Tested on:
Dynamics 365 CE with PSA version 3.8
I was recently doing some testing around Time Entries, Actuals, entry recalls and cancellations of approvals in Dynamics 365 for Project Service Automation. With all the new functionality PSA has around entry recalls and approval cancellations, I can see how the scenarios I’m writing about on this blog post might be a question mark to many PSA users out there. Before we go through the list to see what happens in different scenarios, let’s define what recalls and cancellations mean:
- A Time Entry can be recalled by a submitter before or after it has been approved. This is an entry recall.
- An approved Time Entry i.e an approval can be canceled by a Project Approver. This is a cancellation of an approval.
Scenario 1
Q: When there is no existing Order and Time Entries are approved. What happens to Actuals when an Order and a T&M Order Line are created after Time Entries are approved?
A: Cost Actuals are created when Time Entries are approved for a Project that is not associated to a T&M Order Line. When an Order and an Order Line with Billing Type of T&M and include time = yes is later created, and the Order Line is associated to the Project, Unbilled Sales Actuals are created.
Scenario 2
Q: When there is no Order and Time Entries are pending approval. What happens when an Order and a T&M Order Line is created after Time Entries are submitted but are pending approval?
A: A Time Entry pending approval will by default be with a Billing type of Not available. It will not change automatically unless manually changed. The resulting Actual after approval will be Cost Actual only.
When changing Billing type to Chargeable and setting Billable (hrs) to match Submitted (hrs), the result after approval is still Cost Actual only.
The reason for the above behavior is that as there is no Order, submitting Time Entries does not create Unbilled Sales Journal Lines. An Unbilled Sales Actual is created based on an Unbilled Sales Journal Line.
Scenario 3
Q: What happens when there is no Order and an approval is canceled or Time Entries are recalled and an Order and a T&M Order Line are then created?
A: If a Time Entry approval is canceled by a Project Approver and the entry is then reapproved, only a Cost Actual is created. This is because there is no Unbilled Sales Journal Line as a base for an Unbilled Sales Actual.
If the Time Entry is recalled by the submitter, an Order and a T&M Order Line are then created, Time Entries are then submitted again and approved, an Unbilled Sales Actual will be created. This is because an Unbilled Sales Journal Line is created when a Time Entry is submitted for a Project associated to an Order Line.
Scenario 4
Q: Wrong sales price is seen on Actuals after Time Entries are approved. If an approval is canceled or entries are recalled and a new price is set on an Order’s Project Price List, what happens when Time Entries are reapproved?
A: If an approval is canceled and reapproved, old “wrong” price will remain.
If Time Entries are recalled and then resubmitted and approved, the new price from Project Price List will be picked up.
Scenario 5
Q: Billing Type on a Role (Bookable Resource Category) isn’t set and there are approved Time Entries. What happens when a Role is added and set chargeable, approvals are canceled and then reconfirmed. Price List has the role.
A: The new Time Entry approval will result in an Unbilled Sales Actual with a Billing type ID of Chargeable. The Role (Bookable Resource Category) will now also be seen under an Order Line’s Chargeable Roles tab as Chargeable.
Hi Antti. This is so helpful. I just got in the scenario 2 (up to the invoicing!). How can you add an unbilled sales Actual that was not created because the Not Available billing type?
Many thanks
Hi Costin. A “Not Available” billing type means that an Unbilled Sales Actual won’t get created. If you’re seeing that billing type, most likely you don’t have a Project Contract (Order) associated with the project in question.