    Re: TimeKeeping in Field Service vs Employee Center

    Lillian,

    You could try adding 2 job items to the work order. 1 for the service that is being performed and 1 for the travel time. You would set the charge to $0.00 for the travel time and could also un-check the "On Invoice" box for the travel time. This way there would be a place to record the time for both, but the customer would only be billed for the service that is performed at their property.

    Hope that helps!


    Matt Raiser

    Founder,



    www.techinthefield.com

    matt@techinthefield.com

    219-221-9500



    ~ Method user / partner since 2008

    ~ Over 15 years field service experience

    ~ 2013 Method Partner of the Year

    ~ Degree in Computer Science





    Creator of:


        


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