Posted by: EPM Partners on July 12, 2016
Occasionally in Project Server, we encounter a situation where timesheet capture is only required at project level and not task level. The requirement in this scenario is users are only presented with one timesheet task for each project they work on.
Project Server can be configured to allow top level time reporting. In my experience, this only works correctly if Single Entry mode is not selected.
There is not much guidance around the set up for this, so I have created this post.
Set up:
- In PWA Settings, select Timesheet Settings and Defaults
- In Default Timesheet Creation Mode, select Current projects
- In Timesheet Policies, tick Allow top-level time reporting. In our case we are also disabling Task Status Manager Approval.
- Ensure Single Entry Mode is not selected
Behaviour:
A single row will display for each project that:
- The resource is in the Project Team (Build Team from Enterprise). Note that the user does not need to be assigned to any tasks in the schedule. This makes setting up schedules for timesheets easier.
- The project is past the forecast start date and prior to the finish date.
The timesheet row for each project will display “Top Level” as the Task Name.
Example timesheet (note the task name)
Restrictions / Limitations:
- Does not work in Single Entry Mode. When I have single entry mode selected, task assignments display in the timesheet. This is also logical as any time entered against the whole of the project could not be incorporated back into the schedule via task updates.
- A user can still manually add a project task via the Add Row > Select from Existing Assignments
Conclusion:
Capturing timesheet data at project level using a stand-alone timesheet is a workable solution in Project Server. This simplifies time entry because users do not need to update individual tasks. It’s also easier to set up projects as you don’t need to assign resources to tasks for users to log time to the project. This set up is not recommended where more granularity of time reporting is needed and/or task updates via the timesheet are needed.
