In our latest Xemplo update we have made an array of improvements to the management of Assignments. Assignments sit at the core of the management of your agency, directly impacting the processing of timesheets, the coordination of pay and charge rates and subsequently influencing payroll and invoices. The changes in this update are designed to make the creation of assignments faster, the editing of them more streamlined and to reduce the overall friction of process workflows relating to Assignments.
A quick overview
To save time, the following video provides a quick overview of the changes being introduced to Assignments in 3.14.
Assignment quick creation
When creating a new assignment within Xemplo you will notice a new screen has been introduced:
From this screen, you have the ability to "quick create" an assignment by providing only the mandatory information. This assignment can still be edited, if specific settings need to be adjusted, but the time required to create a basic assignment has been significantly reduced through this new interface.
We have also simplified the selection of the engagement by introducing a host client field. Instead of the engagement being the first item selected it is now the host client. Once a host is selected, the host's engagements will then be shown to select from. If the host only has one engagement it will be automatically selected:
Additional fields are loaded as you provide details about the assignment. When the rate template field is shown you have the ability to open the "Customise Assignment" create mode. This mode provides access to all assignment settings so that you can cater the assignment to your specific needs. Please note that if you are not using Rate Templates you will need to use this mode to create assignments, as you will need to define the pay and charge rates specific to the assignment.
The fields provided on the "Customise Assignment" screen should be fairly familiar. For this page we have retained the existing assignment fields and simply re-styled them and rearranged common settings into their own, distinct modules:
To optimise the user experience we have moved advanced settings to a new section at the bottom of the screen. This allows for more common, mandatory settings to be more easily located:
Rate template locking
A new feature that we've introduced into Assignments is rate template locking. When using rate templates, assignment settings such as pay and charge rates and rules are pre-configured based on the template. Previous to 3.14, the system still allowed for these rules to be edited within the assignment. This meant that the assignment would no longer match the template. For agencies, this means that the ability to govern templates and ensure consistency is affected.
With rate template locking in 3.14, if an assignment is using a rate template users are not able to freely make changes to the assignment's pay and charge rules. Edit and delete buttons are no longer available:
In order to change the specific pay and charge rules, users must first "unlock" the rate template from the assignment. This is done via the options menu:
After confirming the unlocking of the assignment, users are able to freely edit the pay and charge rules within the assignment:
The ability to use a rate template for an existing assignment has also been moved to the options menu:
Additional changes in 3.14
Xero Payroll - editing payroll batch
For clients using the Xero Payroll integration we have introduced the ability to "edit" a payroll batch that has already been exported to Xero. This is to help in situations when you need to add an additional timesheet to a payroll batch or edit an existing timesheet. The ability to edit a payroll batch is only available when the payrun in Xero is still in the draft stage (meaning an already published payrun is no longer editable). The button is available when you are viewing a previously exported batch:
Timesheet schedule - now configurable in rate templates
We have received a lot of feedback from clients about the ability to pre-set a timesheet schedule option within rate templates so that this field is automatically set in the assignment. In 3.14 we have added a new field to the rate template which allows for this configuration:
Voided invoices - now excluded from "all" filter
After our recent update to the Invoices area of Xemplo we received feedback about the treatment of voided invoices. Voided invoices were previously being included in both the "All" and "Voided" filter tabs for all types of invoices, including RCTIs. In 3.14, voided invoices will now only appear in the Voided tab.
Creating timesheet approvers - simplified form
Included in the updates to the Assignment screens is a new, simplified form for adding timesheet approvers on-the-fly. The form no longer requires the role or permission of the approver to be selected, with these being pre-set behind the scenes to specifically suit an approver account:
Feedback
Have questions or feedback? We are here to help you. If you have any queries or feedback, don't hesitate to contact our Customer Success team.