Managing Time Recording and Approvals

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to schedule and monitor time entries for project accuracy, utilizing the Manage My Timesheet and Notify Missing Times applications under standard project conditions

Process Steps for Time Recording

Learn how to manage and bill projects in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, professional services. Understand the time recording process and the roles involved. Ensure accurate and efficient time management for your projects.

The workflow begins with a project being created, followed by a decision to allocate resources. If resources are allocated, time can be booked. If not, the process includes restricting unstaffed postings and optionally allocating resources later. Activities are added to My Tasks if not allocated. Booked time goes through an optional approval or rejection by the project or resource manager. Approved time is then posted. Key roles are project/resource managers and resources.

Once a customer project project has been put into In Execution status, it will be possible for resources to book time against that project via the standard Manage My Timesheet application:

There are controls on the project at a header level to define whether only resources that are staffed to the project may book time to that project. This setting is called Restrict Unstaffed Posting and if it is set to Yes then, resources must be assigned to the project in order to book time. If this setting is set to Not then any resource can book time to that project.

When resources book time to their projects, it is possible to add a workflow so that the project manager must approve the time bookings with comments. This setting can be varied for internal and external employees. If the time booking is rejected, the resource will receive a notification and have an opportunity to delete or update the time booking.

The project manager also has the ability to book time on behalf of their team in the event that the team member is unable to book time for themselves.

Once time, bookings are made and, if required, approved, the time will reflect against the project as both a time and cost posting which is visible in reporting and analytics.

Process Time Recording

After employees has been assigned to a project or a task has been created for them, they can book time to the work package using the SAP Fiori application Manage My Timesheet.

Project managers can verify missing time and notify employees about it using the application Notify Missing Times. This same application allows project managers to update time sheets on behalf of the employees.

If time entries require approval from the project managers, the corresponding approval notifications will be automatically created in their My Inbox application. The application is called Schedule Overhead Accounting Jobs.

Manage my Timesheet

Manage my Timesheet

SAP Manage My Timesheet Interface that displays hours and task with the option to submit week, save, and Close My Tasks.

Purpose

With this app, you can perform activity-based time recording to enable billing and invoicing for the projects assigned to you. You can also record time for non-project related tasks such as administration, training, travel time, etc. The non project related task types can be assigned to both internal and external employees.

By default, the system displays Administration Tasks, Miscellaneous, Training, and Travel Times in the My Tasks area. When an employee is staffed to a project, the project will automatically display in the My Tasks area for the employee to record time against. In addition, a project manager or line manager can record time on an employee’s behalf.

Key Features

If you have been assigned the business role, Employee Self Services (SAP BR EMPLOYEE), you can perform the following tasks:

  • View the time entries already recorded in your timesheet
  • View all the tasks assigned to you
  • In the My Tasks side panel, you canview the list of tasks assigned to you for the selected week, view the list of tasks grouped by accounting objects (like Customer Projects, Non-project related Task Types, and so on), and the total number of hours recorded (for the selected week) for each task. You can also search a task from the My Tasks list. The following accounting objects are also supported:
    • WBS Element
    • Cost Center

      Note

      Only four attributes are displayed for each task, irrespective of the number of attributes assigned to it.
  • Change the calendar settings

    You can change the calendar settings, such as showing the work week, setting the start day of the week, and setting the time format using the calendar settings.

  • Navigate to the required week

    • You can navigate to the required week using the navigation arrows. You can navigate to previous or future weeks.

    • Each week displays days of the week depending on the calendar settings. You can log up to 24 hours of time per day.
    • You can also navigate to any week by choosing the calendar week link. It opens the
    • calendar in a dialog box and then you can select the desired date from the dialog box. You can also navigate to the previous or next month in the dialog box using the arrow keys.
  • Create, edit, and delete time entries for the selected week

    You can update a time entry and if required, also add a note. If the work location is enabled in the configuration app Maintain Data Entry Profiles, then you can also add a work location. You can either save the time entries using Save or send them for approval using Submit.

    Note

    • Work Location can be country, region or county (area/location). This field can be made mandatory by implementing the Business Add In (BAdI) HCM: Timesheet Validations (HCM CATS V1 TS VALIDATION).
    • Currently, both internal employees and contingent workers can submit their timesheets for approval.
    • - For contingent worker timesheets, an automatic posting is made to the service entry sheet for the approved time entries.
    • A note of up to 300 characters can be maintained while creating a time entry.
    • Employees can now view the notifications on the SAP Fiori launchpad for the rejected time entries and navigate to the timesheet by choosing the notification message.
    • By default, the approval process is enabled only for contingent workers. You can enable the approval process for internal employees using the configuration app Maintain Data Entry Profiles.
  • View the approved and rejected time entries

    The approved time entries are displayed with a green bar and the rejected entries are displayed with a red bar on the left of the entry. You can select a rejected entry to view the reject reason.

  • View last approved time entry

    You can view the last approved time entry's duration and note in the time entry's Details dialog box.

  • View deleted time entry (zero hour time entry)

    You can view the deleted or zero hour time entries which have been saved, submitted for approval, or rejected by the manager in the timesheet. The zero hour time entry will disappear when this entry is approved by the manager.

  • Manage your tasks
    • You can manage your tasks by using this function. You can select Create Task to create a new task, update a task by selecting the task to be updated, or delete a task in Manage My Tasks.
    • If a purchase order is created with account assignment categoryCost Center (K) only then Activity Type is required to create a task. This is required for inter and intra company sub contractor processes.

Note

By default, the task list does not have any tasks for contingent workers. You will have to add tasks manually using Manage My Tasks.

How to Create a Time Entry

  1. Choose the time (in hours) to be recorded for the task for a relevant day in the selected week.
  2. Select a task from the My Tasks list.
  3. The selected time is blocked.
  4. Save the time entry.

How to Update a Time Entry

  1. Choose the time entry to be updated.
  2. A Details dialog box opens up.
  3. You can change the time recorded for the time entry. If required, you can also add a note for the time entry. If the work location is enabled in the configuration app Maintain Data Entry Profiles, you can also add a work location.
  4. Save the changes in the Details dialog box. Save the time entry by choosing Save.

App Extensibility: Manage My Timesheet

Note

By default, the task list does not have any tasks for contingent workers. You have to add tasks manually using Manage My Tasks.

Key users can use the Custom Fields and Logic app to extend the business context HCM_CATS_MANAGE.

Note

  • You have to select the Extensibility Mode field in the Maintain Data Entry Profile configuration app to enable app extensibility.
  • You can only add any of the custom fields created using the Custom Fields and Logic app to the Manage My Timesheet app. Addition of any other fields is currently not supported.

You can do the following:

  • Add additional fields to forms and tables
  • Change the order of fields
  • Regroup and rename fields
  • Save the current layout

Business Add Ins (BAdIs)

Key users can use the Custom Fields and Logic app to extend the following business contexts:

  • HCM: Timesheet Validations (HCM CATS V1 TS VALIDATION)

    You can use this BAdI to perform customer specific timesheet validations/checks when you save the timesheet entry.

  • HCM: Timesheet Approver Determination (HCM CATS V1 APPROVER DETRMN)

    You can use this BAdI to determine the approver for each timesheet entry. The BAdI also enables you to auto approve the timesheet entry.

    Note

    You have to select the Approval Required field in the Maintain Data Entry Profile configuration app to enable the approver determination for timesheet entry.

Perform Time Recording Through Manage My Timesheet - Internal Employees

Watch the simulation Performing Time Recording Through Manage My Timesheet - Internal Employees to learn more about the system-related activities.

ExerciseStart Exercise

Approve Timesheets - My Inbox

SAP My Inbox interface displaying Approval of Working Times, All Tasks, Time Entries, with the option to Approve or Reject.

Purpose

An approver can use the My Inbox app to approve or reject time entries. Approval is currently only enabled only for the project related tasks by default. Other accounting objects such as WBS element, cost center, and non-project related tasks are approved automatically by default. If you want to enable the approval for these accounting objects, then you have to implement the custom BAdI using extensibility.

Note

  • This app supports approvals for both the internal employees and contingent worker timesheets.
  • This app supports approval of time entries for all the accounting objects (customer projects, non-project related tasks, WBS element, and cost center) supported by the timesheet.

Key Features

  • View the timesheets sent for approval
    • - You can view the list of employees who have sent their timesheets for approval. You can search for an employee or by the fields related to the accounting objects from the table list. The timesheet with the time entries sent for approval is displayed in My Inbox. You can view the planned hours for the project, approved and rejected hours for the purchase order in each time entry for the customer projects.
    • Approval is enabled by default only for the customer projects in the app, which means that all the fields related to customer projects are shown by default.
  • If you implement the custom BAdI for determining the approver for accounting objects, then the corresponding approver must select the related fields for approval. The approver can create a new variant and set it as a default variant for the first time so that from the next time, the app loads with the saved variant.
  • The following fields are always displayed
    • Note: If the employee entered any note while recording time, then under this column, a note icon is displayed. When you choose the icon employee name the note is displayed in a popover.
    • Previous Time Entry: If the employee changes an approved time entry using timesheet, the approved entry is displayed under this column with an icon. When you choose this icon, the previous recorded time along with the note is shown.
  • The work location field can be now enabled to show in the approval list via Settings.
  • Extensibility Fields

    All the custom fields by default are shown as hidden fields. You have to add them to the table to see the custom field data.

    Note

    The custom field needs to be enabled for the both C MYINBOXTIMESHTAPPRVL CDS view and HCM CATS MYINBOXAPPROVAL 0001 data sources to display in this app.

  • First Time Entry work date and Submitted by the person name are displayed in the object header.
  • Priority

    The priority of the task is shown based on the first time entry in the time entries that came for approval. If the first-time entry work date difference is greater than 7 when it is compared with the current date, the priority is set to high. Otherwise, it is set to medium.

  • Approve or reject time entries

    • You can select the time entries and approve or reject their time entries using the checkbox. You can approve or reject the submitted time entries of employees or contingent workers.

      Note

      You can now change an entry even after approval. You can also view the previous and new time entry or note changes under the Previous Time Entry column.
    • You can select one rejection reason for the multiple entries selected for rejection. A dialog box displays all the available rejection reasons when you choose Reject.
  • Sort, group, or filter time entries
    • You can sort the time entries based on any of the fields available in the table.
    • You can filter the time entries based on any of the fields available in the table.
    • You can group the time entries based on any of the fields available in the table.

      Note

      The sort, filter, and group settings are reset to default every time when you navigate to the object pages in a new window.
  • View employee, customer project, and purchase order details

    You can also view the employee, customer project, and purchase order details by choosing the employee, customer project, or purchase order names in the time entry. You are then automatically navigated to the relevant apps where the details are displayed.

  • Manage Substitutes

    Using this feature, you can create a substitute and assign the workflow task to someone else in your absence.

    Note

    By default, the submitted time entries will go only to the Project Manager for approval. If the Project Manager would like to enable the approval for the Project Controller or any other approver, he or she must use the substitute feature.

    Note

    Employees can use the Manage My Timesheet app to record time and send for approval.

App Extensibility: My Inbox

You can use this BAdI to determine the approver for each timesheet entry and it also enables you to auto approve the timesheet entry.

BAdI

HCM: Timesheet Approver Determination (HCM CATS V1 APPROVER DETRMN)

Note

You have to select the Approval Required field in the Maintain Data Entry Profile configuration app to enable approver determination for timesheet entry.

Approve Timesheets

Watch the simulation Approving Timesheets to learn more about the system-related activities.

ExerciseStart Exercise

Notify Missing Times

SAP Notify Missing Time interface that displays information regarding Consultants, Project Name, Work Package Name and other relevant data.

Purpose

With this feature, the project manager can send a reminder (e mail) to project members who have not recorded the timesheet as per the planned effort for the project. The user can check the planned effort, approved hours, and recorded hours of each staffed employee, and also the details about the project, work package, work item, and activity type of each staffed employee.

Key Features

  • You can check project members time recording status and notify them. This app uses CDS views for improved performance and smart templates for usability.
  • You can navigate to employee factsheet from employee contact card.
  • You can view or edit the project member timesheets by choosing Edit Timesheet.

    Note

    Project managers can record time on behalf of inactive internal employees (that is, employees whose employment has ended).

    • Within 60 days from the end of employment of an inactive employee, project managers can record time on their behalf using the Notify Missing Time app and through the timesheet external API
    • After 60 days from the end of employment of an inactive employee, working time for an inactive employee can be record only through the timesheet external API
    • This feature is not supported yet for external / contingent workers.
  • The app uses email template HCM CATS PMTSREMINDER by default. You can create one custom email template to provide a different email text to employees. The custom email template name should be YY1 HCM CATS PMTSREMINDER.

Additional Configuration

Set Email Sender Domain

By default, the tenant specific domain is used for sending emails (for example, sending email with sender address abc@my300002.mail.s4hana.ondemand.com). However, a customer may like to send out emails from a domain that is registered for their business (for example, akron.com) and not from a domain that is defined by the technical infrastructure of the SAP OnDemand landscape.

Set Default Email Sender Address

The process that creates an email can set a sender address for this email. If the process does not define a sender address, the system generates a default sender address according to the pattern do.no.reply@tenantEmailDomain. If the customer is not satisfied by this behavior, they can specify an email address and a visual name to be used instead of this default address (for example, do.not.reply@akron.com).

Note

If you would like to change the sender domain or the sender email address, contact the SAP expert configuration team (component XX S4C SRV CON).

Schedule Overhead Accounting Jobs

Using this app, you can schedule a job to send email reminders to project managers to approve pending time entries.

Email notifications can be sent to managers in scheduled frequency with the list of open time entries.

Steps

  1. In the Schedule Overhead Accounting Jobs App, click Create.

    SAP Application Jobs interface displaying Jobs data that includes Status, Log, Results, Steps, Job Name, Planned Start, and Create By information.

  2. Select the Job Template Email Notification for Timesheet Approvers (SAP), enter a Job Name and click on Step 2.

    SAP New Job: Send Email Reminders interface with Job Template-Template Selection- Email Notification for Timesheet Approvers (SAP) highlighted.

  3. Set the Job Start time and the recurrence pattern. Choose Step 3.

    Scheduling Options interface highlighting Job start time and Define Recurrence Pattern with the Scheduling Information field displaying Recurrence Pattern indicating Single Run, On Non-working Day, and Calendar data.

  4. You can define the Approver Selection Criteria to select certain approvers and in the Period Selection the period in which the job will run.

    Parameter Section interface displaying Approver Selection Criteria, Assignment Selection Criteria, and Period Selection.

  5. Choose Schedule.

    The approvers receive email reminders.

    The .csv file attached to the email contains a list of timesheet entries to be approved with the following information: Employee ID, Employee Name, Date, WBS Element, WBS Element Name, Project ID, Project Name, Cost Center, Cost Center Name, Task Type, Task Type Name, Hours.

    CSV file that contains Notifications for Timesheet Entries that require action

    Note

    Employees are notified when their time entries have been rejected by their managers. In addition to receiving an email notification, employees can also use the Manage My Timesheet app to view the list of rejected time entries in the Alerts section and navigate from the list directly to the appropriate week to correct the rejected time entries. Rejected Time Entries interface that displays timesheet entries that are rejected and their alerts.

Analyze Team Utilization

Watch the simulation Approving Timesheets to learn more about the system-related activities.

ExerciseStart Exercise

Conclusion

Personal Reflection

Reflect on a time when you managed a project, either at work or in a personal scenario, such as planning a community event or organizing a big family occasion. Think about how you kept track of tasks, allocated time to different activities, and the overall accountability of the project.

  1. How did you ensure that each task was being attended to by the right people?
  2. Was there a method you used for tracking the time spent on each task?
  3. If something was missed or went off track, how did you handle the notifications and corrections?

This reflection aims to connect these everyday organization and project management skills to the structured processes of time recording in SAP, such as using the Manage My Timesheet application. Consider the parallels between this tool and the method you used in your experience.

Expert Response

In my professional experience with project management, especially in environments utilizing systems like SAP for time recording, aligning day-to-day management practices with structured software tools has been pivotal. For instance, in a large-scale project, just as in planning a community festival, the assignment of tasks and management of time are critical.

  1. Task Assignment

    Just as you might delegate specific roles at an event based on individual skills and capabilities, in project management within SAP, roles and permissions are defined to ensure everyone knows their responsibilities. This is akin to ensuring volunteers at an event know whether they're handling logistics, catering, or guest management.

  2. Time Tracking

    Similar to perhaps using a simple spreadsheet or a checklist to track progress in personal projects, SAP Fiori's "Manage My Timesheet" application provides a more robust, real-time digital solution where employees can enter their time against specific tasks or projects. This transition from manual to digital helps in tracking more accurately and provides historical data that's useful for future project planning.

  3. Handling Deviations

    Just as in personal scenarios, where we might follow up via calls or meetings if a task isn't completed, in SAP, the "Notify Missing Times" function serves a similar purpose. It helps project managers promptly address any discrepancies or missing entries, ensuring that the project remains on track without significant time lapses between identifying and correcting errors.

The methodologies we apply, whether in personal tasks or professional settings, share a common foundation: efficiency, accountability, and clarity. Using sophisticated tools like SAP can amplify these elements, providing a structured pathway to handle complex projects similar to simpler, everyday tasks. This reflection helps bridge.

Lesson Summary

In this session, we explored the essentials of Time Recording (J12) in SAP, focusing on how it supports project management through effective time tracking. Here's a recap of the key points that relate to our learning objectives:

  1. Understanding Time Recording

    We examined the importance of accurately recording work hours, whether they're billable or non-billable. This distinction is fundamental for precise project costing and billing, ensuring accountability and financial integrity in project execution.

  2. Key SAP Fiori Applications

    The session highlighted crucial SAP Fiori applications such as Manage My Timesheet, My Inbox for time sheet approvals, and Notify Missing Times for addressing time recording discrepancies. Familiarity with these applications enables efficient daily operations and problem resolution within the time recording framework.

  3. Role Differentiation and Permissions

    We discussed how different roles within the SAP system, like project managers and team members, have specific capabilities and permissions that streamline the task management process. Understanding these roles helps in effectively navigating the system and delegating responsibilities.

  4. Settings and Configurations Affecting Time Recording

    The lesson covered various system configurations, like the Restrict Unstaffed Posting setting, which can be tailored to meet project-specific requirements and compliance needs. Knowledge of these settings allows for customization and enhanced control over the time recording process.

  5. Benefits of Effective Time Recording

    Key benefits include improved project management through accurate labor cost tracking, enhanced compliance with billing and employment regulations, and the ability to provide detailed project performance insights. Such benefits are crucial for maintaining transparency and optimizing operational efficiency.

By understanding and utilizing these elements, you are now better equipped to manage and optimize the Time Recording process in SAP. This knowledge not only supports effective project management but also ensures that financial and operational objectives are met, aligning with our lesson's objectives.

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