Time & Budgets in Karbon provides a comprehensive framework for managing and monitoring time allocations and project budgets. This feature allows teams to set and track budgets for both time and financial resources, ensuring that projects are completed efficiently and within their allocated limits.
By offering a clear view of time usage and budget adherence, Time & Budgets helps teams optimize their workflows, make data-driven decisions, and maintain financial control over their projects.
Index
Why use Time & Budgets in Karbon?
Time & Budgets integrates seamlessly into your workflow, offering extensive capabilities to set up, use, and optimize various aspects across Karbon. To get started quickly, we recommend watching the 10-step setup video and following the step-by-step setup guide.
Key Components and Options:
Specify Time & Budgets settings:
Enable Time & Budgets and configure global parameters such as tracking time (for work or both work & contacts), tracking budgets (for time or time & dollars), and managing expenses.Set user permissions & capacity:
Define colleagues’ weekly capacity, grant permissions to view dollar amounts, and assign Time Administrator roles.Customize Task Types in Workflow:
Define task types performed by your firm and specify which tasks are billable or non-billable.Set dollar amounts by Role:
Establish standard dollar amounts by role for all task types or create custom rates for each task type.Update Work Templates (or Work) for Time & Budgets:
Incorporate Task Types into work templates, set fee types (e.g., fixed, time & materials, non-billable), and add role-based estimates.Manage Time & Budget per work item:
Adjust or add budget estimates and fee settings for each work item. Log time and expenses to assess job profitability and review budget versus actuals by team member, role, or task type.Manage and review Time & Budget per contact:
Log time and expenses directly to a contact, filter by time period, Work Type, or Work Status, and review activity and budgeted time.Review, update and submit timesheets:
At week’s end, review and update your timesheet, add missing items, and submit for approval. Time Administrators can also update colleagues' timesheets.Review and approve timesheets:
Receive and review submitted timesheets in Triage. Approve or deny timesheets, review by period or colleague, and provide comments as necessary.Review the Colleague Utilization report:
Filter time data by date and colleague to assess utilization related to capacity, billable and non-billable time, and resulting dollar amounts.Export time, budgets, timesheets, and utilization:
Download time-related information, create custom reports, or use data for billing and other activities.Integrate billing options:
Utilize native integrations with Ignition, GoProposal, and QuickBooks Time for various billing methods. Leverage our open API for custom integrations with your preferred time or billing solutions.
Video Overview of Time & Budgets
Setting up Time & Budgets
Karbon’s Time & Budgets functionality enables you to estimate and track time effectively, manage job budgets, allocate resources efficiently, and gain valuable performance insights
Note: Time & Budgets is available to all Karbon users. You will need to be an admin to set up Time & Budgets in your Karbon account. Like all other Settings changes, these will be activated across your entire team.
Follow these five steps to set up Time & Budgets and start optimizing your team's workflows:
1. Turn on Time & Budgets
Go to ‘Settings’ from the Main Menu and select ‘Time & Budgets’.
Choose which settings to activate: time tracking (for work or work & contacts), budgets (for time or time & dollars), and expenses.
Decide how you want to track time: by Work only or by Work and Contacts. You can also choose whether to require timesheets to be submitted for approval.
Timesheet Approval: If you opt for timesheet approval, ensure you set up the necessary user permissions, such as assigning the Time Administrator role. This will enable designated colleagues to review, comment on, approve, or deny timesheets.
Roles and Task Types: Configure Roles and Task Types as required fields to capture all essential information accurately as your team logs time.
Role Restrictions: Admins can restrict users to recording time only against roles assigned to their profiles. This feature helps prevent billing errors and minimizes the need for corrections.
Please keep in mind if you're integrating with QuickBooks Time, please be aware that timesheet approvals will be managed within QuickBooks Time, not in Karbon.
Budgets
Activate Budgets to track estimates for time alone or for both time and dollars on work items. Once enabled, you’ll have access to various budget features in Karbon, including the Budget Overview and detailed Budget By Team Member, Role, or Task Type. You can also control budget estimates by time or amount.
Best Practice Tip: If you choose to track budgets in dollars, adjust user permissions to control who on your team can view the rate information.
Expenses
Activate the Expenses feature to track costs associated with work and contacts. Once enabled, an Expenses section will appear on each Work and Contact record. Here, you can add details for each expense, including a description, cost, billable amount, and the date incurred.
2. Update user permissions & capacity
To update each colleague’s capacity (hours per week) and assign user permissions, go to ‘Settings’ from the Main Menu and select ‘Colleagues’. Here are key permissions to consider:
Time Administrator: Grants the ability to view and approve timesheets for all team members. Time Administrators can also adjust their own and others' capacity. Multiple Time Administrators can be assigned.
View Dollar Amounts: Allows you to control which team members can view dollar values for budgets and actuals when Time and Dollars for Budgets is enabled in your Time & Budget Settings.
If you want to track team utilization, add in how many hours a week each colleague is supposed to work and we'll use that and divide it by their billable hours to display their utilization.
3. Add & edit Task Types
From 'Settings', select 'Workflow', then navigate to the third tab labeled 'Task Types'. Here, you can create and modify the task types for which you will track budgets and time. Task Types are essential for setting up budgets and recording time for work.
Click on 'Task Types' to configure each task as billable or non-billable according to your needs.
4. Edit Task Types dollar amount
Navigate to Settings > Colleagues > Roles, select the desired role, and adjust the dollar amount for each Task Type within that role.
You have two options for setting the dollar amount:
Standard Dollar Amount: Set a default rate applied to all task types associated with the role. This rate will be used when creating estimates for that role.
Custom by Task Type: Adjust the dollar amount individually for each task type associated with the role. The default rate will be pre-populated, which you can modify as needed.
5. Update Work Templates with Task Types, Fee Type and Estimates
Once you have set up your Time & Budget settings as described above, you can enhance your work templates by associating task types with tasks, adding estimates, and specifying fee settings. This will enable you to manage time off, work, contacts, and timesheets more effectively.
If you need to adjust existing work items, we recommend updating your work templates first and resetting each work item to the template. Alternatively, you can use the methods outlined below to update individual work items. For bulk updates, please reach out to our support team for assistance.
To update your work templates, complete these three steps:
Add Task Types to Work Template Tasks
Specify Fee Settings for Work Templates
Add Estimates to Work Templates
Add task types to work template tasks
Assigning task types to work template tasks helps clarify which roles perform specific task types, aiding in accurate estimate creation. Future enhancements to the Time & Budget feature will leverage these task types for better insight, visibility, analysis, and automation.
To update your work template tasks with Task Types:
Select a work template.
Click the 'Tasks' tab.
Click on a task to view its full details.
Click the 'Task Type' field and choose the appropriate task type for the task.
Track the combination of the role and task type for specifying your estimates in the next step.
Please keep in mind if you started using Karbon on or after October 1, 2020, your initial work templates will have task types added. If you started using Karbon before that date, your pre-loaded work templates will not have task types associated with the tasks.
Specify fee settings per work template
For each work template, you can specify how you collect fees from the client by using the 'Time & Budgets' tab or editing a work template in the 'Budget' tab.
To update fee settings:
Open a specific work template from Main Menu > Settings > Work Templates.
Select the 'Budget' tab.
Please keep in mind the 'Budget / Time & Budget' tab will only display if Budgets is turned on in Settings > Time & Budgets. Fees will not be displayed unless you choose 'Time & Dollars' for the Budget option in the Time & Budgets settings.
There are three fee options:
Time & Materials: Billable amounts grow as you track time. The budget reflects your estimate, and 'Fees - Time & Materials' increase as actuals grow.
Fixed Fee: The 'Fees - Fixed Fees' total shows the full amount upfront. The budget amount will be based on your estimated time and dollar amounts. Typically, the budget should be less than the fixed fee total.
Non-billable: The 'Fees' section on the 'Budget Overview' will disappear since no fees are collected for this work item.
Add estimates to work templates
Adding estimates to your work templates provides a clear understanding of the expected effort and resources required for each task, aiding in effective planning and management.
To add estimates:
Open a specific work template from Main Menu > Settings > Work Templates.
Select the 'Budget' tab.
Click the 'Add Budget Estimate' button or link.
Add the appropriate role, task type, hourly billing rate (click 'Use Default'), and estimated time to complete in hours and minutes.
Click 'Save.'
Repeat this process for all associated task types per role and for all roles involved in the work. This will create an accurate budget viewable in the 'Budget Overview' and detailed by role, task type, and team member.
Once your templates are set up, you can begin creating work from them and add actual time, expenses, and more as you complete the work. To have prior work created from a template inherit the new budgets, reset your work to the template.
Best Practice Tip: Regardless of whether it is a fixed fee or time & materials engagement, review the budget from the Budget Overview after completing the budget estimate for all roles and task types. Ensure the total hours and dollars meet your expectations. If adjustments are needed, review the time estimates or billing rates per role and task type.
10 step set up video
Watch the ten videos below to learn hands-on how to set-up Time & Budgets:
Or watch the full 1 hour video end-to-end:
Using filters to refine the Time and Budget tab on a contact
On the 'Time & Budget' tab for a contact, you will see all budget data pulled from the contact’s work items, including budgets and actual time entries. You can refine this view using the following filters:
Time Entry Date
Work Type
Work Status
Please keep in mind when you apply filters to refine your Time & Budget view, the filtered data will be the data exported when you use the download icon in the Budget by Work Type (or Work) section.
Viewing budgets
Kanban board
You can view budget information for each column on your Kanban board, which outlines aggregate totals for Fees, Budget, Actual, and Remaining amounts.
To reveal this information:
Make sure you are viewing your Work in Kanban mode
Turn on 'Display Column Totals' from your sorting menu
When you sort your Kanban board by Assignee, you will see additional details of the aggregates allocated to each individual:
Budget: This shows the aggregate budget amounts for all work items assigned to you.
Budget Allocated: Displays the aggregate amounts for that individual, including work items assigned to them and any work items they are involved in.
Budget Overview
The 'Budget Overview' provides overarching totals for budgeted hours/dollars, actual hours/dollars, and remaining hours/dollars based on your filtered data. Depending on your 'Time and Budget' settings, you can view your budgets in various ways. If you have selected 'Time and Dollars' in your settings, you can view your Budget Overview by hours or amounts.
Viewing budget by Team Member, Role or Task Type on a work item
To view your budget by Team Member, Role, or Task Type:
Click on the headline.
Choose your preferred view.
Viewing budget by Work or Work Type on a contact
To review activity by Work or Work Type:
Navigate to the contact.
Use the filters at the top to refine your view.
You will see all budget vs. actual data pulled from the associated contact’s work items where budget or actual time has been entered. This view helps assess tracked time, budget, and remaining budgeted time, both overall and by team member.
For contacts, the 'Budget by Work' and 'Budget by Work Type' views display all budget vs. actual data from the associated work items. Use this information to assess tracked time, budget, and remaining budgeted time, both overall and by team member.
For the given contact, the 'Budget by Work' and 'Budget by Work Type' views display all budget vs. actual data from the contact's associated work items where budget or actual time has been entered. Use this information to assess the tracked time, compare it to the budget, and determine how much budgeted time remains, both overall and by the team member.
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