A common question that we are asked is if AccountLinx is able to export time data to two different company files in cases where a company needs to track two sets of employees within one ExakTime account. This will primarily depend on certain key factors to see if we can accommodate this need:
Mapping Entities
If there is any overlapping data, then we may be unable to export your data easily. It may be possible depending on the below factors.
No Overlapping Entities
The ideal situation is for the mapping data for your entities to match between your company files. This may be rare as some accounting/payroll applications will automatically generate entity IDs and do not offer the capability to manually change them.
Another ideal situation is for you and your employees to have separate sets of entities they can clock in to. For example, employees for Company File A only clock in to one set of locations and/or cost codes, while employees for Company File B only clock in to their own set of locations and/or cost codes. Options such as Groups or Location Viewsets can help your employees when making their selections when clocking in while Categories can help separate employees based on their category to more easily select them.
Overlapping Entities
Currently, in AccountLinx, entities can only have one set of mapping data. In the event that an entity requires two different sets of mapping data for two company files. then we will be unable to easily export the data.
For example, you are trying to export Employee A's time data for Company File A and Company File B. Employee A's employee ID is 000450 for Company A and 000513 for Company B. As we can only have one set of mapping data for the employee at a time, you would need to either remap the data before every export for the appropriate company file or have a duplicate set of entities for the respective company to have their own unique mapping.
If you were to remap the data, you would need to be mindful to do it before every export to prevent any potential export issues.
If you were to have a duplicate set of entities, your employees will need to be mindful of selecting the correct entities when clocking in/out. There are some options to help this such as with Categories, Groups or Location Viewsets. It is highly discouraged to have duplicate employees to ensure that all time data is associated with a single employee.
What is Your Accounting/Payroll Application?
Many of our AccountLinx exporters allow you to remap your entities so you can export your time data for the appropriate company file. Some accounting packages such as Sage 50 Simply Accounting API however, use unique hidden data for each entity that will be unique to the company file. This prevents remapping an entity before exporting your time data.