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Scenario for Time Reporting and Time Sheets

This scenario provides an example of a time reporting business process performed by a Siebel administrator, a consultant, and a consulting manager. Your company may follow a different process according to its business requirements.

A Siebel administrator at a large consulting company is responsible for setting up time sheets for the use of employees. First he creates additional time sheet work types to meet the special needs of some of the consultants in the company and he changes the existing period type to match the company's reporting process. He then must define reporting relationships between users to accommodate the approval process of time sheets. With these relationships he must set up limits that determine the number of hours each manager can approve per time sheet. Any time sheet that exceeds the limit is automatically routed to another approver, as determined by the reporting relationships he defined.

The administrator is also responsible for configuring time sheets. He can change the name and position of a time sheet's dynamic buttons to meet the needs of the company. He can also add new dynamic buttons as needed. Sometimes he even has to specify dynamic button inheritance for a new detail view. Finally, he must change the trigger for the Submit To field in a time sheet when a user prefers not to use the value Pending Next Approver as the trigger to change the Submit To value.

A number of things must be activated by the Siebel administrator before users can successfully work with time sheets. Therefore, the administrator activates Auto Gen so that users can automatically submit their time sheets. He also activates email notification, status updating, Add Time Item workflow functionality, and Go to My Time Sheets workflow functionality.

One of the company's typical consultants logs time against projects, tasks, and activities. She enters her time using the Unassociated Time Sheet Items view, which lets her log time entries without having to create a time sheet first. After completing her time entries, she selects the Auto Gen functionality for time sheets to automatically generate a time sheet for the current reporting period. She reviews her time sheet and submits the time sheet to her manager for review and approval.

Another way the consultant can enter time is to enter it directly into a time sheet. For example, she can create a new time sheet and select the desired reporting period. She can then enter time items into the time sheet using either the Time Sheet Item Summary view or the Time Sheet Item Details view. Before submitting her time sheet, there are a number of things she may want to do to it. She can move time entries from the Unassociated Time Sheet Items to her time sheet, move time entries from one project to another, or print her time sheet. When she is satisfied with the time sheet, she submits it to her manager for review and approval. After submitting her time sheet, she may find that she made an error, and wants to make a change. She can recall the time sheet from her manager, correct the mistake, and resubmit the time sheet. After resubmitting it, she monitors the status of her time sheet, so that she will know when it has been approved.

The company's consulting manager routinely manages consultants on client projects. His responsibilities include managing the time reporting of his subordinates. At the end of the reporting period, he reviews any time sheets that require his approval in the Time Sheet Approval view. He also uses the Time Sheet Summary view and the Time Sheet Adjustments chart to view time details relating to an entire project. After reviewing one of his consultant's submitted time sheets, he decides whether to approve or reject it. If he rejects the time sheet, it is returned to the consultant for modification and resubmission. If he approves the time sheet, and if the number of hours is within his approval limit, the time sheet status is changed to Acceptable.

After the time sheet has been approved and status is changed to Acceptable, a financial administrator reviews the time sheet. If the financial administrator approves the time sheet, it is then processed for back-office reporting. After process completion, the financial administrator changes the status to Processed. Alternatively, the financial administrator can reject the time sheet, which is then returned to the consultant for modification. This administrative process is likely to be automated and connected to a back-office system such as PeopleSoft or SAP. The status change may be accomplished using a data hand-off between the back-office system and the Siebel application.