A client says someone worked, but the hours aren't on any invoice. In a few minutes you can see exactly what happened, fix it yourself, and bill what was missed.
Summary
Hours reach an invoice only through a timesheet. Start in Operation › Timesheet: find the Crew Member's timesheets for those dates and read three columns, Approval Status, Invoice Status and Billable. If a timesheet is Invoiced, search for its timesheet ID in the Invoice Summary report to see which invoice it's on. If it's Not Invoiced, its status tells you why, and you can bill it now. What goes wrong: running the invoice batch before every timesheet in the period is approved.
How to do it
- Go to Operation › Timesheet, set the dates, and search for the Crew Member.
- If you don't see them, click the cog and add Approval Status, Invoice Status, Billable and Client Name.
- No timesheet for a day they were scheduled? Run the Missing Timesheets report.
- Invoiced? Copy the timesheet ID, go to Reports › Invoice Management › Invoice Summary, and search by that ID to find the invoice.
- Not Invoiced? Find the reason in the table below and fix it.
- Bill the hours with a new batch for those dates, or a single invoice.
That's the answer for one Crew Member, and the same steps work for anyone. Below: where hours can stop, finding the invoice, every reason and its fix, finding out why it was missed, and a check that catches missed hours before a client does.
On this page
- How hours get onto an invoice
- Find the Crew Member's timesheets
- Find which invoice a timesheet is on
- Why the hours aren't on an invoice, and how to fix each one
- Find out why it was missed
- Bill the hours that were missed
- Catch missed hours before the client does
- Why it's easier in NextCrew
- Questions people ask
How hours get onto an invoice
Follow one Crew Member's job from the schedule to the invoice. On a phone, swipe sideways to see every step.
| Schedule | Timesheet | Approve | Invoice | |||||||
STEP 1 You Job booked The Crew Member is confirmed on the job. | → | STEP 2 Automatic Timesheet created When the job starts. No timesheet, nothing to bill. | → | STEP 3 Crew Hours in They clock in and out, or you add the hours. | → | STEP 4 You Approved Your team gives final approval. | → | STEP 5 You Invoice batch Approved timesheets in the batch's dates become invoice lines. | → | STEP 6 Automatic Invoiced The timesheet is marked Invoiced, so it's never billed twice. |
You · Automatic · Crew
Hours that stop at any step don't reach the invoice. The timesheet shows you which step.
Being on the schedule isn't enough. The hours have to be on a timesheet, the timesheet has to be approved, and it has to fall inside an invoice batch. Each check below matches one of those steps.
Find the Crew Member's timesheets
- Go to Operation › Timesheet.
- Set the date range to the days the client asked about.
- Search for the Crew Member by name.
- Click the cog and tick Approval Status, Invoice Status, Billable, Client Name and Bill Amount, so everything you need is on one screen.
- Compare the rows with the days on the schedule. One timesheet should exist for each day they worked.
Check Client Name too. A timesheet on a different client, or on a branch that rolls up to a parent, is billed on that client's invoice. See Set Up Parent and Child Clients.
Find which invoice a timesheet is on
A timesheet marked Invoiced is already on an invoice. To see which one:
- Copy the Timesheet ID from the timesheet list.
- Go to Reports › Invoice Management › Invoice Summary.
- Search by the timesheet ID. The report shows the invoice it's on.
- Open that invoice in Accounting › Invoices. Under Service Transactions, each line shows its timesheet number and Crew Member.
Then check where that invoice went. It may be on the parent client's invoice, on a separate invoice for its order, or still Not Printed, which means it was never sent. See Anatomy of an Invoice.
Why the hours aren't on an invoice, and how to fix each one
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No timesheet for a day they were scheduled | The timesheet was never created, or was deleted. | Run the Missing Timesheets report. Open the order and choose ⋮ › Create Missing Timesheets, or add the timesheet. See Add, Clone or Fix a Timesheet. |
| Unapproved, Crew Approved, Supervisor Approved or Client Approved | Nobody on your team gave final approval. Batches bill Approved timesheets. | Check the hours and approve it. See Review and Approve Timesheets. |
| Under Review | Someone on your team is still looking into it. | Finish the review, then approve it. |
| Client Declined | The client declined the hours. | Sort it out with the client, fix the timesheet, then approve it. |
| Not Completed | It was marked as work that didn't happen, such as a no-show. | If they did work, enter the times and approve it. See Handle No-Shows and Backfill. |
| Billable is No | It was set as not billable to the client. | If the client should pay for it, open the timesheet, tick Billable and click Update. |
| Approved, Not Invoiced | It was approved after the batch ran, its dates were outside the batch, or it wasn't selected when the batch was created. | Check its Feed for when it was approved (see below), then bill it now. |
| Invoiced, but the client says it isn't on their invoice | It's on a different invoice. | Find it in the Invoice Summary report. Check parent roll-ups, per-order invoices, and whether that invoice was sent. |
| On the invoice at $0 | The timesheet has no bill rate. | Fix the bill rate on the timesheet, then recalculate the invoice. See Fix the rate on a timesheet. |
Find out why it was missed
Knowing why stops it happening again. The two most common reasons:
1. It wasn't approved yet when the invoices were created
A batch bills timesheets that are Approved at the moment it runs. If this timesheet was approved later, it was left out. To check:
- Open the timesheet from Operation › Timesheet.
- Click the Feed icon (a clipboard with a clock) in the tray on the right. From the list, you can also choose ⋮ › View Feed on the timesheet's row.
- Find the entry where Status changed to Approved. It shows the date, the time and who approved it.
- Compare that time with when the invoices for that period were created. Approved after? That's why it was missed.
The Feed also shows every other change to the timesheet, such as hours, rates or its invoice status, with who made it and when.
2. It wasn't selected when the batch was created
When you create a batch, you check which timesheets are included, and you can narrow them by client, job or Crew Member. A timesheet that wasn't selected stays Not Invoiced, even though it was approved and in the date range. Next time, check that every timesheet you expect is included before you create the batch. See Create Invoices in a Batch.
Bill the hours that were missed
Once a timesheet is Approved and Not Invoiced, it's ready to bill:
- A new batch: go to Accounting › Invoice Batches, click Add Batch, pick the dates and narrow it to the client. Only timesheets that aren't invoiced yet are picked up, so nothing is billed twice. See Create Invoices in a Batch.
- A single invoice: click + Add Invoice in Accounting › Invoices.
Tell the client what the new invoice covers, and add a note on the timesheet saying why it was billed late.
If you already sent an invoice and the hours on it were wrong, fix the timesheet and recalculate that invoice instead. See Delete or Correct an Invoice.
Catch missed hours before the client does
Make this a habit every time you invoice:
- Before the batch: approve every timesheet in the period. Clear anything Under Review or Client Declined, and run the Missing Timesheets report. See Get Timesheets Ready for Payroll.
- After the batch: on the timesheet list, filter the same dates to Approval Status Approved and Invoice Status Not Invoiced.
- Anything left on that list is approved work nobody has billed. Bill it now.
- Save that filter as a view, such as "Approved, not invoiced", and share it with your billing team.
Why it's easier in NextCrew
| Without NextCrew | In NextCrew |
|---|---|
| Comparing the schedule with invoices line by line | Each timesheet says whether it's Invoiced |
| Opening invoice after invoice to find one person's hours | Search the Invoice Summary report by timesheet ID |
| Missed hours found when the client complains, or never | One saved view shows approved work nobody has billed |
| Worrying about billing something twice | Invoiced timesheets are never picked up again |
Questions people ask
They're on the schedule. Why aren't their hours on the invoice?
Being scheduled isn't enough. The hours need a timesheet that's Approved and inside the invoice batch's dates. The timesheet's statuses tell you which step it stopped at.
How do I find which invoice a timesheet is on?
Search the Invoice Summary report by the timesheet ID.
Will billing the missed hours bill anything twice?
No. Timesheets already Invoiced aren't picked up by a new batch.
Can I check this myself instead of contacting support?
Yes. Everything in this guide is on your own screens: the timesheet list, the Invoice Summary report and the invoice.
How can I tell when a timesheet was approved?
Open the timesheet and click the Feed icon in the tray on the right. The entry where Status changed to Approved shows the date, time and who did it.
How do I stop this happening again?
After every batch, filter the timesheet list to Approved and Not Invoiced for the period. Anything left is unbilled.
Other ways people ask this
- Why aren't a Crew Member's hours on the client's invoice?
- Client says a worker is missing from the invoice
- How do I find which invoice a timesheet is on?
- Search invoices by timesheet ID
- Scheduled but not invoiced
- Did we bill all our hours?
- How do I find unbilled timesheets?
- When was this timesheet approved?
- Timesheet audit trail
- We are losing revenue on missed hours
Related guides
- Create Invoices in a Batch — which timesheets a batch picks up
- Anatomy of a Timesheet: Every Status and Field — what each status means
- Review and Approve Timesheets — approve before you invoice
- Delete or Correct an Invoice — unlock and recalculate
- Invoice Clients and Get Paid: Start Here — the whole area
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