Skip to main content

Project Transactions Overview

Everything you need to know about Project Transactions page, WIP approvals, transfer, split, and exporting data.

Updated this week

Edition: Professional, Business, Enterprise

User-level: Project manager and above


What are project transactions?

A transaction is created for each timesheet, cash expense, travel expense, office expense and bill disbursement line entered against a project. There are other transactions types that are system generated, like Balance and Unearned Income.


The project transactions list shows all transactions entered against a project.


The Project Transactions List

Use the project transactions tab to see a list of all the items that have been allocated to the project. Check out which transactions are in WIP that can be invoiced this month, or switch to using the 'invoiced' list view to check on the transactions that were invoiced previously.

From the project details screen:

  1. Project menu > Financials > Transactions

Transaction views

The project transactions list has five available views, Default, WIP, Invoiced, Written Off, and Unearned Income. Each view displays different details of the same transactions, and different actions can be performed depending on the selected view.

You can change the view of the Transaction list, by clicking on the 'View' icon at the top right of the screen and then selecting the preferred view from the dropdown menu. It will show the name of the currently selected view.

Default

This is the primary view, and what the transactions list will be in when you first visit. It displays transactions with all status types. Details shown include:

  • WBS number

  • Phase name (where applicable)

  • Stage name

  • Transaction date

  • Details

  • Rate

  • Task

  • Type

  • Status

  • Overtime rate

  • Units

  • Value total

  • Expense type

  • Paper clip

  • Note icon

WIP

Displays transactions with a status of WIP. The Value total column is replaced with the WIP value column, and Expense Type is removed.


Invoiced

Displays the Invoiced value of transactions. Units are replaced by Invoiced units. The Notes column is replaced by Invoice number.

Additional columns are:

  • Invoiced Rate

  • Invoiced Units

  • Net Invoiced Total Ex Tax

  • Invoiced (Revenue Value)

  • Markup

  • Invoice Number


Written off

Displays transactions with a status of Written Off. This view has a 'Reason Code' column so you can easily view details of why transactions have been written off.

Unearned Income

Shows unearned income for each stage with a Fixed Fee or Percent of Contract fee type. This is calculated as invoiced value minus transaction charge value.

Transaction Column Definitions

Displayed columns will change depending on the selected view:​

WBS:

The stage number displayed to the left of each stage when viewed on the project work breakdown.

Phase:

The phase that the stage belongs to. This column only displays for projects where phases have been enabled.

Stage:

The stage the transaction has been assigned to.

Date:

The date the transaction is applied to (can be different to the date the transaction was created)

Details:

The name of the staff member is displayed for timesheets, and staff expenses.
Office expense is displayed when the transaction type is 'Office expense'.
The supplier or subcontractor contact name is displayed when the transaction type is 'Bills'.

Rate:

The name of the rate that was selected at the time the transaction was entered.

Task:

The name of the task that was selected when the transaction was entered against. This may be blank for expenses and bills.

Type:

The type of transaction. For example: a timesheet, a staff cash or travel expense, an office expense, or a bill.

Status:

The current status of the transaction.

Overtime:

The overtime rate used for this transaction.

'Standard' indicates that standard time was selected rather than an overtime rate.

Units:

The number of units entered on the timesheet, expense, or bill.

Value total:

The value total of all transactions. This is calculated as the charge value multiplied by the units.

Expense type:

Only populates for expense transactions and shows the expense type that was selected for the expense.

Note:

Displays an icon if a note has been entered. Hovering over the note icon will display the note details. Clicking the icon will copy the note text so it can be pasted elsewhere.

WIP Value:

The charge value of transactions with a status of WIP. This is calculated as units multiplied by the charge rate.

Invoiced units:

Shows the number of units the transaction has been invoiced for. Transactions that have not yet been invoiced will show 0 units.

Net invoiced total ex tax:

The value the transaction has been invoiced for.

Invoiced (revenue value):

The value the transaction has been invoiced for.

Markup:

The difference between the Value total and the Invoiced revenue column.

Invoice number:

The number of the invoice number the transaction has been assigned to. Clicking the invoice number will open the invoice.

Totals on the Project Transactions List

At the bottom of the project transactions list, you will see a totals row. In the totals row you have an option to select how these totals are calculated, either by Page Total, or overall Total.

The default is Page Total. When this is selected, the totals are calculated based on the figures for the page you are on. The Page Total number shows the number of rows for the page. The totals displayed will change when you access each page, or change the number of entries displayed on each page.

To view the overall totals for the project, click the icon and select Total from the list.

When the overall Total is selected, the totals are calculated based on all the transactions on all pages. The number next to the total indicates how many transactions are being totalled. This is impacted by the filters applied to the transaction list.

The totals displayed will remain the same when you access each page, or change the number of entries displayed on each page.


Transaction Statuses

Each transaction in Synergy has a status:

  • WIP - Work in Progress (WIP). The transaction has been submitted and is ready for invoicing.

    • If you have Timesheet Approvals on, you see:

      • WIP (Approved)

      • WIP (Unapproved)

      • WIP (Auto-approved)

  • Invoiced - The transaction is attached to a finalised invoice and cannot be edited.

  • Written off - The transaction value has been written off, and cannot be included on client invoices. Transactions can be written off manually in the transactions tab of the project. Any transactions entered against a stage with a 'No billing' fee type or against the Internal project are automatically written off. Any residual WIP transactions are written off when a stage status is changed to Complete or Unsuccessful.

  • Draft invoice - The transaction is attached to a draft invoice. Transactions attached to a draft invoice cannot be modified unless the draft is cancelled.


Search and Filter

You can use the search bar at the top of the list to quickly find specific transactions. The search bar looks at the Stage, Details, Rate, and Task columns.

Open the filters panel to restrict the list to only show transactions of a certain type (e.g. only staff cash expenses) or only transactions at a certain status (e.g. only WIP status transactions).

The filter options available on the transactions list are:

Phase/Stage

Use this filter to select the phase and stage on projects where phases have been enabled, or stages on other projects.

Rate

Use this to filter by the rate type and/or rate name.

Staff

Use this to filter by the staff name. Inactive staff won't appear in the filter list.

Status

Use this option to filter by transaction status.

Transaction Date

Use this to filter by transaction date, or a transaction date range.

Transaction Type

Use this to filter by the transaction type.

Transaction Units

Use this to filter on a minimum or maximum number of units.

Transaction Value Total

Use this to filter on a minimum or maximum transaction value​.


Phase, Stage, Date, Rate, Type, Status, Units, and Value Total columns can also be filtered by clicking the filter icon on the column heading:

The filter icon will also display a number indicating how many filters are enabled for that column. If no filters are enabled, a number is not displayed.


Transaction row actions

Each transaction row has a menu allowing you to select an action to apply to that transaction. The status of the transaction will determine the available menu options .

The transaction row menu can be accessed by hovering over the end of the row until the ellipses is displayed.

Click the ellipses button to view the available actions and select the one you wish to apply to the transaction.

Clicking the row menu button on a bill disbursement transaction allows you to select 'Open in new tab' to view the Bill.


Export to Excel

You can export all transactions against a project to an Excel file by clicking the Export to Excel button (download symbol) displayed at the top right of the transactions screen.

Modify this export by changing the view and/or filters.

This exports all transactions to Excel as seen below.


Write off a transaction

There are several ways that transactions can be written off:

  • No billing fee type - if the stage has a 'no billing' fee type, all transactions entered against the stage are automatically written off. Or if the project itself is set as non-billable.

  • Status change - when the stage is changed to a 'Complete' or 'Unsuccessful' status, any remaining WIP transactions are automatically written off.

  • Manual user write-off - within the project > transactions tab. The project manager can write off transactions that should not be included on an invoice.

For further details on how to write off a transaction, or how to undo a write-off, see the Transaction Write-off article.


WIP Transfer

Use the WIP Transfer feature to move transactions between stages on the same project, or to a different project.

A single WIP transaction can also be split, allowing you to transfer part of that transaction to a different stage or project. (*Business & Enterprise only).

See the WIP Transfer article for further details.


​Returning Transactions to WIP

You can remove a transaction from an invoice using the "Return to WIP" feature (Enterprise only). If a stage has at least two transactions on the invoice, you can return one to WIP for future invoicing.

See the Returning Transaction to WIP article for further details.


Approving WIP transactions

If you have timesheet approvals enabled, you will be able to approve transactions from the project transaction list. This can be helpful for bulk approving timesheets for a whole project/stage, without needing to go through individual staff timesheet pages to do so.

To approve from the transactions list:

  1. Open the project, then click on the project menu > Financials > Transactions.

  2. Change the view to WIP. This will automatically filter the list to show just WIP transactions.

    1. To make it easier, remove the filter for Approved WIP from the list of filters at the top, leaving just the Unapproved WIP showing:

  3. Select all the transactions you would like to approve using the checkboxes on the left.

  4. Click the ellipses button at the top left of the screen and select Approve WIP.

  5. Individual transactions can also be approved from the row action menu:



Security Matrix: Default Permissions

(Enterprise users can modify this, under "Project" in the Security Matrix).

Function

User

Assistant Project Manager

Project Manager

Director

Assistant Admin

Admin

Read Transactions (Access to the Transactions Page)

X

X

X

X

X

WIP Transfer

X

X

X

X

X

Bulk WIP Write-off (Write-off or undo write-off for one or more transactions)

X

X

X

X

Assign to Invoice

X

X

X

X

Manage and Approve Timesheets for Others (To Approve/Unapprove WIP)

X

X

Return to WIP

X


Did this answer your question?