These release notes document new features, enhancements and bug fixes included in various releases of Pacific Timesheet.
Version 8.00
New Features and Enhancements
1. Asset Tracking Support
We are excited to announce that Pacific Timesheet now has an Asset Tracking module. This new module is extremely flexible and allows you to track the usage of everything from materials and equipment to even expenses. You can enable this from the System > General > Asset Tracking Options page, and the online help topic will provide you with detailed information. (Build 502)
2. Project Time Approval
In addition to the current timesheet approval, you can now also approve project time via a new Project Time Approvals page. Project time approval is enabled from the System > General > Project Options page. More information can be found by clicking the Help link while on the Project Options page. (Build 556)
3. Reduced Use Of Popup Windows
Timesheet pages (including Crew Timesheet) no longer pop up separate browser windows when searching for projects, jobs, tasks, etc., or when showing a custom submit message. This means your regular employees entering hours do not need to enable popup windows in their browser to use Pacific Timesheet. Note that some administrative activities (e.g. setting permissions on objects) still use popup windows, so administrators will still want to enable popup windows in their browser for Pacific Timesheet. (Build 524)
4. New Absence Points Policy Rules
There is a new set of policy rules to handle assigning absence points or demerits for coming in late, leaving early, etc. From the System > Policies page click the Help link for more information. (Build 517)
5. Overtime Policy Rules Now Supports Holiday Work
You can now have work hours on holidays be counted as overtime (or doubletime). From the System > Policies page click the Help link for more information. (Build 520)
6. 9/80 Overtime Policy Rules Now Supports Leave
You can now include leave such as Holiday as part of regular work in the 9/80 overtime calculation. From the System > Policies page click the Help link for more information. (Build 517)
7. Time Entry Rules Support For Probationary Period
You can now specify a probationary period in the Leave Checks section of Time Entry Rules for each balance. This allows you to prevent new employees from taking leave until they have been employed for a specified number of days. For instance, you can configure the rules so that no vacation can be taken until employed for 90 days. (Build 545)
8. Autofill Time Entry Rule
The new Autofill time entry rule can be used to automatically set total timesheet hours to match the employee's scheduled hours when the timesheet is submitted. This can be useful in cases where you only want to track leave, but need to send scheduled hours to payroll. (Build 528)
9. Balance and Accrual Rules Enhancements
Balance and Accrual rules have been enhanced to support any type of time period for accruals and rollovers. For instance, you can have semi-monthly accruals and anniversary date rollovers. Go to the System > Policies > Balance and Accrual Rules page and click the Help link to get more information on the new features. (Build 545)
10. Support For Cloning Custom Reports
You can now clone custom reports by clicking the New report link that now appears to the right of the custom report. (Build 522)
11. New Report Filter: Approvees
Similar to the (Self) employee filter for reports, there is a new (Approvees) employee filter. Anyone running a report that has the (Approvees) employee filter will only see data from employees for which they are a primary approver. (Build 525)
12. Report Subtotals
You can now specify which report columns have subtotals for both summary and detail reports. (Build 536)
13. Support For Malaysian Ringgit
The Malaysian Ringgit currency is now available in the list of supported currencies (e.g. for the System > General > Base Currency setting). (Build 524)
14. New Permissions Configuration Page
You can now view and edit permissions from a summary level via a new Permissions option that appears in the Tools menu on the Groups, Pay Codes, Tasks and other such pages. You can still edit an object's permissions individually from each object's properties page. (Build 531)
15. New Time Entry Rounding Options
You can now specify that an employee's punches round to the nearest start or finish time. For instance, you can have punches 15 minutes or less before the scheduled start time automatically round to the scheduled start time, and punches 15 minutes or less after the scheduled finish time to automatically round to the finish time. This is useful for preventing employees from recording more hours than they are scheduled to work. For more information see the online help topic for the System > Policies > Time Entry Rules page. (Build 559)
16. Auto-Inactivating of Projects, Tasks, etc.
You can now configure projects, tasks and other WBS elements to have their status change automatically to inactive when they are no longer needed. This is done by enabling the "Auto Inactivate" projects and tasks option on the System > General > Project Options page. With this option enabled projects and tasks will be inactivated automatically the specified number of days after the "Actual Finish Date" value. If no actual finish date is specified then the status of the project or task will not be changed. In a related note, the "Don't allow submitting of time for inactive projects or tasks" rule (on the System > Policies > Time Entry Rules page) will also check the "Actual Finish Date" when determining if a project or task is inactive. This will make this entry rule more useful in cases where a project or task is inactivated in the middle of a timesheet period. (Build 576)
Fixes
17. Improved Session Expiration Handling
When the browser is idle and approaching the time when the login session will expire, a message will be shown allowing you to continue working. If not responded to (for instance you are away from your desk) the application will redirect to the login page. This is more secure, as well as preventing entry of data into pages after the session is expired. (Build 517)
18. HTML Editor Now Works With Google Chrome Browser
The HTML editor used for editing for announcements (on the Home tab), custom timesheet submit messages, etc. now works with the Google Chrome web browser. (Build 502)
19. Cloned Objects No Longer Overwrite Bill/Pay Rates
Previously, if you cloned an object such as an employee, and changed the bill or pay rate, the newly entered rate would be overwritten by the value of the employee being cloned once the OK button was clicked. Cloning will now correctly preserve any newly entered rates. (Build 527)
20. IE 9 Issue With Popup Calendar On Employee Balance Details Page
Fixed an issue in which the popup calendar on the Employee Balance Details page would not appear (Employees tab -> Current Balances). This only happened for Internet Explorer 9 when the page was scrolled to the very bottom. (Build 545)
21. Deleting Duplicate Timesheets
If for some reason you find a duplicate timesheet for an employee (two or more timesheets with the same date range) you can now delete the duplicate without inadvertently deleting all the time entries for that time period. Previously if you deleted the duplicate timesheet it would also delete all the time entries for that period. (Build 548)
22. Email Notices No Longer CCs Inactive Employees
For email notices that CC other employees (Timesheet Late notice, etc.), employees that are now inactive will not be included in the CC list. (Build 564)
23. Auditing of Changes to Past Time Entries
In some cases editing a past time entry might not result in an audit log record being created when using the DCAA auditing level. This would happen in some cases if a project or task for an old entry was changed, but not the number of hours. This is fixed in this realease. In addition, a new Event Type filter has been added to the Audit Report to make it easier to view specific types of audit events. (Build 577)
24. Reset Password Email
When a user resets their password (via the Forgot Password link on the login page), the resulting email will now contain a link to the appropriate product page (either the full web version, the mobile version or the kiosk). Previously the email contained a link that took the user to the full web version, even if they reset their password from the mobile or kiosk page. (Build 579)
Version 7.03 Build 495
New Features and Enhancements
1. Enhanced Crew Approval Kiosk Functionality
The Crew Approval Kiosk, a streamlined web interface that gives your clients a way to view crew hours, has new functionality. The Crew Approval page now provides both day and week views for reviewing and approving crew work. In addition you can now publish reports for your clients and they will be available from the kiosk. (Build 487)
Fixes
2. IE9 Compatibility Fix
Certain actions that showed modal dialogs could end up in a gray page with all input blocked when using Internet Explorer 9. This could affect such actions as timesheet exporting or submitting crew time. This issue is fixed in this release. (Build 495)
3. Timesheet Error When Saving Bill Amount or Rate
If you have a timesheet template that lets you enter the bill amount or bill rate, you could get a zero-division error when saving the timesheet if the hours are zero. This is fixed in this release. (Build 495)
Version 7.02 Build 480
New Features and Enhancements
1. Ability For Approvers To Submit Leave Requests For Their Approvees
If you can approve leave requests, you can now optionally create leave requests for your approvees. A new leave request permission, 'Can create for approvees', can now be set for permission levels on the System > Security page. (Build 467)
2. New Timesheet Search Option: Employee Type
There is a new advanced search option on Timesheets and Approvals tabs that allows you to limit results to particular employee types. You can also specify which employee types are exported when configuring scheduled timesheet exports on the System > Data Integration page. (Build 480)
Fixes
3. Exporting Overlapping Timesheet Periods Now Ensures No Duplicate Time Entries Exported
If you change an employee's timesheet period (e.g. from semimonthly to biweekly) you can have a situation where the time periods overlap some number of days. This could result in duplicate time entries being exported. This is fixed in this release. (Build 480)
4. Managers Can No Longer Edit Crew Timesheet Field Layout
Only users with system administration permissions (e.g. have access to the System tab) can now edit the layout of crew timesheet fields in the Crew Timesheet > Options dialog. (Build 480)
