Frequently asked questions about Project Clock the project time entry software

Frequently Asked Questions About Project Clock

Project Clock is a project time entry and time billing system. Project Clock is useful for consultants, lawyers, engineers, contractors, project managers or anyone else who must record time billed to different projects or tasks.

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Project Clock F.A.Q

Project Clock Web F.A.Q

Project Clock CE F.A.Q

Project Clock Palm F.A.Q

Project Clock F.A.Q.

Q. I upgraded from a previous version of Project Clock. Why is it not showing my old data?

A. Version 9 of Project Clock requires massive changes to the database. Probably you did not upgrade your data as detailed in the installation insctructions. These instructions will be seen during installation. You can also read them by opening the file called readme.rtf.

Q. I am using Project Clock Pro. I punched in and now I cannot select another project. Why is this?

A. After you have punched in you cannot select a different project unless you set the Simultaneous Billing option.

Q. I am using Project Clock Pro. Everything was working fine until I added a record to the UserProjects table. Now there are no projects showing up in the pull-down lists. What happened?

A. As soon as there is even one record in the UserProjects table, users can only access projects that have been assigned to them in this table. If no projects have been assigned to them they will not see any projects. To get your projects back either delete all records from the UserProjects table or add records to setup all users for the projects they require.

Q. I am using Project Clock Pro. Suddenly I can no longer access all the clients I had entered. There are there in the Data Manager but not in the pull-down lists. What happened?

A. As soon as there is even one record in the UserClients table, users can only access clients that have been assigned to them in this table. If no clients have been assigned to a user this user will not see any. To get your clients back either delete all records from the UserClients table or add records to setup all users for the clients they require.

Q. I have entered tasks so why are there are no Tasks in the Task pull-down list?

A. Probably you either assigned Tasks to Projects in the Tasks table or you entered records in the UsersTasks table. As soon as there is even one record in the UserTasks table, users can only access tasks that have been assigned to them in this table. If no tasks have been assigned to them they will not see any tasks. To get your tasks back either: 1) remove all project assigments to your tasks or assign all tasks to only the projects they relate to 2) delete all records from the UsersTasks table or add records to setup all users for the tasks they require.

Q. Why does the Client field get cleared when I choose a Project?

A. You have probably set the "Clear fields on new project" option.

Q. Why does the Project field get cleared when I choose a Client?

A. When you choose a Client only those Projects that have been associated with that client will show up in the Project pull-down list. If the Project is not in that list it will be cleared. To prevent this you should assign each Project with a particular Client. You assign clients to projects by editing the projects table in the Data Manager.

Q. I was able to run reports and create invoices before, but now when I go into the reports screen the left hand side of the dialog box is blank. The radio box selection of the various reports is not there. The print preview buttons on the bottom are there, but they do nothing because I can't select a report. How do I get the reports back?

A. This means Project Clock cannot find any reports in the Reports folder. Usually this means the Reports folder has been changed to a folder that does not not have any report files in it. From the menu choose View | Options then click the Reporting tab. Verify that the Reports Location is a valid reports folder. Reinstalling the software should also correct the problem.

Q. Why doesn't auto-fill work? Whenever I try to type in a comment after punching in it won't let me as it tries to fill it in with an old comment

A. The auto-fill feature works just as it is supposed to. Some people do not seem to realize they can press the Delete key or Backspace key to remove the auto-filled text they don't need. If you don't like the auto-fill feature you can turn it off in the Configuration screen.

Q. How do you specify which employee you are recording time for?

A. With Project Clock Pro or C/S the Windows login ID is used to differentiate employees. If you enable security and set the Force Login option that login ID is used to differentiate employees.

Q. I have Project Clock Pro but I can't edit the items of the grid in the data view screen.

A. It sounds like you enabled security. When security is enabled you must login as Admin before you can edit the Charge Accounts and Job Codes tables. See the on-line help for more information.

Q. Why is there a big X across the Project Clock System Tray icon?

A. The X indicates that Project Clock is currently not charging time to an account.

Q. I use the rounding options. Why do the timesheet reports have different totals than the Invoice reports.

A. What is happening is that in the timesheet reports the day totals are each rounded separately and then added together. The Invoice rounds the totals directly so there'll always be rounding differences. If we change the timesheet totals to round directly we'll get complaints from other customers that the day totals don't match. Not much we can do.

Q. How can I export a report to Word or Excel?

A. Reports can be saved in RTF format which can be read in Word, or CSV format which can be read by Excel.

Q. We have a multi-user license for Project Clock Pro. I notice that there are several records that start precisely at 12:00:01 AM. Are the user's entering time incorrectly or is this some kind of bug?

A. These records are entirely valid. They result from using the Add Hours feature or the Timesheet Entry feature. You can tell because of the start time, which the database interprets as 0 hours.

Q. You have a report that is almost exactly what I need except I want to use the Task rate not the project rate. How do I build a report that uses the Task rate instead of the Project rate?

A. You need to edit the report SQL variable to pull the Task rate instead of the Project rate. The Project Clock Flash demo contains a section that shows you how to do this.

Project Clock Web FAQ

Q. When I punch in and out why is the time record not saved?

A. After punching In your must press the Submit button. When you punch out you must press the Submit button again.

Project Clock CE FAQ

Q. Does Project Clock CE work with SmartPhones?

A. No. Project Clock CE currently will not install or work with SmartPhones.

Q. When I syncronize with the Project Clock CE why do the pull-down lists not get updated?

A. If Project Clock CE is open during the synchronization the pull-down lists will not be updated unless you close down Project Clock CE and restart or open the Data Manager. This will refresh the lists.

Q. I purchased Project Clock CE and installed it over the trial. Why does the trial version still come up?

A. You probably left Project Clock CE running when you upgraded. Use the Switcher Bar to close it down first.

Q. Why do I receive the message "Application Manager cannot install this application for your mobile device due to an invalid setup file. Reinstall and try again." while trying to install Project Clock CE?

A. This can be caused by a non-Administrator user attempting to install the application using ActiveSync. To correct the problem, login as a user with Administrator privileges and then re-install the application via ActiveSync. In most cases, administrative access is not required to use ActiveSync except for installations. If all else fails, try installing Project Clock CE manually by downloading the CAB file.

Project Clock Palm FAQ

Q. Whenver I change Clients, Projects or Tasks on the Palm they never get updated on Project Clock for Windows. Why?

A. Currently the synchronization between Project Clock Palm works like this, time records are moved from the Palm to the Windows software. Account records are copied from the Windows software to the Palm. This means that any Client, Projects or Tasks you created on the Palm will be overwritten on each syncronization. Any new Client, Projects or Tasks should be added on Project Clock for Windows instead.