14.5. From Time Entry to Invoice to Accounting Export

Billable technician time does not become revenue until it moves through approval, invoicing, finalization, and accounting export. This walkthrough shows the full path so technicians, service managers, and billing staff understand where each handoff happens.

The full billing path

Stage	Primary owner	What AlgaPSA tracks
Time entry	Technician	Work performed, client or work item, service, billable duration, and the likely contract line.
Time approval	Service manager or approver	Whether the submitted time is approved, rejected, or sent back for changes.
Draft invoice	Billing admin	Approved unbilled time, contract rules, quantities, rates, taxes, and invoice preview.
Finalized invoice	Billing admin or accounting	Client-ready invoice number, final invoice total, PDF/email readiness, and export eligibility.
Accounting export	Accounting admin	Finalized invoice lines transformed for QuickBooks, Xero, or CSV import.

Use this flow for hourly support agreements, block-of-hours retainers, project overage, and any contract where approved labor should appear on a client invoice.

Step 1: Technicians record billable time

Technicians start in Time Management > Time Entry. They select the time period, add work, and enter the service time against a ticket, project task, or other work item.

For billing accuracy, the important fields are:

Client or work item: identifies who receives the charge.
Service: identifies what kind of labor was performed.
Billable time: determines whether the entry can be invoiced.
Contract match: connects the time to the client's active contract and contract line when one applies.

When AlgaPSA can match the selected client, service, and date to a contract line, the billing context is available before the time reaches invoicing. That helps technicians and managers catch issues early instead of waiting until month-end billing.

Figure 1: A technician records billable work in a time sheet period before submitting it for approval.

Step 2: Managers approve submitted time

Submitted time appears in Time Management > Time Sheet Approvals. Managers review the summary, daily breakdown, and detailed entries before approving the time sheet.

Approved time is the normal gate for invoicing. If the time is wrong, the manager should request changes before billing runs. If it is correct, approval tells billing staff that the work is ready to be considered for the next invoice.

Figure 2: Approval confirms that the billable labor is ready for downstream invoicing.

Step 3: Billing creates or reviews the draft invoice

Billing staff work from Billing > Invoicing. For contract-driven billing, AlgaPSA gathers eligible approved, unbilled charges and applies the client's contract rules.

For hourly time, that means AlgaPSA checks the client, service, effective date, and contract line configuration to decide how the labor should bill. Depending on the contract, the time may be:

billed at an hourly rate;
counted against an included support bucket;
billed as overage after included hours are consumed; or
excluded from billing if the contract or service setup says it is not billable.

Draft invoices let billing staff review the result before anything is finalized. Use the draft view to confirm the client, invoice date, due date, line descriptions, rate, quantity, subtotal, tax, and total.

Figure 3: The draft invoice gives billing staff a final review point before the invoice is finalized.

Step 4: Finalize the invoice

Finalization turns a draft into the client-ready invoice. After finalization, the invoice is ready for normal billing operations such as PDF download, email delivery, and accounting export.

Finalizing also protects billing integrity. Time or usage included in an invoice is linked to that invoice so it is not picked up again in a later billing run. If an invoice needs correction, use the supported invoice reversal or unfinalization workflow instead of manually rebilling the same time.

Before finalizing, confirm:

the client and billing address are correct;
the invoice period matches the work performed;
billable time appears under the expected service or contract line;
bucket or retainer consumption looks right;
taxes and exemptions are correct;
required purchase order information is present; and
any internal review or approval requirement has been satisfied.

Step 5: Export finalized invoices to accounting

Accounting export happens from Billing > Accounting Exports. Export batches collect finalized invoices and prepare them for the selected accounting destination.

Typical export choices include:

QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks CSV;
QuickBooks Desktop export formats;
Xero or Xero CSV; and
other configured accounting adapters as your environment supports them.

The export flow is:

Click New Export.
Select the accounting adapter.
Optionally filter by date range, client, or invoice status.
Create or preview the batch.
Resolve any missing item, service, tax, or account mappings.
Execute the export.
Import or sync the resulting invoice data in the accounting system.

Figure 4: Accounting exports package finalized invoice data for QuickBooks, Xero, or CSV-based accounting workflows.

What each team should watch

Team	Watch for	Why it matters
Technicians	Correct client, work item, service, billable flag, and time duration.	Mistakes here flow into approval and can delay invoicing.
Service managers	Submitted time that should be approved, rejected, or corrected.	Only approved billable time should reach client billing.
Billing admins	Contract line match, rates, buckets, taxes, and invoice preview.	Draft review prevents client-facing billing errors.
Accounting admins	Finalized status, export filters, and accounting mappings.	Exports depend on finalized invoices and valid accounting destinations.

Troubleshooting common handoff issues

Symptom	What to check
Time is missing from invoicing	Confirm the time sheet was submitted and approved, the entry is billable, and the work date falls inside the invoice period.
Time appears under the wrong service	Review the service selected on the time entry and the client's active contract lines for that date.
Time should consume a support bucket but invoices as hourly	Check the contract line's bucket or included-hours setup and the service assigned to the time entry.
Invoice cannot be finalized	Review tax setup, invoice totals, purchase order requirements, and any approval blockers shown in the invoice workflow.
Invoice does not appear in accounting export	Confirm the invoice is finalized and matches the export batch filters.
Export validation fails	Review accounting mappings for services, products, accounts, taxes, and customers before executing the batch.

Month-end operating checklist

Ask technicians to finish time entry before the cutoff.
Have managers approve or request changes for all submitted time sheets.
Run billing from Billing > Invoicing and review draft invoices.
Confirm contract rates, bucket usage, taxes, and PO requirements.
Finalize approved drafts.
Send or download invoices as needed.
Create an accounting export batch for finalized invoices.
Validate mappings and execute the export.
Confirm the invoices landed correctly in the accounting system.

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