How to Add a Budget to a QuickBooks Time Job in Protiv

1. Why the Budget Must Be Entered Manually

QuickBooks Time, also known as QBT or TSheets, is primarily used to track employee time. It does not send estimating, pricing, contract value, or labor-budget information to Protiv.

This applies to QuickBooks Time accounts that use:

• Projects with estimates
• Projects without estimates
• Customers and subcustomers
• Jobs or jobcodes only

Protiv imports the supported jobs and time entries, but your team must enter the financial budget information in Protiv.

2. Before You Begin

a. Review Your Average Wage

This setting is especially important when your company enters an hours budget instead of a labor budget in dollars. Protiv uses the organization’s wage settings to convert the budgeted hours into an estimated labor budget.

The general calculation is:

Hours budget × organization’s average hourly labor cost = labor budget

For example, if a job has a budget of 100 hours and the organization’s average hourly labor cost is $25.00, the calculated labor budget would be approximately $2,500.00.

b. Review Your Burden Rate

Depending on your account configuration, the average hourly labor cost may also account for your organization’s labor burden percentage.

Make sure both the average wage and burden rate are correct before relying on an hours-based budget.

c. Keep Your Settings Updated

QuickBooks Time does not automatically maintain these organization-level estimating settings in Protiv.

An administrator should review and update them whenever:

• Payroll rates change
• Labor burden changes
• Your estimating assumptions change

4. How to Add a Budget to a Job

a. Open the Jobs Page

Log in to Protiv and select Jobs from the main navigation.

b. Find the Job

Search for the job by its name or job number.

You can also use date filters, such as Last 30 Days, to focus on recently created or active jobs.

c. Open the Job

Select the job to open its details.

d. Enter the Job’s Financial Information

Enter the information your company uses to measure job performance:

Enter either the labor budget or the hours budget based on your company’s estimating process.

Use the original estimating information your company used to price and plan the job. This may come from:

• A formal estimate
• A proposal
• A production-rate calculation
• An internal job-costing worksheet
• A rough bid or approved internal budget

e. Save the Job

Save your changes.

If eligible time has already synced from QuickBooks Time, Protiv can use that existing time after the budget is saved.

The related ProPay should then be created or updated during a subsequent synchronization, provided that all other ProPay requirements are met.

5. When to Add the Budget

a. Add It Before Work Begins

Add the budget as soon as the job is created in QuickBooks Time—ideally before employees begin recording time.

Entering the budget early allows employees and managers to see meaningful job performance and projected bonus information from the beginning of the job.

b. Adding a Budget After Work Starts

A budget can still be entered after work begins.

Time that has already synced to Protiv is not necessarily lost, but the ProPay and its progress may not appear correctly until the budget is available.

Best practice: Enter the budget on the same day the job is created in QuickBooks Time.

6. Jobs With Tasks, Services, or Cost Codes

Some companies require employees to select a task, service item, or cost code when clocking in through QuickBooks Time.

When this information is configured to create milestones in Protiv, one job may be divided into several milestones.

For example, a hardscaping project might include:

• Preparation
• Installation
• Cleanup

Depending on your organization’s configuration, the budget may be handled in one of the following ways.

a. Enter a Budget for Each Milestone

Assign a separate dollar or hours budget to each task or milestone.

This option provides the most accurate milestone-level performance tracking.

b. Divide the Overall Budget Among Milestones

Enter the total job budget and allocate it across the job’s milestones.

Depending on the available settings, the budget may be divided evenly or adjusted manually.

c. Track the Job as One Overall Milestone

When task-level tracking is not needed, the job may be managed with one overall budget instead of separate budgets for each task.

If workers do not select tasks or cost codes when clocking in, the job will generally remain one job with one overall milestone.

The available options depend on how QuickBooks Time fields and Protiv milestones are configured for your organization.

Contact your Protiv representative before changing this setup, as it can affect how new jobs and ProPays are created.

7. Best Practices

a. Enter Budgets Early

Enter budgets before the crew begins working whenever possible.

b. Use Your Approved Estimate

Use the same estimating source your company uses internally so the Protiv budget matches your operational expectations.

c. Review Wage and Burden Settings

Review the organization’s average wage and burden settings before relying on hours-based budgets.

d. Confirm Clock-In Selections

Confirm that employees are clocking in to the correct QuickBooks Time job and, when applicable, the correct task or cost code.

e. Avoid Unnecessary Budget Changes

Avoid changing a budget only to produce a desired bonus result.

Budget adjustments should reflect a legitimate correction to the job estimate, budget, or scope.