XBert Type: Standard
Accounting Software: Xero Practice Manager
Country Restriction: All supported countries
Risk Type: Data Quality Risk
Business Function: Practice Management
Overview
This XBert checks your practice jobs for billable time that was logged against a task after that task's due date had passed. Time recorded after the deadline often means a job has slipped, an estimate was too low, or work happened that was not planned or quoted for. Spotting it early helps you keep jobs on track and bill the client accurately.
What it does
XBert looks at each job task in Xero Practice Manager and compares the task's due date with the dates that billable time was recorded against it. It flags tasks where billable hours were entered after the due date while the job is still in progress.
How it works
For each task, XBert reads the due date you set, then checks every billable time entry logged against that task. If billable time was recorded on a date after the due date, and the job is not yet completed, XBert raises this alert. It lists the hours involved and the staff who logged them.
To keep the focus on live jobs, XBert ignores time dated on or before the due date, time marked as non-billable, and jobs that are already completed.
Example/Use Case
A firm sets a task called "Prepare Annual Accounts" on a job for Riverside Cafe, with a due date of 30 April. The job is still open in early May. On 5 May, a team member named Sophie logs another 6 billable hours against that task. Because those hours were recorded after the 30 April due date and the job is still in progress, XBert flags the task. The firm reviews it, sees the original estimate was too tight, updates the due date, and confirms the extra hours should be billed to the client rather than absorbed.
Accounting software
This XBert runs on jobs and time entries from Xero Practice Manager.
Which countries it supports
This XBert is available in all supported countries.
Processes
Business area: practice job management. To resolve this XBert:
Open the flagged task and its job, and review the billable hours logged after the due date.
Check the time is allocated to the correct task and job, and move any entries that were recorded against the wrong one.
Decide whether the extra hours should be billed to the client, and make sure they are captured for invoicing.
If the deadline was unrealistic, update the task's due date or revise your time estimate so future planning reflects the real effort.
If the job is actually finished, mark it as completed so it is no longer treated as work in progress.
Once you have reviewed and corrected the task, mark the XBert as resolved.