September 9, 2006

1. Timesheets: Leave accrual; custom fields for time entries.

2. Account-wide: Anchored column titles; 24-hour clock; form permissions.

3. Reports: Additional date filters for timesheet reports; phase custom fields; "Over budget/late tasks" project filter.

4. Other module enhancements: Resources, Projects

5. Would you like to see previous OpenAir product updates?

6. Suggestions, problems or questions?


1. Timesheets : Leave accrual; custom fields for time entries.

There are two significant enhancements to the Timesheets module in this release. First, the Timesheets module now contains leave accrual functionality. Users with necessary role privileges can enable leave accrual by navigating to My Account > Company > Settings > Timesheet options > [select "Enable the leave accrual feature"]. Once activated, a Leave accrual tab will appear in the Timesheets module.

Multiple leave accrual rules can be established. Rules contain options for accrual timing, draw-down filters and grace period timing. Users are mapped to leave accrual rules (with associated date ranges) via individual user edit forms. Users with appropriate access navigate to My Account > Account > Users > [select a user] > Leave accrual.

Leave accrual can be run manually or automatically at a set time period. Once leave accruals are run, the accruals and draw-downs are created as transactions. Draw-downs and accruals can also be created manually. Links to see the current leave accrual balances are in the hints of the timesheet grid and the user leave accrual edit form, as well as on the user's dashboard. The balances of all of the different accrual rules are also visible on the user detail report.

Timesheet rules can be configured to check if a timesheet approval will push the accrual balance below a minimum threshold. To copy accrual rules from one user to multiple users, those with appropriate access levels can leverage the bulk user wizard.

A second enhancement to the Timesheets module is the ability to associate custom fields with time entries. Text, text area and drop-down custom fields can be added. To create custom fields, users with the required role privileges navigate to My Account > Company > Custom fields. From the "New entries > Create" dropdown, select one of the supported field types. In the "Association" dropdown, select "Time entry". Configure the rest of the settings as desired and save. The custom fields will appear in the pop-up window accessed by clicking the blue dot on the timesheet grid.



2. Account-wide: Anchored column titles; 24-hour clock; form permissions.

There are three major Account-wide enhancements in this release. First, the ability to anchor column titles has been enabled for all list views. In the July release, task grid column titles in the Projects module could be anchored at the top of the grid. With the September release, all list views will have this capability. Enabling this functionality will cause lists throughout the application to keep column titles at the top of the screen when scrolling, allowing for improved display. To enable this feature, users with access should navigate to My Account > Company > Settings > Display options > [select "Anchor column titles at top of page when scrolling"].

Second, a 24-hour clock has been implemented for use across the application. Companies that wish to leverage this functionality should navigate to My Account > Company > Settings > Time Settings > [select "Use 24-hour clock for time entry and display"]. The 24-hour clock will be enabled on time display and time entry forms through the site, including timesheets and time cards in the Timesheets module, and events and to dos in the Opportunities module.

Third, form permissions have been enabled for broader availability throughout the application. Users with the required role privileges can now select "Modify the form permissions" from the bottom of most of the User edit pages, the Edit Booking form, and the Edit schedule request form. Form permissions enable OpenAir administrators to configure user privileges with greater precision; on a role-by-role basis, specific fields can be configured to be read-only, or required.



3. Reports: Additional date filters for timesheet reports; phase custom fields; "Over budget/late tasks" project filter.

Three new report enhancements have been added with this release. First, new Timesheet date filters have been added to Summary and Detail reports. These new filters are "Timesheet approved date," "Timesheet submitted date," and "Timesheet archived date." Existing Timesheet date filters include "Timesheet Start date," "Timesheet End Date," and "Timesheet created date." This enhancement is an extension of the additional date-based filters for invoices, envelopes, timesheets and purchase orders from our June product update. For additional information on this feature, please contact OpenAir Support.

Second, Project task detail reports now have the ability to report on phase custom fields. To run a project task detail report, please navigate to Reports > Detail > Account-wide > Projects. If there are custom fields relating to project phases, they will be available for selection in the report layout.

Third, the Advanced report, "Over budget/late tasks" can now be filtered by project. If this report is executed from the project dashboard, a project filter (for the current project) will be applied to the report.



4. Other module enhancements: Resources, Projects.

    • Resources:

The Project Owner is now an available item that can be displayed in the layout of the bookings list view. This field is also available in the bookings list advanced filter.

    • Projects:

"Budget - Worked Gap" and "Budget - Planned Gap" are now available items that can be displayed in the layout of the projects list view. To display the values, click the "customize" link at the bottom of the list view. "Budget - Worked Gap" requires that the Timesheet module is enabled. It calculates the delta between budget hours entered in the Edit project form and hours entered on timesheets. "Budget - Planned Gap" calculates the delta between budget hours entered in the Edit project form and hours entered as planned or assigned to users in the Edit task form.



5. Would you like to see previous OpenAir updates?

Click here to browse previous product updates including all new features, modules and functionality.

6. Suggestions, problems, or questions?

As always, please contact us at support@openair.com or 888.367.1288 (outside the U.S. and Canada, call 617-351-0226). We pride ourselves on the outstanding care we give our customers. Please let us know how we improve your experience with OpenAir.