How do I Import Sales Thresholds?

TimeForge’s sales thresholds are a powerful tool to allow you to budget and monitor your labor costs. Using the sales thresholds, you can set up a target budget based on labor costs, labor hours, or labor shifts. To easily import the sales threshold information, follow these steps.

Start with a CSV file

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Start by creating a CSV file with the necessary information, such as the sales category, position or department, the start date and end date, the threshold, and minimums and maximums.

Note: Each threshold should be on its own line.

Go to Import Data

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Navigate to the Import Data screen.

Choose Your CSV File

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Click on Browse and navigate to the CSV file, and then click on Upload Data.

Map the Fields and Import

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You can choose to import a number of fields in the thresholds. For example:

  • Sales Type / Sales Category – Enter the sales category, such as Gross Sales, or Total Skiers
  • Position Name – Enter the TimeForge Position Name (you can use positions or department thresholds)
  • Department Name – Enter the TimeForge Department Name (you can use positions or department thresholds)
  • Threshold Start Date – Enter the date the threshold begins
  • Threshold End Date – Enter the date the threshold should end
  • Threshold Min Value – Enter the minimum value for the threshold
  • Threshold Max Value – Enter the maximum value for the threshold

When you’re done, click on Import Data, and TimeForge will load your data, and show you any warnings or errors when it’s done.

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How Do I Import Sales in a CSV?

Sometimes, typing sales information into each day or hour of your week can be a tedious process. TimeForge includes a CSV importer to make bulk data entry much easier. Follow these steps to import your sales with a CSV file.

Navigate to the Sales Categories

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To import sales, first navigate to the Sale Categories list.

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Select the Import Sales for the sales category you would like to import.

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A pop-up will appear to allow you to import your sales data. Sales data should follow the format specified – and should be in a CSV (not Excel) format. The columns should be:

Date
Start Time
End Time
Amount
Department (if applicable)

Choose if the sales are Manager Projections or Actual Figures.

A few hints for using the software import:
1. You cannot currently import data on top of data that already exists. The import tool cannot be used for updating information at this time.
2. Make sure that your number formatting for the Amount column doesn’t include commas. For example, “1234″ is a valid number to import, but “1,234″ is not a valid number.
3. If you are importing data for the whole day, set the start time and end time to be your open and closing times for your location or business.
4. If you are using departments, make sure to the names match the TimeForge names exactly – otherwise, those sales will not be imported.

If using Departments, Set the Import Data

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If you are using departments within TimeForge, make sure check the sales import check box for the departments you want to import. If the import check box is not selected, your import will fail for those departments.

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Updating Productivity Thresholds by Position

Measuring and monitoring productivity is very important in many businesses, and is a critical part for scheduling employees for many businesses. With TimeForge, there are several ways to budget – including straight one-to-one budgets, comparing labor to sales (or some other metric), and productivity analysis. In most cases, the budget process can be broken down by location, department, or position – providing a lot of power for the financial experts in your organization.

Navigate to the Employee Positions

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After logging in, navigate to Employee->Positions

Locate the Positions

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Locate the position that needs to have the sales thresholds modified, and click Edit.

Click on Threshold

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All of the sales thresholds are stored within the Threshold sub tab. Choose this tab.

Select a Sales Category, and Enter Thresholds

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At this point, choose an applicable sales category for the position, and then modify or update the start date, end date, desired ratio, the minimum, and the maximum. Make sure to click on Save before you finish.

Thresholds, What do they Mean?

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Defining Thresholds can be somewhat confusing, because there are a number of ways to budget for your business, location, department, or position. Here’s a guide to some of these values:

1. Each Sales Category can be tied to different metrics for comparison. For example, you can compare labor costs, hours, or shifts in a day to your sales numbers. In this case, Paid Skier Visits is being compared to an “H”, or hours.

Additionally, sales can be categorized by department or by location. For example, a single department may have sales, and the location may have some additional sales. In this case, Paid Skier Visits is a “L”, or Location level sales category.

2. Sales Thresholds can be established by day, week, month, quarter, year, or whatever other date range you would like. Enter a start date range here.

3. End the end date of your sales threshold.

4. Enter the desired ratio you would like to have, when comparing this particular position to your sales for the day or week. This number can be either a “large” number (such as 20, representing 20%), or a “small” number (such as 0.0135, representing an actual number).

5. Enter the minimum number for your staffing requirements. In this case, we are comparing the threshold to hours, so this field represents 8 hours as a minimum (per day).

6. Enter the maximum number for your staffing requirements. In this case, we are comparing the threshold to hours, so this field represents 32 hours as a maximum (per day).

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How do I make Human Resource Categories required?

Human Resource Categories help you organize and streamline your labor management by uploading documents or recording certifications and other HR items into TimeForge. TimeForge HR documents are easy to upload, easy to print, and best of all – easy to access. You can make HR documents required for specific positions. For example, if every employee on staff needs an I-9, you can require that every position has an I-9. If Bartenders need alcohol serving certifications, you can make this document required only for bartenders. Below are instructions for making HR documents required.

Go to the Employees list

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Navigate to the Employees tab and click on Human Resources.

Select a Human Resource Type

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If you have not already added HR Types, do so now. Click on the blue Edit link next to the Human Resource Document you want required.

Select Positions

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On the Human Resources Information page, click on the Positions tab, then choose the positions for which you would like this document required.
Remember to save!

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How do I schedule by employee?

When scheduling your staff, TimeForge allows you to schedule by position or by employee.

An example of scheduling by position might be: From 3:30pm – 8:30pm, I need a cook, and that cook happens to be Joe Smith.

An example of scheduling by employee might be: From 3:30pm – 8:30pm, I need Joe Smith, and Joe happens to be a cook.

Some businesses find that scheduling by employee is best for them, and other businesses prefer scheduling by position. Use the one that makes sense
for your business, or switch between the two with a single click.

Go to the Schedules tab

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Navigate to the Schedules tab and click on Schedules.

Select a Schedule

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Click on the title of the schedule you would like to view.

View Schedule by Employee

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At the top of the Schedule’s page, click on the Employee bubble. You will now be able to see the schedule by employee.

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How does TimeForge handle salaried staff?

Handling salaried staff members can be confusing because of the complexities of labor percentages and the variability of salaried wages when analyzed by hour. TimeForge can help you accurately track your labor percentages even if you have salaried employees by simply changing a couple of settings.

Though putting an employee on salary can have major benefits for both your business and for the employee, there are some analytical problems that are related to salaried employees. Labor percentages, which compare the budgeted (scheduled) cost of labor to the actual (clock ins/outs) cost of labor, can be complicated by salaried employees because the amount they get paid each pay period can fluctuate due to vacation time and other changes in work time. Salaried employees can also make daily labor reports complicated because their fluctuating hourly wage is so variable.

You need to decide whether you want to see salaried employees’ hours in your labor percentages. You can choose not to see them at all, or your can modify the way that you see them so they are closer to being accurate.

Consider whether your salaried employees clock in when they are at work.
- (1.) If they do clock in, you can set their pay rate as an hourly rate instead of as a salary. This way, fluctuating hourly wage would always be a set amount, so you wouldn’t need to worry about a surprise high cost in your labor percentages.
-If your salaried employees don’t clock in, you can (2.) set the hourly rate to $0, or (3.) change your option settings to automatically copy a salaried employee’s scheduled hours to his or her attendance.

Below are instructions for all of these options.

Option 1. Salaried Employees Clock In: Track Pay Rate Hourly: Go to Employees List

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Go to the list of employees by first navigating to the orange Employees tab, then clicking on the gray Employees link.

Option 1. Salaried Employees Clock In: Track Pay Rate Hourly: Select Employee

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Click on Edit next to the salaried employee for whom you wish to track their pay as hourly.

Option 1. Salaried Employees Clock In: Track Pay Rate Hourly: View Employee information

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You should be on the Employee tab of the Employee Information page.

Option 1. Salaried Employees Clock In: Track Pay Rate Hourly

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Scroll down to the Employee Positions section. The position(s) that the employee works should be checked and his or her pay rate should be set as “annually”. An Hourly Rate will automatically be calculated. Enter the calculated Hourly Rate into the Fixed Rate box. Now, scheduled shifts will always be calculated by the hourly rate input, helping you to better understand and more accurately analyze your labor percentages and attendance. Remember to click Save (at the bottom of the page) when you are finished!

Option 2. Salaried Employees DON’T Clock In, DON’T Track Costs: Set Fixed Rate to $0: Follow the Same Steps as Option 1, but Set Fixed Rate to $0

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If your salaried employees do not clock in and out when they start or end a shift, and you don’t care to track their costs, you can simply set their Fixed Rate to $0.00. Follow the same steps as Option 1, but simply enter 0 into the Fixed Rate box. Remember to click Save (at the bottom of the page) when you are finished!

Option 3. Employees DON’T Clock In: Automatically Copy Scheduled Attendance as Actual Attendance: Go to

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It’s easy to automatically copy an employee’s scheduled hours to his or her attendance hours. Simply navigate to the Employee tab of the Employee Information page (follow the first two steps in Option 1) and check the “Auto-copy schedule for staff member?” box by clicking on it. Now, your salaried employee’s attendance will be automatically filled in so that you can more accurately track your labor percentages. Remember to click Save when you are finished!

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How do I Copy a Previous Week’s Projections?

Manager projections help you prepare for the upcoming week or month. By forecasting your sales and comparing these “theoretical sales” to your actual sales, you can more accurately predict your labor needs and prepare accordingly. You may want to copy a previous week’s projections if there are no significant changes to your sales projections from week to week, or if last month’s projections for a particular week also apply to the current month.

Go to Manager Projections

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Navigate to the orange Sales tab and click on Manager Projections.

Pick a Week to Enter Projections

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On the Manager Projections page, choose the sales type, the department, and the date for which you would like to make a projection. This is the week you are copying to. Then click the orange Copy Last Week’s Manager Projections button.

Select a Previous Week to Copy

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Select the projection type and the week from which you are copying, then click on the Copy Week button.

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How do I copy multiple shifts?

You may want to copy multiple shifts if you are creating a schedule that will be similar to a previously created schedule. For example, if you made a schedule a couple of weeks ago, and the schedule you are currently building will contain many of the same shifts, you can simply copy those shifts over to save time.

Go to Schedules

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Navigate to the Schedules tab and click on Schedules.

Select a Schedule

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Click on the title of the schedule you would like to view.

Click on Daily View

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At the top of the Schedules page, click on the Daily View link.

Select Shifts to Copy

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To copy multiple shifts, check the boxes next to the shifts you want to copy by clicking on the box. When you have selected all the shifts you want to copy, click on the Copy selected shifts link.

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How do I copy a shift?

If the schedule you are creating will contain a shift identical to another shift, you may want to copy that shift. Copying a shift can save you time, since it is quicker than building an identical shift from scratch. You can also copy a shift that is similar to the shift you want, then edit it.

Go to Schedules list

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Navigate to the Schedules tab and click on Schedules.

Select a Schedule

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Click on the title of the schedule you would like to view (the schedule containing the shift you want to copy from).

Daily View

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At the top of the schedules page, click on the Daily View link.

Select a Shift to copy

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Click on the white “Copy” icon to copy the shift.

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How Do I Enforce The Labor-To-Sales Ratio?

Your labor to sales ratio provides you with a benchmark for how much profit your business is making. TimeForge can track your labor to sales ratio for convenient analysis. According to your settings and preferences, TimeForge can also TimeForge can alert you when your schedule costs exceed your schedule threshold (when a schedule is costing you more than you predicted).

Go to Sales list

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Navigate to the Sales tab and click on Sales Options.

Sales Options

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On the Sales Options page, view the question that says “Do you want to enforce the Sales Category ratios on the schedule?”
Click on the drop down menu to select Yes.
Remember to click the Save button!

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