TimeControl 6 Online Learning Center
Welcome to the TimeControl online training area. We've created several mini lessons to help you learn some of TimeControl 5's basic functionality. If you're new to TimeControl or want to see how some of the basic functionality works, then you'll be able to find what you need here.
If you're trying out the TimeControl Trial site or have been allocated one of the TimeControl hosted sites for evaluation, then you'll find that the data we use in these mini lessons is the same as the data in those sites. Some of the basic functions that you'll need to know to get started will include adding a user, adding projects and charge codes, entering time in the timesheet and basic approvals.
Additional information is available in the TimeControl online help, the TimeControl User and Reference Guides and from the TimeControl blog.
TimeControl 6 Basic Lessons
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Lesson 1: Timesheet entry without Pre-loads
TimeControl's timesheet entry screen is mostly self-explanatory but this lesson covers some of the options that users might encounter based on how their TimeControl is configured. This lesson shows timesheet entry when no charge codes have been defined as preloaded for this employee.
Duration: 7 minutes
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Lesson 2: Timesheet entry with Pre-loads
TimeControl's timesheet entry screen is mostly self-explanatory but this lesson covers some of the options that users might encounter based on how their TimeControl is configured. This lesson shows timesheet entry for a user who has several charges defined to pre-load automatically in their timesheet.
Duration: 7 minutes
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Lesson 3: TimeRequest
TimeControl allows you to enter a request to approve time in the future such as vacation time. TimeRequest can also be used for any category of timesheet entry however. The key is that the time is for approval in the future and, once approved, it will appear in the appropriate timesheet when it's created as a pre-load item. This short lesson shows the entry of a request for vacation and how it is approved.
Duration: 4 minutes
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Lesson 4: Approvals
Approving timesheets by supervisors is very easy. This lesson shows the organizational approvals, what happens when an Automated Validation Rule is invoked and how supervisors can approve or reject timesheets. For more information about more complex Matrix Approvals, visit the Matrix Approval Process page.
Duration: 5 minutes
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Lesson 5: Overview of TimeControl tables (version 6.0+)
Behind the scenes TimeControl has a number of reports that can be managed by an Administrator that can help categorize data in a wide variety of ways. Not every table needs to be filled out but the User, Employee and Charge tables are essential along with at least one entry in the Rates table. This lesson shows the basic table structure and shows how Administrators can maintain some of the more important tables in the system.
Duration: 7 minutes
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Lesson 6: Adding a new user (version 6.0+)
One of the key functions of an Administrator is to add a new employee into TimeControl as a user when they enter the company. This lesson goes through the New User Wizard in TimeControl and shows you how to complete all the steps for a new addition to TimeControl in an easy-to-follow series of screens.
Duration: 4 minutes
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Lesson 7: Adding a new project (version 6.0+)
The Project Table allows TimeControl not only to group charges by project but also to link those charges to external project scheduling tools like Microsoft Project, Project Server, Primavera and Open Plan. The Project table's structure allows projects to be categorized for billing, filtering or other purposes.
Duration: 5 minutes
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Lesson 8: Adding new charge codes (version 6.0+)
One of the largest tables in TimeControl is often the charge table. This table allows hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of possible charge codes to be entered so that time can be charged against them. The structure of this table allows us to make charges hierarchical so that end users aren't confronted with a terribly long drop-down list on the web. Also, an unlimited number of user defined fields can be added for each charge record allowing Administrators to categorize future hours and labor costs for R&D tax credits, capitalization, billing, or other purposes.
Duration: 3 minutes
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Lesson 9: Running reports
TimeControl has extensive reporting capabilities right inside the system. There are numerous reports and reporting options immediately out of the box. This lesson gives a brief reporting overview and shows how to run the existing reports in the system.
Duration: 6 minutes
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Lesson 10: The Drill Down Analyzer
One of the most powerful tools for TimeControl Administrators is TimeControl's Drill Down Analyzer. This tool allows Administrators to group incredible volumes of TimeControl data very, very quickly by a virtually unlimited number of criteria. It's a perfect tool for answering ad-hoc questions that might otherwise require hours of design of a report or having to export and analyze the data in other tools. The Drill Down Analyzer allows you to simply drag colums of data into a hierarchical view and then see the result instantly.
Duration: 4 minutes
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Lesson 11: Personal Preloads (version 6.1+)
TimeControl 6.1 introduces the ability for an end -user to preload their timesheet with charges they personally select. This function works in conjunction with the Resource Preload function which is still in the system but controlled by the Administrator. Personal Preloads is defined in each users MyAccount area and the only requirement is that the user select a default rate code in advance which is also done in the MyAccounts area.
Duration: minutes
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Lesson 12: Timesaving Tips in TimeControl
There are a number of ways users have found to get their timesheet done faster. We've assembled a few of our favorite tips and tricks to getting the most out of TimeControl in this easy lesson. Find out how to make a TimeControl icon on your desktop, how to hide columns in your timesheet to avoid horizontal scrolling and how to use the tab/shift-tab key to save a few seconds on each line of your timesheet. It'll take a few short minutes to see this lesson and it will pay back in hours of cumulative saved time in the future as you use TimeControl.
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Lesson 13: Managing Banked time
One common request of TimeControl is how to managed banked time. Included by default with TimeControl are 3 pre-defined banks for Personal time off, sick leave and vacation time. There are a total of 9 banks defined by default with the other 6 unnamed so there's already a tremendous amount of flexibility to quickly create a new bank of time and allocate certain charges to count against that bank. Take a look at this short webcast which will walk through the steps required to define a new bank and activate it in TimeControl. You can see the slides from this webcast here.
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Lesson 14: Managing Holidays with the TimeRequest Wizard
As of TimeControl 6.3, Administrators can create future entries in the timesheets of many users at once using the TimeRequest Wizard. This easy to use function will be popular with organiztions that would like to pre-populate statutory holiday entries for employees. The Wizard creates a TimeRequest which is already pre-approved and posted in the queue of employees for when a timesheet is created in the future. The Administrator can create such an entry for all employees or any filtered selection. This simple webcast shows how to use the TimeRequest Wizard to create a holiday entry for all salaried staff.
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Lesson 15: Tracking Start and Stop times on your timesheet
Organizations often need to be able to track the start and stop time of each day. TimeControl is easily able to do this. TimeControl includes the ability to track start and stop times with one set of starts and stops per day or multiple intervals. See how to control this effect in the User Profiles area and then how it looks to the user in this short lesson.
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Lesson 16: Timesheet best practices
Note: This webcast requires registering and logging into the TimeControl/HMS Software website which is free.
Note: This webcast requires registering with the TimeControl/HMS Software website which is free.
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Lesson 17: Line Item Approvals
TimeControl has extensive functionality you can use to create your own approval process including HMS's famous Matrix Approval Process. This presentation goes through a live overview of the TimeControl approval functionality so you can see it in action and think about how approvals might be designed in your own situation.
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Lesson 18: Linking TimeControl and Microsoft Project
TimeControl can link to many different project management systems. This lesson shows how to link TimeControl with Microsoft Project and displays the data moving in both directions between the systems.
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Lesson 19: Create a report in TimeControl 6.5's new Report Interface
TimeControl 6.5 introduces a brand new graphical What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) report writer that is an evolution in TimeControl's reporting functionality. This lesson shows how to make a basic table report in the new Report Interface.
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Lesson 20: Adding a field
TimeControl's incredible flexibility allows administrators to add a field to every table in the TimeControl system. If you have the Change Structure privilege in User Profiles Table Security, you will be able to add a field. Here we add a new field called Exempt in the Employee table and we also add two drop-down options for the field.
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Lesson 21: Creating a Workflow
TimeControl uses the Release Timesheet event to trigger a hierarchical workflow which is remarkably powerful. You can have TimeControl automatically redirect a timesheet for approval, send email notifications to people for different data conditions, pre-approve lines in the Project Management Validation or even transform data depending on what is in the timesheet. This lesson shows the Workflow building blocks as a workflow is created.
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Lesson 22: Viewing Historic Timesheets
Users typically are interested in entering their timesheets in TimeControl and getting out of the office but every once in awhile it's nice to be able to review a previous timesheet. TimeControl never removes data so end users are able to view their historic timesheets. This lesson shows how to use the Timesheet List function in TimeControl to show all previous timesheets or timesheets for any user under your control.
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Lesson 23: The Timesheet List
While end users may spend much of their time in TimeControl in the Timesheet Entry screen, the Timesheet List view is more suited to supervisors and administrators. The Timesheet List is a powerful, flexible tool for viewing many timesheets at the same time yet follows the TimeControl.
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