The Profit Precision billing process follows a simple sequence:

Step 1

Team members perform work and log time.

⬇

Step 2

Time is reviewed and authorised.

⬇

Step 3

Authorised time moves to Invoice Pending.

⬇

Step 4

The Billing Report calculates invoice values.

⬇

Step 5

Invoices are generated and reviewed.

⬇

Step 6

Invoices are posted to your accounting system.

Every stage is important, but the quality of your billing depends heavily on this time authorisation process.

Many firms lose revenue simply because work is performed but never billed.

Examples include:

These activities consume valuable staff time and often go unnoticed if they are not recorded properly.

DataGrows helps eliminate this problem by encouraging real-time time capture directly from tasks.

The most successful firms develop a simple habit:

✅ Start the timer when work begins

✅ Update notes as work progresses

✅ Save regularly

✅ Stop the timer when work is complete

When this habit is adopted consistently across the firm, billing becomes dramatically easier.

One of the most important practices is establishing a billing cut-off date.

This is the date by which all staff should:

Without a cut-off date, billing becomes a moving target where:

A structured cut-off significantly reduces billing administration and improves consistency.

The Time Authorised table is where managers and business owners review logged time before it is included in billing.

Navigate to Approvals & Billing → Billing → Time Authorize

This is where you:

Think of this table as the firm's quality-control checkpoint before invoicing.

There are several useful ways to review time.

A useful tip is to sort the Duration Hours column from highest to lowest.

This helps identify:

For example:

A timer running for 18 hours is usually worth investigating.

It may indicate:

You can edit the record or chat on the time log entry in the Time Log table to request that the team member correct or confirm their time.

Many firms accumulate old unauthorised time over the years.

This often includes:

Take an honest look at this information.

If time is several years old and realistically unrecoverable, it may be better to write it off and focus on future recovery.

Good billing discipline starts with a clean, manageable billing process.

DataGrows allows you to classify time according to its billing status.

The work has been reviewed but is not yet ready for invoicing.

These records display in

Time Management → Time Log

Approvals & Billing → Billing → Time Authorize

The work has been approved for billing.

This status instructs DataGrows to include the time in the Billing Report.

These records display in

Approvals & Billing → Billing → Time Invoice Pending

Indicates a rate or client whose service will default to the Standard/Default Rate Group and Rates.

These records display in

Approvals & Billing → Billing → Time Invoice Pending

All time log entries marked as Invoice Pending, where they relate to a task marked as Rate Type “Retainer”, automatically move to the Time Log Archive table and change their status to “Included in service” once the Billing report has been run for the first time that billing cycle.

These records display in

Approvals & Billing → Billing → Time Log Archive

The work will be billed in a future period.

This is useful when:

These records display in

Approvals & Billing → Billing → Deferred Billing

Note: Review this table / Deferred Billing status in reports monthly to ensure billing is kept up to date. Mark records as Invoice Pending when you are ready to move them from Deferred Billing

The work will not be billed.

Examples include:

These records display in

Approvals & Billing → Billing → Time Log Archive

The work relates to internal firm activities rather than clients.

Examples:

These records display in

Approvals & Billing → Billing → Time Log Archive

In Approvals & Billing → Billing → Time Authorize

Once you are satisfied with a time entry:

“Mark Invoice Pending”

This authorises the time for billing, moves the records to the Time Invoice Pending table – and simultaneously removes access from the records in the Time Log table, so your team members can’t edit further.

At this point DataGrows begins preparing the billing calculations automatically.

Once time has been authorised, DataGrows generates the Billing Report.

Navigate to Approvals & Billing → Billing → Time Invoice Pending

Click on the Reports Tab → Firm Reports → Billing

This report provides visibility into:

This is often the most important review step before invoicing.

Best Practice:

1. Download the report to Excel each period to keep track of adjustments and comments.

2. View the report fully expanded in excel, and use the find function to search for services or clients.

3. Focus on Adhoc services and clients.

One of the advantages of DataGrows is that task notes flow through the workflow.

When reviewing billing, the notes often explain:

This context helps ensure fair and informed billing decisions.

Profit Precision is not about billing every minute without thought.

It's about visibility.

When you can see the real value of work performed, you can make informed decisions regarding:

Without visibility, those choices become guesses.

Use key reports to determine profitability of retainers, efficiency of staff and their training/resources and profitability of Adhoc services

· Profitability-Retainers

· Accountant Hours

· Revenue & Profit (From Invoice Table)

Review Weekly, at most, Monthly

Avoid allowing billing reviews to accumulate.

Assign additional team members to help you review. Build reporting structures and departments as you grow to share the load and ensure your billing is never delayed or bottlenecked.

Use Saved Filters

Create custom views for:

Follow this link for more information regarding our custom Filters and how they can help you review billing quickly and accurately.

Review By Exception

Focus on:

Encourage Team Accountability

The more ownership staff take of their timesheets, the easier billing becomes.

✅ Accurate time tracking is the foundation of profitability.

✅ Establish a monthly billing cut-off process.

✅ Use the Time Authorised table & Reports to review work before billing.

✅ Understand the difference between Invoice Pending, Deferred, Written Off, and Internal time.

✅ Use task notes to provide context during billing reviews.

✅ Sort and review large time entries regularly.

✅ Clean up historical time where necessary.

✅ Visibility into work performed allows better billing decisions and stronger profitability management.

Remember: You can't bill what you can't see. The Time Authorisation process ensures that valuable work doesn't disappear before it reaches your invoice.