Every time entry has a project and a timesheet category. Categories describe the type of work, such as research, design, meetings or admin. They decide whether the time is billable, can set its rates, and let reports show where your team's time goes.

Set up your account's categories

Your account's list of categories is in Settings › Timesheet Settings, under Timesheet Categories. Administrators, Finance Managers and Portfolio Managers can manage it. New accounts start with two categories: Administration (not billable) and Project Management (billable).

The Timesheet Categories table in Timesheet Settings, listing Administration as a default category and Project Management as billable and a default, with the Add Category button above it

  1. Click Add Category and type a Name. Each name can only be used once.

    The Add Category popup with empty Name, Rate Amount and Cost Amount boxes, the amounts per hour, and is Billable?, is Payable?, is Default? and Add to existing Projects all ticked

  2. Optionally, enter a Rate Amount (the billable hourly rate) and a Cost Amount (what an hour costs you).

  3. Choose the options below, then click Save.

The options all start ticked:

  • is Billable?: time in this category can go on sales invoices.
  • is Payable?: time can go on bills to pay. You only see it when Bills to Pay is switched on.
  • is Default?: add the category to every new project.
  • Add to existing Projects: add it now to all your projects, including archived ones.

How categories get onto projects

Each project has its own list of categories, and everyone who logs time on the project sees all of them. A category is on a project when:

  • It was marked is Default? when the project was created.
  • Add to existing Projects was ticked when the category was created.
  • Someone added it in the project's settings. On the Categories tab, click Add Categories and tick the categories you want. To create a new one there, type its name and click + Create new category: it's added to your account's list as billable, but not as a default. Only people who can open Project Settings can do this. See project settings.
  • The project was copied from another project with Timesheet Categories ticked, so it took that project's categories instead of the defaults. See project templates.

When a category is added to a project, the project gets its own copy of the billable and payable flags and the rates.

Billable time and rates

A time entry is billable only when its category is billable on that project, and the project's billing method isn't Not Billable. Internal projects are never billable. When people log time, the Category list shows the project's categories under Billable and Non-Billable.

The New timesheet entry popup for the Marketing Campaign project, with Copywriting chosen as the Category
  • With the Category Hourly Rate billing method, the category's rate on the project is the hourly rate.
  • With the Category Hours budget, you give each category budget hours on the project.
  • For the cost of time, the category's cost rate wins over the person's. Leave the category's Cost Amount empty if you want each person's cost rate to apply.

See project settings and cost rates and billable rates. To see how time splits across categories, use the Categories tab of the Timesheet Summary report, or group the Timesheet Details report by category.

Change, disable or delete a category

Click a category in Settings › Timesheet Settings to open Category Details:

  • Name: renaming changes the name everywhere, on every project and on time already logged. You can't rename a category in a project's settings.
  • Rate Amount, Cost Amount, is Billable? and is Payable?: changes only apply to projects the category is added to later. To change them on an existing project, open its settings, go to Categories and click the category. You can choose whether uninvoiced time already logged is updated too. See billable categories.
  • is Default?: only affects projects created from now on.
  • is Disabled?: hides the category on every project straight away, so nobody can choose it for new time or schedule bookings. Time already logged keeps it. Disabling a category also unticks is Default?, so tick it again after you re-enable the category if new projects should get it.
The Category Details popup for the Administration category in Timesheet Settings, with is Disabled? ticked, is Default? unticked and greyed out, and the Save, Cancel and Delete buttons

To delete a category, first take it off every project. In each project's settings, go to Categories, click the category, click Remove and confirm. You can't remove a category that has time or schedule bookings on that project. When you remove it from the last project that has it, Avaza deletes it from your account's list too.

If a category isn't on any project yet, click Delete in its Category Details. If it's still on projects, the message lists them. A category with time logged against it can't be deleted, so disable it instead.

Can't see a category when logging time?

The Category list only shows categories that are on the chosen project and aren't disabled. Check these:

  • The category isn't on the project. New categories only reach current projects when Add to existing Projects is ticked, and new projects only get default categories. Add it on the project's Categories tab with Add Categories, or ask someone who can open Project Settings. To have it on future projects, tick is Default? in Timesheet Settings.
  • The category is disabled. In Settings › Timesheet Settings, click it and untick is Disabled?. A disabled category stays hidden even when it's on the project.
  • The project isn't in the list either. People only see active projects where their membership has Timesheet entry allowed? ticked. See getting started with timesheets.