Time to Money: Work Types
The third factor that affects the conversion of time into money in Autotask are Work Types. A Work Type is a billing code applied to labor. In Autotask, both task and ticket time entries can be associated with a work type. The work type can modify the task or ticket's role rate, hours worked, tax status, and whether or not the time is billable to the customer. Think of a work type as a way to categorize and customize customer-facing time (time spent performing work for a customer) – even if the customer will not be directly billed.
Work Types are configured under Billing Codes in the Admin settings for Finance, Accounting, and Invoicing (
> Admin > Features & Settings > Finance, Accounting & Invoicing > Billing Codes > Work Types tab).
Billable or Non-Billable?
When converting time into money, the most important attribute of a work type is whether it is Billable to the customer (ex: Custom Development) or Non-Billable (ex: Bug Fixes). There are exceptions to this, where Billable time entries fall under a contract type that does not directly bill for time worked; refer to Time to Money: Contracts. For reporting purposes, a work type's Billable and Non- Billable settings allow users to see how much time their resources spend doing work that they could bill to the customer, even if the customer is not directly billed for that work.
When setting the work type to Non-billable, the user can choose whether or not labor associated with the work type should appear on customer invoices. Labor that does appear on invoices will show as "No charge".
NOTE Time entries with no associated work type will be treated as Billable, subject to the exceptions noted above.
Taxable or Non-taxable?
Although the work type does not have a simple Taxable or Non-taxable setting, it does include the option to specify a Tax Category. The tax category, when paired with the Tax Region associated with the customer's organization record, determines whether or not the work associated with the work type is taxable, and at what rate.
This comes into play during invoicing. If the work type tax category is taxable for the customer's tax region, tax will be calculated at the tax region's rate and then added to the invoice. If the tax category + tax region pairing is non-taxable, tax will not be charged.
Work Type Billing Rate and Hours Modifiers
There are several methods that a work type might use to modify the billing rate or hours on a time entry. A work type can use only one method.
NOTE If a work type modifies the billing rate, and the work type is applied to a time entry with no associated contract, the work type modifies the Admin role rate. If the time entry is associated with a contract that specifies a contract rate, the work type modifies the contract role rate.
Use Role Rate
With this option, the time entry will bill at the hourly rate of the role selected on the time entry. There is no rate modification.
Use Role Rate Adjusted By
With this option, the time entry’s role rate will be adjusted (+/-) by the specified amount. This method can be used to adjust the rate down to $0, but not below $0 (if Rate minus Adjustment is less than $0, it will bill at $0).
Use Role Rate Multiplied By
With this option, the time entry’s role rate will be multiplied by the specified value. To offer a percentage discount, use this method and enter a value less than 1.00 (ex: to offer a 30% discount, enter .70). This method can also be used to adjust block hour calculations.
Use Custom Rate
This option allows the user to enter a custom hourly rate.
Use Flat Rate (per time entry)
With this option, the time entry will be billed at the specified flat rate. Behind the scenes, the Hours to Bill will be offset to 1 (this has the same net result as if the work type had a Minimum of 1 and a Maximum of 1; refer to Set Minimum and Maximum Number of Hours (Never Bill Less Than / More Than), below.)
NOTE You cannot save a time entry with a Flat Rate work type and a Block Hour contract.
Set Minimum and Maximum Number of Hours (Never Bill Less Than / More Than)
Work types can also be configured to require a minimum and maximum number of hours. When a work type sets a minimum (never bill less than # hours), all time entries that are less than the specified minimum number will have a positive offset applied to them to bring the Hours to Bill up to the specified minimum. When a work type sets a maximum (never bill more than # hours), all time entries that are greater than the specified maximum number will have a negative offset applied to them to bring the Hours to Bill down to the specified maximum.
Where are Work Types Stored?
For tasks, work type is stored at the task level and at the time entry level. For tickets, work type is stored at the ticket level and at the time entry level. The task or ticket time entry inherits the work type from the parent task or ticket; but users with the appropriate security level permission can select a different work type on the time entry. Resources with the appropriate security level permissions can also select a different work type when approving and posting.
Internal Time vs. Work Types
Autotask has a second type of labor billing code – Internal Time. Internal Time codes are associated with the regular time entries (internal organization meetings, miscellaneous and administrative time, sick time, etc.) discussed in the topic Factors that Affect Time Entries. Regular time entries are never billed to the customer, so this document does not pertain to Internal Time codes.
