Why isn't my time counting towards a Goal or Budget?
Why isn't my time counting towards a Goal or Budget?
Check these in order:
The entry has the right #Project. Time logged to a Contact without its #Project doesn't count towards that Project's Budget, or towards a Goal limited to that Project. It still counts towards the Contact's Budget.
The Goal's filters. Contacts, Projects and Tasks can each be set to Any, Only or Except, and time that doesn't match is left out. A Goal can also be limited to certain Users, or to billable or unbillable time.
The date. Goals and Budgets use the date on the entry. Weeks run Monday to Sunday, and months are calendar months.
The Timer is still running. Time on a running Timer isn't counted until you log it.
Dollar amounts. A $ Billable Goal or Budget only counts time with a rate above $0. An Hours Budget counts all logged time, billable or not.
Budget progress shows as a bar on the Contacts and Projects screens only, not on the Time or Goals screens. You need Manage Contacts or Manage Projects & Tasks to see those screens. Pinned Goals show on the Time screen.
How do recurring budgets reset — and when exactly does the new period start?
How do recurring budgets reset — and when exactly does the new period start?
Contact and Project Budgets (set directly on a Contact or Project) can be set to in total, each week, each month, each quarter, each half, or each year. An "in total" budget doesn't reset.
The recurring periods follow the calendar: weekly resets every Monday, monthly on the 1st, quarterly on 1 January / 1 April / 1 July / 1 October, half-yearly on 1 January and 1 July, and yearly on 1 January.
Note that these are calendar periods, not financial years. If your financial year starts in April, an "each year" budget will still reset on 1 January.
Goals set on the Goals screen use a different list of periods — Every weekday, Every week, Every month, or Between specific dates — and can be set up as either Targets or Budgets. See Adding a New Goal for that flow.
See Setting and Managing Goals/Budgets for setup details.
What happens when I exceed a budget — does MinuteDock prevent further time entry?
What happens when I exceed a budget — does MinuteDock prevent further time entry?
No — MinuteDock won't block you from tracking time. Budgets are informational: they show your progress and will indicate when you've gone over, but they won't stop you or your team from continuing to log time. It's up to you to monitor and act on the budget status.
If I change a budget amount mid-period, does it recalculate?
If I change a budget amount mid-period, does it recalculate?
Yes — changes take effect immediately and will update the tracker for the current period.
Can I set a budget for a specific project rather than an entire contact?
Can I set a budget for a specific project rather than an entire contact?
Yes. Budgets can be set up at both the Contact and Project level. You can set a Project budget directly from the Project's settings, or from the Goals screen using filters. See Setting and Managing Goals/Budgets for how to set this up.
I only want certain people to be able to see my goal tracker. How can I restrict visibility?
I only want certain people to be able to see my goal tracker. How can I restrict visibility?
Use the "who should see this goal" setting when creating or editing a goal to control which team members can see it. You can also use the pin function to promote a goal so it appears on specific users' Time screens while they work.
Contact and Project budgets are visible to anyone with the relevant Contact/Project permissions.
What's the difference between using the Goals screen and setting a budget in a Contact/Projects' settings?
What's the difference between using the Goals screen and setting a budget in a Contact/Projects' settings?
Using the Contact or Project settings to make a budget restricts you to seeing the budget only on the Contacts or Projects screen, and will count any time recorded against that budget towards the set value. Useful for tracking against things like a retainer.
Goals is your more flexible option, and the more accessible one for team management - you can pin from the Goals screen to make trackers show on a given users main timesheet, and be more flexible about what 'counts' towards filling a goal.
The two also offer different periods. Contact and Project Budgets go up to each year; Goals top out at Every month, with Between specific dates for anything custom.