Overview
Have you ever had a resource scheduled for Time Off that wasn't taken? How about a resource who needed to use unscheduled Time Off for an emergency? Historically, these situations could be inconvenient to account for within Parallax, since Time Off is treated as a reduction in both Availability - meaning that it simultaneously reduces Plans and Actuals - leaving no easy way to indicate which Time Off was planned and which was completed.
With today's release, we've added the ability to connect Timesheets to the Time Off section of the Shaper/Assignments View, in order to manage actual completion of Time Off through Timesheets. You'll be able to manage completion of Time Off separately from the Plans you're adding in Parallax - allowing you to properly differentiate between the Time Off you have Planned for the future and the Time Off Actuals that your team completes!
| How do I connect a Timesheet for Time Off Actuals? |
Before you can use Time Off Actuals, you must connect a Timesheet - find out how in this section! If you've still got Internal Projects for tracking Time Off, make sure to start here. |
| How Time Off is Changing |
Here we'll break down how introduction of Time Off Actuals will affect the way you use Time Off. |
| How Time Off is Staying the Same |
There's a lot that's not changing about Time Off - check here for more info about what will not be affected by this update. |
| Using Multiple Timesheets and Disconnecting/Reconnecting |
Need to track Time Off using Multiple Timesheets? Check out this section for more info! |
| Time Off Actuals Syncing |
For info on when Time Off Actuals sync with Timesheets and how to manually sync them, have a look at this section. |
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Check out here for more info about what changes may need to be made based on this update! |
How do I connect a Timesheet for Time Off Actuals?
We released the Time Off feature in October 2022 - prior to that date, Time Off was tracked within Parallax using an Internal Project. If you have been exclusively using the Time Off function to track time off for your Team, you'll only need to connect a Timesheet - but if you've been continuing to track Time Off using an Internal Project, please keep in mind there are extra steps. We've split these two groups below:
If you are currently tracking Time Off through an Internal Project
If you're currently tracking any time off through Internal Project(s), additional actions will be needed in order for you to use the connected Timesheets for Time Off Actuals - otherwise you may end up duplicating your Time Off. You'll want to follow the steps below:
- Disconnect the Timesheet Project from your Internal Project*
- If desired, convert the Internal Parallax Project into Time Off Plans through the Settings > Time Off Page using the instructions in this article**
*Important - What happens if I forget to disconnect the Timesheet from an Internal Project?
If you do not disconnect a Timesheet Project from an Parallax Isnternal Project, and use it for your Time Off Actuals, this will lead to double-counting Time Off. If this happens, please reach out to our Support for Help.
**Parallax Tip - I don't see the option for converting an Internal Project!
Since the Time Off feature within Parallax is the intended way of tracking Time Off, the feature allowing you to convert Internal Projects into Time Plans has been hidden in instances where Time Off is already in use. If you are still tracking Time Off through an Internal Project and are not seeing this option available, please also reach out to Support for Help.
If you are only using Time Off Feature
If you are already tracking all your Time Off and Holidays (or once you've disconnected and converted your Internal Project), you can connect a Timesheet for tracking Time Off and Holidays by:
- Visiting the Settings > Time Off page
- In section Time Off Actuals clicking the "Connect Timesheet" Button
- Entering the Timesheet ID (typically found within the URL of the Timesheet Project)
- Clicking "Sync and Save"
And you're done! Once synced, you'll see the Actuals recorded in the Timesheet begin to be added to the Actuals section of each Cell within the Shaper and Assignments View.
How Time Off is changing
In a nutshell, you now have the ability to track actual completion of Time Off using a Timesheet Project, the same way you do with Project Actuals.
Once you connect a Timesheet Project, you will see Time Off Actuals appear in the Time Off & Holiday Plans row in the Shaper and Assignments View. Parallax will use the Projected Calculation (either "Current Day" or "Last Week") that you set in Settings > Customization to apply Planned Time Off as reductions in future Availability and actuals recorded to the Time Off Project as past reductions in Availability.
To put it another way:
- For days/weeks that are in the Future, the Time Off and Holiday Plans you entered will continue to affect Availability.
- For days/weeks that are complete, only the Time Off and Holidays added to your Timesheet will affect Availability.
Note: While we continue to recommend exclusion of Time Off (and Holidays) from Availability, as of our 9/21/2023 release, this has become is optional. Check out this article for more info.
Here's a practical example:
Your Company has a 40h Schedule and "Current Day" set under Settings > Customization. Person 1 has a normal Billable Capacity of 50%.
- Two Weeks Ago - You added 16h of Time Off Plans, but Person 1 only recorded 8h Time Off Actuals. Person 1's Availability is 32h, Capacity is 16h.
- Last Week - You added 8h of Time Off Plans, and Person 1 recorded no Time Off Actuals. Person 1's Availability is 40h, Capacity is 20h.
- This Week - You added 8h of Time Off Plans, and Person 1 recorded 8h of Time Off Actuals. Person 1's Availability is 32h, Capacity is 16h.
- Next Week - You added 8h of Time Off Plans, but next week has not happened yet. Person 1's Availability is 32h, Capacity is 16h.
How Time Off is Staying the Same
It's important to keep in mind that the core of how Time Off works is not changing, just how you can track it. The following is not changing:
- Time Off Plans will continue to be entered using the Time Off, Holiday Plans using the Holiday Calendar.
- Whether Off Plans or Actuals, Time Off and Holidays continue to be considered a reduction in Availability - not the consumption of Hours.*
- If a Timesheet Project is not connected, Time Off and Holidays Plans will continue to affect both future and past Availability (as if this feature did not exist).
*Parallax Tip - Reducing Availability vs. consuming Hours?
Since it's release, Time Off has been considered a reduction of Availability - this means that when you add Time Off, it's reducing the Schedule for the week, not counting as billable Actuals. To use a concrete example, Person 2 has a normal schedule of 40h and Capacity of 50%.
- In a week with no Time Off, Person 2's Availability is 40h and Capacity is 50%, making their Capacity for the week 40h x 50% = 20h
- In a week with 1 day of Time Off, Person 2's Availability is (40h - 8h = 32h) and Capacity is 50%, making their Capacity for the week 32h x 50% = 16h
Using Multiple Timesheets and Disconnecting/Reconnecting
You might be wondering "Can I connect multiple Timesheets for Time Off Actuals?" or "Can I easily disconnect and reconnect a Timesheet?"
If so, the answers are yes, and yes! We understand that there may be divisions within your company that may necessitate separate Time Off Timesheets for separate departments, so you can absolutely connect more than one Timesheet for tracking Time Off. If a Person has Hours on multiple Time Off Timesheets, the Time Off Actuals you'll see will be the sum of hours from both Timesheets.
You can disconnect a Timesheet Project at any time, in order to remove Time Off Actuals.
Time Off Actuals Syncing
Much like Timesheets attached to Projects, Time Off Actuals will sync hourly - however, if you'd like to pull in Time Off Actuals right away, you can sync each Time Off Actuals Timesheet directly from the Settings Time Off Page using the "Sync" button whe clicking on the "(Timesheet) Connected" message to on the right side of the Timesheet connection.
What if I don't use Time Off Actuals?
While we think the Time Off Actual feature will make tracking Time Off much easier, it is not compulsory to utilize the Time Off Feature as a whole. If you'd prefer not to use Time Off Actuals, you can do so by not connecting a Timesheet Project to to Time Off Actuals in Settings > Time Off.