- When should I use tasks and when allocations?
- Why can't I select a task for time entry?
- Why is the utilization rate displayed incorrectly?
When should I use tasks and when allocations?
If you want to:
- allocate working time at the project level to different employees and monitor their utilization, i.e., workload in the coming days/weeks/months, you can use the allocation view. For example, reserving 20 hours of working time for a consultant on a specific client project.
- break project work into smaller, trackable tasks, you can use the task view. For example, individual tasks such as "producing materials" or recurring tasks such as "monthly invoicing." Tasks can also be used together with allocations.
- only monitor hours tracked / budgeted (= estimated total hours) to the project, you can fill in the "budgeted hours" information on the project card and then monitor the hours realized from the "hour budget" column in the project list. You do not need tasks or allocations for this.
Why can't I select a task for time entry?
When a project has ongoing tasks assigned to you, or if your company settings allow time entries for other users' tasks, a task menu appears in the time entry. The task must be in progress, overdue, or about to be due for it to appear on the list.
Why is the utilization rate displayed incorrectly?
Utilization rate = the percentage of an employee's expected working time during a specific period that is resourced. Check Settings > Feature Settings > Resourcing to see if utilization is calculated from allocations (default) or if the setting "Use task hours for utilization rate calculation instead of allocations" is activated.
If you use tasks and allocations together, you can also activate the setting "Automatically create allocations when saving tasks." This way, allocations do not need to be added separately.