All posts by chris.vandersluis

timecontrol

The hidden richness of TimeControl features

TimeControl Period Generator, Flexibility, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisSome parts of TimeControl are rarely seen.  Let’s take one of the most fundamental elements of the timesheet and how it’s created.  When you open your timesheet, you see a week at a time, right?

Not always.

When we released TimeControl version 1.0 back in 1994, the timesheet length was always 7 days.  We hadn’t encountered anyone where that was different.  But it didn’t take long before we did.

Some organizations have timesheets that are two weeks in length.  Some TimeControl Industrial clients do crew timesheets every day.  Some organiztaions do monthly timesheets or bi-monthly (that’s one timesheet from the 1st-15th, and a second timesheet from the 16th to the end of the month so the timesheet length is variable).

Can TimeControl have different period lengths?

Let’s make it more complicated.

Let’s say that part of the organization insists on weekly timesheets and another part of the organization insists on bi-weekly.  Impossible?  Need two separate TimeControls?

No.  Let’s talk about the TimeControl Period Generator

The Period Generate lets you create multiple timesheet periods.  There’s an automatic generator that lets you create those periods for years in advance and give them labels that match how you refer to those timeframes such as “Week 17, 2025”.  Once created, that collection of periods are attachable to each employee record.

There are many possible automatic period generation options: daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly or custom (meaning you can type in any sequential periods you need).  The period generator won’t let you create overlapping periods in one collection but otherwise you can have an array of different time spans.

You can create multiple periods so the challenge of some of the organization is weekly and the rest is bi-weekly is met right there.

But the Period Generate allows for much, much more.

TimeControl always stores the results of a posted timesheet in a daily format so it can be exported, integrated to other systems or reported on.

Some organizations have to do that exporting or reporting using different periods.

Let’s say you collect on a weekly basis but export on a bi-monthly basis for payroll and a monthly basis for Finance.  Or, let’s say you use a 13-month calendar (popular in some government projects where each month is exactly 4 weeks long to make up a 52 week year of 13 months). This could all be accommodated by the Period Generator.

It’s an elegant and rich part of TimeControl that almost no one outside the TimeControl Administrator will ever see.

 

multipurpose timesheet

Why a multi-purpose timesheet?

Multi purpose timesheet, TimeControl, Swiss Army Knife, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisWe often speak to organizations who have experienced the madness and heartache of deploying multiple timesheets and finding that this has made them much less effective as a result.  For those who might have never had this experience, let’s talk for a moment about the benefits and drawbacks of using a multi-purpose timesheet like TimeControl.

How did we end up here?

First, let’s talk for a moment about how organizations deploy multiple timesheets.  Clearly no one wakes up one morning and says “I have a great idea.  Let’s deploy as many different timesheet systems as we can.”  No. This happens because timesheets are needed for so many disparate processes and each of these processes first checks to see if any existing timesheet systems in the organization will meet their needs and, if not, proceeds to acquire and deploy its own timesheet.

So the payroll system has a timesheet and they aren’t interested in changing it.  Billing has a timesheet too.  That’s different from the time and attendance timesheet used by payroll.  HR needed a timesheet but just for time-off; kind of a negative timesheet.  Project management needed a timesheet that would identify not just if you were working but what you worked on and for how long as well as how much time will be needed to finish off what you’re working on.  Other timesheets may have been deployed for field-data-collection, R&D tax credits, Government auditing requirements such as DCAA and more.  So, having 3, 4, even 7 or 8 different timesheets is not impossible.

Multi-purpose timesheet benefits

Choosing a multi-purpose timesheet like TimeControl brings numerous instant benefits.  First, it reduces the number of timesheets to maintain, manage and even reconcile.  In some organizations employees are asked to fill in 2, 3 or even 4 timesheets at the end of the week.  Now, they fill in one.  So employee satisfaction goes up.  It’s not that employees like filling in timesheets, even just one.  But, if you explain that they will be going from 4 timesheets to 1 timesheet, you end up with happy employees.

Next, there’s now one version of the truth.  When you look for time data, you don’t got to multiple systems.  We’ve seen organizations where the effort to reconcile the timesheet data from a time and attendance system with a project system is monstrous.  Multiple employees dedicated to trying to figure out how the time recorded in system one reconciles with system two is not an effective use of personnel.

Auditing become so much easier.  We’ve seen this in numerous situations and with numerous organizations where previously an audit might have been impossible, now the audit is not only possible but almost instant.  When all the data is being validated in the same place at the same time, the work of an auditor becomes very simple.

Multi-purpose timesheet challenges

It’s not all free benefits.  One of the challenges in deploying a multi-purpose timesheet for bringing multiple business processes together is that the people managing those processes have to communicate with each other.  This is often one of the longest parts of a deployment.  It is extremely common for us to have a meeting where Finance is represented including Payroll and Billing, Project Management is represented and the IT department is represented almost as a referee.  In many cases, the Finance people have never met the Project people.  These teams will have to strike a balance between what each business process needs.

Flexibility also carries its own work.  When you have a system which is as open architecture as TimeControl, you have to be responsible for what you design, configure and deploy.  We sometimes see an organization deploy our multi-purpose timesheet and once deployed, the team is disbanded.  Then, a year later, no one who is a part of the day-to-day operations of the timesheet understands the decisions that were made in its configuration.  Happily at HMS, we keep all those kinds of records and documents and more than once we’ve had to regroup the different parts of the organization to help explain why they made the configuration decisions they did and how that affects the different business processes involved.

Multi-purpose timesheets can make the difference

Some organizations decide that they just don’t want to mingle processes like Finance and Project Management and are willing to accept the costs and drawbacks of deploying multiple timesheet systems but for many, a multi-purpose timesheet can be the answer to so many challenges all at once.

timecontrol

Managing Missing timesheets

TimeControl Administrator, TimeControl, timesheets, missing timesheets, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisAn enterprise timesheet system is so much more than just collecting timesheets at the end of the week.  There are countless features, functions and processes that lie beneath the surface from most users that allow the system to thrive.  Let’s take a look at just one timesheet situation that timesheet administrators all over must deal with and how TimeControl helps.

Let’s imagine that at the end of the week, not all the timesheets have been approved, posted and accounted for.  We have some missing timesheets!

With TimeControl we know this because of the Missing Timesheet report.  Supervisors and Administrators can quickly account for what timesheets might be missing and determine where they are.  There are a couple of options.

First, the timesheet might have never been created.  This might just need a gentle reminder to the employee to get their timesheet created.  But, perhaps this employee is away on sick leave.  In this case, someone in the Approval Release Path of the employee such as their supervisor might have to create it and post it.  Remember, even when someone other than the employee does the timesheet, TimeControl keep auditing control to know that the timesheet was created on behalf of the employee by the supervisor.

Let’s take a more complex problem.  The timesheet is missing but it was, in fact created and half-filled out.  But, the employee left the company in mid-week.  Now a supervisor can’t create the timesheet.  It’s already there.  But, they don’t have the ability to change the timesheet because it is ‘owned’ by the departed employee.  TimeControl handles this with the Change Ownership feature.  This allows an Administrator to move the timesheet’s ownership from one user to another within the Approval Path.  Once the timesheet ownership has changed, the person with the control over the timesheet can now complete it in an auditable fashion.

Perhaps the problem is that there is no one in the Approval Path available who can take care of that timesheet.  No worries.  TimeControl allows the Administrator to create an Alternate User to log into TimeControl as though they were the departed employee.  As the Alternate User, the timesheet can be completed and released for approval just as though that employee is still there and, in the background, TimeControl keeps track of who is really making those changes.

TimeControl Administrators have to handle cases like this every week to ensure that 100% of the timesheets are accounted for and that the data has been validated and sent off to the appropriate systems that are waiting for it.  Administrator features like those dealing with missing and orphaned timesheets is just part of what makes TimeControl so popular with timesheet administrators.

vacation, vacation accruals

Do you know how much time is in the vacation bank?

It’s summTimeControl Detailed Vacation Bank Report, TimeControl, Enterprise Timesheet, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluisertime and for many organizations, that means employees are taking advantage of the warm weather to take vacations.  For some, those vacations have been planned earlier in the year, for others, they are just making their plans.

TimeControl provides tools to track not just when employees took vacation but how much vacation time an employee has earned and how much they’ve taken throughout the year.

The Employee Bank is one of multiple banks of time within TimeControl that can be activated and monitored.  Time can be earned automatically within TimeControl using the Accruals module.  Alternately, if this is managed elsewhere, the banked time can be imported from outside sources such as the HR system.  Once earned, the banked time is visible to the employees in a report or a dashboard view.

When it’s time to take vacation, the employee selects a charge code for that in their timesheet either in advance or after their time off.  TimeControl then automatically deducts that time from the appropriate bank.

One of the most time-consuming parts of vacation banks for management are discussions with employees about how much time they’ve earned or taken but this too can be managed in TimeControl with the Detailed Employee Bank report.  For day-to-day operations, the report has a dynamic view which can be viewed and filtered instantly no matter how many employees there are.

Vacations are the most common but only one aspect of banked time off and scheduled time off.  TimeControl can also impose validation rules on TimeRequests for time off to ensure the rules are followed of time off requests vs. time in the bank.  Other banked time can also be tracked such as sick leave or personal time off.

You can find out more about how TimeControl manages time off requests and vacations at: www.timecontrol.com/features/vacation-approvals and more about accruals at: www.timecontrol.com/features/accruals.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions and the different places to get answers

Frequently Asked Questions, FAQ, TimeControl, Timesheets, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisWith an enterprise system like TimeControl, questions are common.  TimeControl can be used in so many different ways and each deployment is unique.  So, as a client or even a prospective client, where can you get answers?

TimeControl’s extensive documentation.

There are documentation guides which are part of every TimeControl.  Your Administrator may not have given you access to all documentation files.  They include: User Guide, Reference Guide, Report Designer Guide, TimeControl Project Guide, BI Guide and API Guide.  You should be able to access these guides from within TimeControl at the top right of the screen under the “?” icon.

FAQs

Let’s start with the TimeControl Frequently Asked Questions section.  These are some of the most common questions we’re asked by prospective and new clients.  We’ve put those questions here and added our own most common answers.

Find out more at: https://www.timecontrol.com/support/faq.

TimeControl Blog

The TimeControl Blog is where we tend to write longer answers to questions.  Here is where we might talk about the specific way a certain feature can be implemented or to highlight a feature that some clients overlook because it wasn’t at the top of their priority list when they first deployed TimeControl.  We always list the latest features of new versions here but it’s also where we discuss or demonstrate different deployment tactics such as how to deploy TimeControl with entries in percentages instead of hours? Or how to handle multiple languages? Then your answer is probably in the blog.  Rather than scrolling through the hundreds of entries, just use the search bar to locate items of interest. There’s no cost or restriction to use the blog.

Access the TimeControl Blog at: blog.timecontrol.com.

Online Training Videos

We record a lot of training videos.  Many are short 5 minute demonstrations of how to use a particular TimeControl feature.  Some are longer webcasts. But a scroll of the TimeControl Online Learning Center can often reveal results you weren’t expecting.

Find out more at: https://www.timecontrol.com/resources/online-training/timecontrol-8.

YouTube

While we post our videos internally on the TimeControl website, we also post them on YouTube where you can use YouTube’s functionality to create sub-titles in the languages of your choosing.  Our YouTube channel is at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-I21bjwfIq9JEioRUV8kLQ.

The TimeControl website

The resources on TimeControl.com are extensive including slide shows, white papers, factsheets and more.  Just use the Search feature to look for information of interest.

The website is at: https://www.timecontrol.com/.

timecontrol

Branding TimeControl with your logo

Many organizations taken advantage of TimeControl’s flexibility to make it a little more like their own.  One way to do this is to put your own logo on the login screen and at the top of every TimeControl page.  These logos are added on the Administrator/System Preferences page.  Let’s see how to do this…

System Preferences

In the Company Information area of TimeControl, there is a place to add a graphics file for the top of screen logo and another for the login screen logo. Let’s add files right here.  We’ll use logos from our friends at EPM Guidance.

The Top Bar logo should be 300×45 pixels in size.  The login logo should be 300×100 pixels.  The files can be .png, .jpg or .gif.

TimeControl Branding System Preferences, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis

Here are the results

Login Screen Logo

TimeControl Branding, Login logo, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis

Top Bar Logo

TimeControl Branding, Top Bar, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis

 

timecontrol

Chris Vandersluis now included in the Marquis Who’s Who in America Directory

Marquis Whos Who, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisWith so much going on at HMS Software we don’t always pause to recognize one of our own.  Following the 40th anniversary of HMS Software’s founding and the 30th anniversary of the launch of TimeControl, HMS was approached by the Marquis Who’s Who in America.  This is an exclusive invitation-only directory of recognizable people in the USA.

Marquis Who’s Who invited Mr. Vandersluis to be in their directory and in May confirmed the placement. We are very proud of Mr. Vandersluis and his accomplishments.

You can read the Who’s Who press release here: https://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/522518/marquis-whos-who-honors-chris-vandersluis-for-expertise-in-software-technology.

Holidays

Upcoming holiday dates

TimeControl Calendar, HMS Office Holidays, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisIt’s a busy time of year at HMS as we juggle holidays of different types.

We have some statutory holidays coming up.  Regardless of which holidays are happening, our 24×7 monitoring of TimeControl Online continues no matter what.  If the office is closed, we will be slower to respond to technical support or sales calls.

Fete Nationale

On Tuesday June 24th HMS will be closed for the Quebec Fete Nationale (previously known as St-Jean Baptiste Day.  Given that our headquarters are in Montreal, this is a statutory holiday for all the HMS staff.  We will be open on Monday the 23rd and back at our desks on Wednesday the 25th.

Canada Day

It’s Canada’s birthday on Tuesday, July 1st.  Canada will celebrate it’s 158th anniversary on that day.  It’s a statutory holiday and all the HMS staff will be off.  We will be working on Monday June 30th and back at our posts on Wednesday, July 2nd to respond to any requests.

Independence Day

On Friday, July 4th our American friends will celebrate Independence Day.  While almost all of the USA will be closed that day, HMS will be open for business and our clients outside of the US will be able to reach us.

The next big statutory holiday after this for us will be Labour Day (That’s Labor Day in the US!) on Monday, September 1st.

We will post updates on our social media each of these days to remind you of the office status that day.

workflow

Beyond Approvals: Modernizing Multi‑Purpose Timesheet Workflows

TimeControl Workflow and Approvals, TimeControl Best Practices, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisWhen organizations think of timesheets, they often picture a simple approval process—an employee submits their hours, a manager signs off, and payroll processes the data. But in reality, collecting timesheets has evolved into a powerful multi-functional process. When companies use TimeControl, the timesheet system can simultaneously serve multiple masters: payroll, project management, finance, HR, and government compliance.

This post explores how you can modernize your workflow by leveraging TimeControl’s matrix approval model and multi‑purpose timesheet design. We’ll also provide practical tips to streamline and future‑proof your processes.

From Single Approval to Matrix Approvals

Traditional timesheet systems typically follow a linear approval path—supervisor reviews, then it’s sent onward. TimeControl takes a different approach: matrix approvals, which allow timesheet data to be reviewed and approved by multiple roles for different purposes at the same time.

Why is this a game changer:

  • Project Managers can approve project-specific hours regardless of department.
  • Department Managers can validate work allocation for personnel.
  • Finance can verify cost codes and chargebacks before posting to the ERP.
  • HR/Payroll can finalize time-off, overtime, or special pay categories.

Multi-Purpose by Design: Use Cases in Action

✅ Project Costing & Capitalization

Use rate-based rules to tag internal vs. capitalizable time and route for separate approvals. TimeControl can even export capital hours directly to financial systems like SAP or Oracle for asset tracking.

✅ Government Compliance (DCAA, SOX, etc.)

Enforce audit trails, justification fields, and retroactive change tracking to ensure compliance with federal or industry regulations.

✅ Time-Off Planning

Integrate TimeControl with your HR system to let employees submit vacation requests, which are reviewed and reflected in scheduling—while still feeding into HR and payroll.

✅ Billing Support

Consulting firms can set up client-specific billing codes and rules so billable hours flow directly into invoicing pipelines.

Modern Workflow Best Practices

Here are some best practices we’ve compiled from our experience of working with hundreds of organizations in both the private and public sectors.

🛠 Standardize Where Possible

Start with core timesheet fields and gradually add complexity. Avoid overwhelming users with too many entry types at first.

🛠 Automate Routing Logic

Use rule-based approval paths: if an entry is billable and over X hours, auto-route to finance for a second review. TimeControl supports this logic without the need for coding.

🛠 Keep Auditability Front and Center

Enable real-time audit logs and change tracking. Matrix approvals don’t just distribute accountability—they document it.

🛠 Visualize What Matters

Use dashboards or automated exports to deliver the right data to the right team—no need for everyone to wade through the full timesheet.

Wrapping Up

Multi-purpose timesheets are no longer a “nice to have”—they’re essential for agile organizations that need a single source of truth across departments. With TimeControl’s matrix approval engine and flexible workflow tools, you can move beyond “who signed off” and toward “who got what they need.”

If your organization is still relying on siloed timesheet workflows, now is the time to modernize. Let TimeControl help you turn your timesheets into a strategic asset.

👉 Ready to optimize your workflow?

Find out more about TimeControl’s Workflow and Approvals or Contact the TimeControl Team to learn how TimeControl can be configured to meet your exact business needs—or request a personalized demo today.