Description

This is the database template ONLY for the Microsoft Access Time & Billing Seminar.

The video shown on this page is the introduction video for the full Seminar. It will give you a basic rundown of the features included in the full seminar.

See the Seminar page for a complete list of features included in this template.

Sample Database

If you'd like to download a sample copy of the database template, you can do so here. This is a non-editable version of the template which will let you see it work in action. Sample database is available for the 64-bit version of Access only.

Database Download

Once you have purchased the full database template, come back to this page and click on the Download button below. This will give you access to the ZIP file containing the Template ACCDB file.

Learn How This Database Was Built

If you have any questions about the construction of this database, how anything works, or how it was built, please see my Time & Billing Seminar. Please note that the purchase of the template only does NOT entitle you to any help or technical support. If you have questions about the database that are answered in the seminar, I'm just going to direct you to the seminar videos.

Helpful Lessons

If you don't wish to purchase the full seminar, there are several free TechHelp videos on my site that may assist you with understanding some of the concepts covered in this database:

License

For internal use only. This template does NOT come with a royalty-free license. You may only customize the template for your business needs and for use within your organization at one location ONLY. You may not resell or distribute any form of this template to others without express written permission. Contact me for additional information on obtaining a license to distribute if you plan on including this template in a product you are reselling. Additional licenses are required if you plan on using this template with more than ten (10) employees or in multiple locations within your organization.

Not a Finished Product

Please keep in mind that most of my template databases are not designed to be finished products that are ready to go in a working environment. My templates are meant as starting points for you to customize for yourself so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. This requires that you have a basic understanding of Microsoft Access development. To work on most of my databases you should have completed my Access Beginner series and the first couple levels of my Expert series at a minimum. Most of my databases require knowledge of SQL and VBA as well. Keep in mind that most of my templates are not like off-the-shelf software. They're starting points for developers to be able to modify and use as their own. It really is going to be in your benefit to watch all of the prerequisite videos so you understand the database and how it works moving forward. This is not like QuickBooks where you just install it and use it. My templates are mostly designed for people who already have an understanding of how Microsoft Access works.

Customize For Your Needs

If you would like to discuss customizing this template for your needs, and integrating it into your current setup, please see my consulting page for details. While I no longer accept custom jobs that are specific to a single user, I may include your features in a future version of this template if they have mass appeal. If you are looking for custom enhancements made to this template just for you, visit my Developer Network.

Technical Support

Please note that technical support is NOT guaranteed for any of my courses, seminars, or templates. If you require help with modifying this template, you may post a question in the Forums, however an answer to your question is not guaranteed. If this template comes with an accompanying Seminar, then you should purchase that Seminar to see how the database was constructed. If not, then you should have taken the suggested courses. Most of my templates are designed on a Developer level and you should have a thorough understanding of SQL and VBA before attempting to modify them. If you have a problem with one of my databases, I will only support the unmodified database exactly as it's downloaded from my site. If you have modified it in any way, it may not be something I can help you with. You can post in the Forums, and I may be able to help you, but if the issue doesn't exist in my unmodified database, it's not something I can support.

Questions?

Got sales or customer service questions about this template? Feel free to contact me. If you have technical "how do I" questions about this template, you discover a bug, or want to suggest a new feature, then please post your comments below.

Keywords

microsoft access, ms access, ms access tutorial, #msaccess, #microsoftaccess, #help, #howto, #tutorial, #learn, #lesson, #training, #database, #templates, time and billing, time & billing template

Comments for Access Time & Billing Template

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3 years	New Billing System	Esmeralda Tapia

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Intro

In this seminar, you will learn how to create a complete time and billing database in Microsoft Access, including building a timer to track billable hours for each client, generating invoices automatically, and batch printing or emailing them. We will set up essential tables, forms, and reports such as a customer table, order entry form, product list, and printable invoice reports. You will also learn about using recordsets for data management, rounding and editing billable hours, and handling different billing rates for various tasks. Email invoicing and tips for customizing your database are also covered.

Transcript

Welcome to the Time and Billing Seminar brought to you by AccessLearningZone.com. I am your instructor, Richard Rost.

In this seminar, you will learn how to keep track of the billable hours you spend on each customer. We will build a timer that you can start and stop as you are working for them. Watch the billable hours click up. At the end of the month, generate invoices for all of your clients with the press of one button, and you can batch print or email them out.

We will begin by setting up a new database, including many of the options that I prefer for my projects. I'll show you how to create a simple customer table, customer form, and a customer list. We'll build an order entry form with the related tables and queries, and link it to our customer table. We'll create a fully printable invoice report. Then we'll create an order list so you can see all of the orders sorted by date. We'll also create a product list. You can add products if that's something that you do with your database. If not, you can just skip this lesson.

You are going to learn about recordsets, which is an important programming method for manipulating data in Access. I will be using recordsets for the time and billing material, so it's important that you learn how these work if you want to be able to manipulate the database and modify it for your own use.

Once we have the foundation for the database built, we will begin working with the time and billing material. We'll create the table, query, and form. It will track our billable hours for each client. We'll calculate the total billable time and the total unbilled time. We will put a button on the customer form so you can see all of the work you've done for them, or just the stuff you haven't billed yet.

We'll build a timer with start and stop buttons. This will allow you to track your billing for each customer to the second if you so choose. I will show you how to round it up in 15 minute increments. If you spend six minutes, they're billed for the 15 minute block, but you can change it if you want to very easily.

You can also change the billable hours manually. If you leave the clock running, for example, and decide that you really want to bill them for three hours instead of the six that the timer says, you can also adjust the rate for the different things that you do. For example, if you do research and you bill that differently than phone calls, and bill that differently than personal meetings, and so on.

Next, we'll use recordsets to generate an invoice for all of the unbilled hours that you have for that client. Then we'll see how to generate invoices for everybody in the database who has unbilled hours. We'll open up a form. It will show all of your clients and a total amount of unbilled time. When you click one button, it generates invoices for everybody. Usually, you'll do this at the end of the month.

Then we'll see how to batch print or batch email your invoices out. If you have an email address for the customer, you can send them their email invoices once a week or whenever. If not, at the end of the month you can print out invoices for everyone who you don't have an email address for and mail them 90s style. 90s style is a joke, meaning like mail is from the 1990s. Get it?

Anyway, I'll show you how to send email using any SMTP server, including Gmail.

It is strongly recommended that you've completed my Access Beginner, Expert, and Developer classes before taking the seminar. If not, at least watch my free Intro to VBA class that's on my website.

I will be building the database with you in the videos from the ground up. However, I'm not going to take a whole lot of time to cover the programming concepts because I've already covered them in these previous classes. So again, if you've never done any programming with Access before, I would strongly recommend at least up to my Developer 1 class.

I will be using Microsoft 365, which is roughly equivalent to Access 2016 or 2019. However, everything in this seminar should work all the way back to Access 2007.

So, it's time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the Time and Billing Seminar brought to you by AccessLearningZone.com.

Quiz

Q1. What is the main purpose of the seminar described in the video?
A. To learn how to create graphics in Access
B. To track billable hours for each customer and generate invoices
C. To manage email subscriptions
D. To set up networked databases

Q2. What feature will allow you to track time spent working for clients?
A. Automatic calendar integration
B. Built-in Access wizard
C. A timer with start and stop buttons
D. Cloud synchronization

Q3. What is a recordset in the context of Access databases?
A. A graphical interface for forms
B. A way to organize printed reports
C. A programming method for manipulating data
D. A template for invoices

Q4. What kind of report will you learn to create for handling billing?
A. A financial statement
B. A payroll summary
C. A printable invoice report
D. A sales receipt

Q5. What should you do if your billing is different for various tasks, such as research or meetings?
A. Use the same rate for all tasks
B. Ignore the differences
C. Adjust the rate manually for different activities
D. Only bill for personal meetings

Q6. How can you generate invoices for all clients with unbilled hours?
A. By running a financial export wizard
B. By clicking one button to batch generate invoices
C. By printing each invoice individually
D. By manually adding each invoice

Q7. What option is available if a customer does not have an email address?
A. Skip sending an invoice
B. Send a text message instead
C. Print and mail the invoice
D. Call them with the bill

Q8. Why does the instructor recommend previous experience or classes before taking this seminar?
A. The seminar covers only basic database navigation
B. The seminar does not cover any programming concepts in detail
C. The seminar is meant for those who have never used Access
D. The seminar does not require any prior knowledge

Q9. What is suggested for those who are new to programming with Access?
A. Take an online HTML course instead
B. Skip to advanced modules directly
C. Complete previous Access courses up to Developer 1 or watch the free Intro to VBA
D. Only focus on invoice printing

Q10. Which versions of Access are compatible with the seminar material?
A. Only Access 2019
B. Only Access 2003 and older
C. Access 2007 and later, including Microsoft 365
D. Only Access 2010 and higher

Answers: 1-B; 2-C; 3-C; 4-C; 5-C; 6-B; 7-C; 8-B; 9-C; 10-C

DISCLAIMER: Quiz questions are AI generated. If you find any that are wrong, don't make sense, or aren't related to the video topic at hand, then please post a comment and let me know. Thanks.

Summary

Today's video from Access Learning Zone focuses on creating a comprehensive Time and Billing database in Microsoft Access. I'm your instructor, Richard Rost, and I'll guide you step by step through the entire process.

In this seminar, we are going to cover how to track billable hours for your customers efficiently. We'll start by building a timer that you can use to keep track of your work sessions, letting you see in real time how your billable hours accumulate. At the end of each month, you will be able to generate and send out invoices to all of your clients with just one action, either printing them in batches or sending them by email.

We'll kick things off by setting up a new Access database, incorporating the settings and options that I typically use in my own projects. I'll demonstrate how to create a basic customer table, a customer data entry form, and a customer list for easy navigation. We will move on to building an order entry form connected to related tables and queries, ensuring everything is properly linked to your customer data. Next, we'll set up a fully printable invoice report and an order list to display your orders by date. We will also create a product list, which is useful if you need to track products within your billing system. If tracking products is not relevant to your work, you can skip this section.

An important aspect of this seminar involves learning about recordsets, a key programming tool for manipulating data within Access. I use recordsets extensively throughout the time and billing features, so understanding how they work will help you customize your database further.

After laying the foundation, we will shift our focus to the time and billing features. We'll create the necessary tables, queries, and forms to track billable hours for each client, including calculations for total billable and unbilled time. We will add a button to the customer form so you can easily view the work you've completed for a client or just see the hours that haven't been invoiced yet.

One of the seminar highlights is developing a timer with start and stop controls. This timer enables precise tracking of billable hours, accurate to the second. I'll also show you how to round time up to predetermined increments, such as 15 minutes, so if you work six minutes, the client is billed for a full 15 minute block. These increments are fully customizable to suit your needs.

The system also lets you manually adjust billable hours. For example, if you accidentally leave the timer running or want to bill a different amount of time than was recorded, you can make those changes easily. You can also set different billing rates for different types of activities, such as research, phone calls, or meetings.

Using recordsets, we will learn how to generate invoices for all unbilled hours for each client and then batch process invoices for every client with outstanding charges. I will show you how to open a summary form displaying each client along with their total unbilled time. With a single action, you can create invoices for everybody at once, which is especially useful at the end of the month.

Next, we'll cover how to batch print or email these invoices. If you have customer email addresses, you can send invoices weekly, monthly, or at custom intervals. For those clients who do not have email addresses, you can print the invoices and mail them the traditional way. When I say "90s style," I'm joking about mailing paper invoices, referencing the way things were commonly done in the 1990s.

I will also teach you how to send email using any SMTP server, including Gmail, so you have options for distributing your invoices electronically.

Before starting this seminar, I highly recommend that you complete my Access Beginner, Expert, and Developer classes. At a minimum, you should watch the free Intro to VBA course found on my website. While we will build the entire database from scratch, I won't spend much time explaining basic programming concepts as they're well-covered in those earlier classes. If you're new to programming in Access, aim to complete at least up to my Developer 1 class.

I'll be working with Microsoft 365, but everything shown is compatible with Access versions dating back to 2007.

So, get comfortable and prepare to learn how to set up and manage your own effective Time and Billing system with Access, here at Access Learning Zone.

You can find a complete video tutorial with step-by-step instructions on everything discussed here on my website at the link below. Live long and prosper, my friends.

Topic List

Setting up a new Access database for time and billing
Creating a customer table and customer form
Making a customer list view
Building an order entry form and related tables
Linking orders to customers
Creating a printable invoice report
Creating an order list sorted by date
Creating a product list and adding products
Using recordsets to manipulate Access data
Designing time and billing tables, queries, and forms
Tracking billable hours per client
Calculating total and unbilled time for clients
Adding billable hours display buttons to customer forms
Building a timer with start and stop functionality
Rounding billable time to 15-minute increments
Manually editing billable hours and rates
Handling multiple service rates for different activities
Generating invoices for unbilled client hours
Bulk invoice generation for all clients with unbilled hours
Displaying unbilled time totals for each client
Batch printing invoices for clients
Batch emailing invoices using SMTP, including Gmail