FAQ

Frequently asked questions
Written by Dan Gubler
Updated 5 months ago

Check out below topics or simply chat with us by tapping the messenger icon where you can ask your questions. We'll try to answer as fast as possible.

1) Any suggestions on how to enter a starting balance ?

If you want to transfer your previous balance to this app do the following:

  1. Go to the date you want to start tracking (or one day before)

  2. Tap on 'My templates' and choose 'My startup balance'*

  3. Update the default flat hours value to the value you want to start with

  4. Page to the next day to start your daily entries

*Alternatively, if you do not find a pre-defined startup balance activity then you can create one. Go to settings to create a new activity record and set as For Balance = Count, Flat time = ON.

2) How do I reduce my accrued hours balance ?

Reduce your balance using “Clear Hours Balance”

  1. If you want to clear your balance as per current or for a specific month or week, this feature will calculate your balance as at the specified “as per” date and create a negated value of that balance to reduce the balance to zero

  2. Go to Settings page and “Clear Hours Balance” where you can indicate the “Balance as per” Date.

  3. Confirm with “Go” to reveal the balance for the “As per” date.

  4. Now you have the option to insert a timesheets at the desired date which will reduce the balance to zero. Please select the Activity name* which has been preset to reduce your balance.

  5. Please verify the inserted timesheet. You may wish to add the total monetary amount which you have been paid into the additional field provided. Please note that you may only enter a lump sum of the total payout (there is no hourly rate calculation made).

  6. Run your reports to check that your total balance has been reduced as expected. The amount field is included in the “Detail Report”.

*Alternatively, if you do not find a pre-defined activity then you can create one. Go to settings to create a new activity record and set as For Balance = Count, Flat time = ON, Balance reducer = ON.

**Please note that a Reducer Activity can be added to an existing timesheet. For example, “At work” activity and the Reducer Activity included in the same timesheet.

3) How do I manage hours at special rates ?

Some industries have special regulations for surplus hours where extra pay may be considered when the total work hours per week exceed 40 hours as well as special rates on certain days (eg. for weekend work hours are calculated with a factor of 1.5x or 2x). The United States Labor Act classifies workers as 'exempt' or 'non-exempt' from Overtime tracking.

Days when special hourly factors apply

The app enables you to gross up your hours by a factor in the following ways;

a) using Daily conditions

b) using an Activity set up with an hourly multiplier

c) or a combination of both

Example: you worked on the weekend for 7 hours and your hours count as 1.5x of the standard rate resulting in 3.30 bonus hours. You could enter this in the following ways;

Option A: use Daily Conditions

  1. Go to a new timesheet page and tap on the upper right side icon

  2. Select the Daily Condition criteria for "Time" from 9:00am with factor at 1.50, Tick the Apply to Balance

  3. From default use the button "Fast check-in" or from the "My Activities" select "At work"

  4. Change the Activity to "In Office" (tap and select from list) which deducts the breaktime

  5. Tap on the Start field and set to: 9:00am and set End to 5:00pm with 1.00 hr break

these entries will result in:

  • Hours accounted: 7.00

  • Bonus hours: 3.30

  • Hours total: 10.30

  • Day balance: 3.30

Option B: use an Activity with hourly multiplier

1) Go to a new timesheet page and remove any previous Daily conditions

2) From default use the button "My Activities" select "At work 1.5 rate"

3) Tap on the Start field and set to: 9:00am and set End to 5:00pm with 1.00 hr break

Please run the reports to verify your results. You may want to add the overtime pay you expect into the amount field. To have your pay calculated you simply activate the amount field for your Activity. To do this, please tap on the settings icon next to the activity name and switch on the Amount field as Hourly rate type

On payday the predefined Activity 'Payments account' may be used (or use 'My payments account' template) to enter the total hours and amount which will reduce your overtime balance accordingly (see more under FAQ 2 option B)

Weekly Overtime: for hours exceeding a weekly threshold please refer to feature “Surcharge for Period”

4) Explain the feature “Surcharge for Period"

This enables you to identify those working hours which exceed a given threshold for the selected period and which should be calculated at special rates after (or exceeding) standard overtime for the period. These “bonus“ hours can be stored as a timesheet which will add to your overtime balance.

For example, you have a standard 8.00 hours offset from Monday to Friday but you worked 9 hour days. This makes a total of 40 offset hours against a total of 45 working hours which result in 5.00 hours of standard overtime (or flextime). If your company grants an hourly bonus of 1.5 rate for hours which exceed a threshold of 40 working hours this feature will produce 2.30 hours (5.00 x 1.5 = 7.30 of which 2.30 is the bonus portion) which can be added to your balance using the predefined Activity name to be allocated to a desired date.

5) What is the definition of 'Activity' in the context of this app?

The term 'Activity' is used to describe a unit to which hours tracked are allocated. You may decide that a different term is more appropriate for the way you would like to use this app. For example, in some jobs this unit might rather be called a 'Task' or 'Project' or 'Shift'. In addition, you may consider using an Activity as an 'account' for deposits or balances (eg. overtime rate balances). A range of standard activities (including 'Templates') have been set up for you to help you get started. However, you are free to change these to more detailed actions (eg. 'in Office' can be broken out to 'Office task A', 'Office task B', etc) or create accounts (eg. overtime special rate, special rate payouts).

6) How can I create or customize Activity records ?

Go to Settings and ‘Define Activities’ to find a pre-defined list of Activities

The list can be updated to your preference by renaming, deleting, changing the order or creating new Activity records. Tap any Activity name to access the detail view. The parameters will determine how you see the input fields and the calculations applied for that Activity.The parameters for your Activity record are as follows:

  • For Balance: determines whether the work hours will count or not count towards the daily balance. A ‘not count’ situation will apply if you want to compensate a flexday or you are not charging for your work. Refer to the relevant predefined records.

  • Flat break deduction: enable a lump sum deduction from your working hours or disable for real time tracking

  • Own Account mode: means that the hours will be accounted for under a separate column within the Activity Report and will not count for the overtime balance

  • Hourly rate (multiplier): will multiply the hours (net of break deduction if applicable) by the factor indicated. Best used for activities with special rates like weekend work and call duty.

  • Amount: can be used for lump sum or hourly wages. If set to hourly rate this field will calculate the amount based on the total hours of the activity.

  • Project budget: the performance target or the total hours or days agreed for the activity. This value is used for the 'Project Budget' report to evaluate the respective remaining balance. See FAQ 10 for more.

  • Flat time mode: will replace start and end time with a single hours field. Option to auto-populate this field with the Offset value which is how the pre-defined Vacation and Sick day Activity records have been set up.

  • Balance reducer: hours entered against this activity will reduce the daily balance. Best used in connection with overtime payouts.

The timesheet picker will list the Activity names in the order as found in the settings

7) If I change an activity setting why is this not applied to previous time sheets ?

Changes in Activity settings will be applied on new time sheets in order to protect historic data. To apply changes to historic data you must go back to each existing sheet and reselect the activity for the change to become effective (for example: name change, flat mode on/off, For balance: Count yes/no, etc.)

8) If I have two jobs which I want to track, does that work?

The app was basically designed for one job as the reports will show just one balance rather than a breakout out by job or by employer. However, you have the following options:

  1. If your second job is on a different day you can set a different offset on that day. You may want to create an activity for that job, for example: 'Job 2'.

  2. A different approach is to install the App on another device to track that job. Re-installing the same app from Google Play Store is free.

9) What is meant by “Templates” ?

Templates enable you to store typical activities which you would use repetitively in a changing schedule as a pre-defined timesheet. For example, you might like to re-use a previous week's timesheet, need same activities every week or a combination of activities you need once a month for special occasions. You can use the default templates from 'My Templates' which you can change to suit your needs. In addition, you can create a template for each day of the week within the 'Set working days' option.

10) What is the Project Budget Report for ?

This report enables you to report on activities that are set up with a time budget or performance target. This is usually used to monitor a project with an agreed hourly budget. To get to know this report insert the template named Project with time budget in the Timesheets page and then check the report result. In principle, you can set a time budget for each activity name. This report only takes into account those activities for which a time budget has been set. To display the report totals in days, please check the information under the "Conversion in days" setting.

11) How can I analyze my data beyond the standard reports ?

You may wish to transfer your data to a spreadsheet where further filters, comments and formatting as well as graphical elements can be added. We suggest you run the “Activity Report” which contains all details of the timesheets and send the results to your computer in MS-Excel format (Settings “Report Send Options”). Alternatively, if you use a different spreadsheet application you may wish to save the report in the csv or html file format and copy or import the data to that spreadsheet application. The Activity Report includes the Total values in minutes to facilitate additional calculations you may wish to make (refer to the Activity Report filter where fields can be included or excluded).

12) How do I print my data ?

Run the desired report and email the data. From the email you have the following options:

  • Open the file attachment from a computer which has printing capability OR

  • Open the file attachment within your device mailbox if you have a wireless printer connected.

13) How can I keep my data safe ?

You must do a backup regularly to avoid data loss if something happens to your device. One way to do this is to use the 'Backup & Mail' feature regularly to keep a copy of your data (timesheet history and settings) in a compressed format (.mwtad) in your email inbox.

To restore from an e-mail back-up follow these steps:

  1. make sure this app is installed on the target device (you can re-install it for free from the Google Play Store)

  2. open the email and tap on the attachment and confirm 'open with My Worktime' when asked.

  3. the app will be restarted and you should now see all your time sheets from that back-up.

  4. finally, please run your reports and check your settings to ensure all is as expected.

  5. Alternatively, if you use the “Schedule Backup” feature you will be able to recover your data from backup files made to your Dropbox account or to your device’s local path. The device's backup folder is located in this path: Internal memory/android/media/com.danielg.myworktime. Please note that new security restrictions require the folder to be within the App's folder.

  6. Another option is to use the backup utility of your device which will allow you to reset and recover all your device’s content. Please consult your device’s manual regarding backup utilities.

14) What is the 'Backup & Mail' used for ?

  • to transfer your data to another device per e-mail

  • to keep a copy of your data per e-mail in case something happens to your device

For scheduling backups we suggest you use the Backup scheduler feature with Dropbox.

15) What is 'Backup scheduler' and how does it work ?

This is a service which allows you to store a regular backup of your data (a history of all your time sheets) on an external server (cloud) with a provider named 'Dropbox' or to your device's hard disk by choosing a folder path. This is more convenient than creating backups manually via e-mail. Your backup file can be restored to your device in case you you have lost your data or would like to transfer your data to another device (the app must be installed on that device). Please note that this is not an automatic database synchronization service between multiple devices.

To use the Dropbox feature you will need a Dropbox account and internet connection. During setup you will be asked to create a Dropbox account or Login and link to an existing account. Dropbox gives you limited free space which is sufficient for the purpose of the backup files (under 10kb per file). As part of the backup process a compressed file is created (.mwtad) for every backup made along with a timestamp in a specific folder path on Dropbox (APPS..). Further, please take note of the following points:

  • During backup if your device is not connected to the internet the backup file will stay on your device and synchronize with the cloud the next time you start the app and you are connected to the internet.

  • Scheduled backups (eg. every Tuesday) will be triggered if you open the app on the day the backup is scheduled.

  • The .mwtad file format can only be read by this app as part of the restore process

  • To view a list of all your backup files you can use the “List & Restore” button or look up your Dropbox account under the APPS.. path.

  • To restore a backup file simply tap on that file name and follow the instructions. File names end with .mwtad

  • You can delete older versions from the backup path as you wish from within your Dropbox account.

16) How can I transfer my app to a newly purchased device ?

  1. install this app on the new device. You can re-install it free direct from the Google Play Store. To restore your previous purchases go to the In-App-Purchase page and scroll down to use the Restore button. If restore is successful you should see a green check mark next to the restored item.

  2. run the 'Backup & Mail' from the old device and send it to the new device’s mailbox.

  3. open the email and tap on the attachment and confirm 'Open with My Worktime' when asked.

  4. the app is restarted and you should now see all your old time sheets on the new device.

17) How do I collect my staff’s data ?

This app is not designed as a multi-user solution. However, you can use this app in the following way:

  • Ask your staff to install the app and send you their tracking results periodically. The “Daily Summary“ or “Detail Report“ (if you prefer activity details) can easily be exported and sent via Email or saved to a shared cloud server in several formats. The PDF version has an option to add a signing section to the end of the report (see under Settings > Sign my Reports).

  • You might like to maintain a master log of all your staff’s results on a central spreadsheet for further analysis. In this case, you may ask your colleagues to send you their results in xls, csv or html format. In a few easy steps you can open the file on your computer and paste or import the data into the central spreadsheet.

  • We run a cloud version of this app named “Staff Times” which enables a consolidation of all staff data for central reporting. Please check out our 30 day free trial at www.stafftimes.com. We have specials for small teams.

18) What are the future plans for this App ?

The App market divides into apps focusing on project management and billing and time tracking tools for employees in specific industries and trades. We would certainly like to be your first choice for your personal time tracking whatever your needs are. The more we hear back from you about the good and the bad the better we can explore new features – just email us or check our Facebook support page. Last but not least, we hope this app well contribute to keeping the right work-life balance for you. As part of a growing user community, congratulations for discovering this app and welcome to the club !

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