How-toDeltek CostpointTimekeeping / Timesheets

How to Enter Time in Deltek Costpoint (Timesheet Steps and Corrections)

Question
how to enter time in deltek costpoint

Also searched as

  • how to use deltek costpoint timesheet
  • costpoint timesheet entry steps
  • costpoint charge code timesheet
  • how to correct a costpoint timesheet

Short answer

In Costpoint you enter time on a timesheet for the open period: add a line for each charge (project, organization, account and labor category as your setup requires), enter hours per day, save, then sign or submit for approval. Posted time is not edited in place: you correct it with a correction timesheet that reverses and restates the hours.

Applies to: Deltek Costpoint 7.x, 8.x and cloud releases. Menu names and timesheet layouts differ by release, by role and by whether your company uses Costpoint Timesheet or the separate Deltek Time & Expense.

How to enter a timesheet in Costpoint

  1. 1Sign in and open your timesheet from the Timesheet entry in the menu (or from your favorites). If your company uses Deltek Time & Expense, enter time there instead, since it feeds Costpoint after approval.
  2. 2Select the timesheet period. Costpoint shows the periods defined by your timesheet schedule; you can only enter time in an open period for your employee record.
  3. 3Add a line for each thing you worked on. Pick the charge code your company gave you: usually a project, plus organization, account and labor category (PLC) where those are not defaulted.
  4. 4Choose the pay type if prompted, such as regular, overtime or leave, and the work location or other fields your setup requires.
  5. 5Type hours in the column for each day. Daily totals must meet your company's rules, and leave or holiday hours are entered on the leave charge lines.
  6. 6Save the timesheet. Fix any validation messages, which usually mean an invalid, closed or unauthorized charge code for that date.
  7. 7Sign the timesheet (accept the certification) and submit it for approval if workflow is on. Your supervisor reviews and approves, and the timesheet becomes available for posting.
  8. 8If a period is already posted and a mistake is found, create a correction timesheet for that period instead of editing the original.

Charge codes and why entry fails

Costpoint validates each line against what the employee is allowed to charge. A project can be valid but closed to charging, the employee may not be assigned to it, the labor category may not be allowed on the project, or the date may fall outside the project's start and end dates. The result is a message on save rather than a silently accepted line.

When a code you need is missing, the fix is on the setup side: project charging controls, employee labor information or the project's allowed labor categories. If you hit that exact situation, see the page on employees who cannot charge a project on their timesheet.

Keep indirect lines (overhead, administration, bid and proposal, leave) separate from direct project lines. Government contractors rely on this split for indirect rate pools and for incurred cost work, so do not park uncertain hours on a convenient project.

Sign, submit and approve

The signature is a compliance step as well as a workflow step. Many contractors need a daily or at least period-end certification of hours that auditors can trace to the employee. Entering time in advance of work, or entering it all at the period end from memory, is a common audit finding.

After submission the timesheet is approved by the supervisor or project manager route you configured. Rejected timesheets go back to the employee with a comment; edit the lines, save and resubmit. Approved timesheets are then picked up when labor is posted, which pushes cost to project and general ledger accounts.

Correcting time that is already posted

Costpoint is built to keep an audit trail, so posted labor is not overwritten. A correction creates new timesheet lines that reverse the original charge and record the right one, both visible in history. Open the original timesheet for the period, use the correction function offered for it, and enter the changed lines with a reason.

Corrections go through the same approval path as normal timesheets and are posted in a later cycle, so cost can move between projects in a different period than the original. Tell project managers when a correction touches a billed period, since it can affect invoicing and indirect rates.

Timesheet data is stored in header and line tables (commonly TS_HDR and TS_LN and related line tables). Query them read-only if you need to audit who changed what, and check table definitions for your release first.

-- Read-only audit idea, confirm table and column names for your release
SELECT h.EMPL_ID, h.TS_DT, l.PROJ_ID, l.PAY_TYPE
FROM TS_HDR h
JOIN TS_LN l ON l.EMPL_ID = h.EMPL_ID AND l.TS_DT = h.TS_DT
WHERE h.EMPL_ID = 'E1234'
ORDER BY h.TS_DT;

Tips for faster entry

Use the copy-from-previous-timesheet or default lines function if your release offers it, so recurring charge lines are not retyped. Pin the timesheet screen in your Favorites so it opens in one click.

If you work on a mobile device, check whether your company has enabled the Costpoint mobile or Deltek Time & Expense apps. They use the same validation rules, but the layout is simpler and may not show every field.

Try it here, free

Deltek Costpoint Private AI Layer Blueprint Generator

Open full tool

Generate an architecture plan for a private AI assistant on on-prem Deltek Costpoint: SQL replica, web services and import interfaces, organization and project permissions, local GPU model and audit.

Common pitfalls

  • !Entering time against a project that is valid but closed to charging or outside its date range, then assuming the system is broken.
  • !Editing posted time by asking an admin to change the database instead of using a correction timesheet, which breaks the audit trail.
  • !Saving but not signing or submitting, so the timesheet never reaches the approver and labor is not posted.
  • !Mixing indirect and direct hours on one convenient project code, which distorts indirect rates.
  • !Entering time at the period end from memory, a typical DCAA-style audit finding for government contractors.

How an ERP-grounded AI assistant handles this

An assistant grounded in your Costpoint data (ERPray, read-only and on your own infrastructure) can answer why a charge line was rejected by checking the project's dates, status and the employee's assignment, and can list timesheets still unsigned before period close. It points the user to the right screen rather than writing changes into labor tables.

See ERPray

Frequently asked questions

Why can't I charge to my project in Costpoint?

The project may be closed to charging, outside its start and end dates, not assigned to you, or missing your labor category. The validation message on save usually names the cause. A Costpoint administrator or project accountant fixes it in project and employee setup.

Can I edit a Costpoint timesheet after it is posted?

Not directly. Posted time is corrected with a correction timesheet that reverses the original hours and records the right ones, going through approval again. This keeps the audit trail that government contractors and auditors expect.

Where do I find my timesheet in Costpoint?

Open the Timesheet entry in the Costpoint menu or search for it by name. Exact paths vary by release and role. Add it to Favorites so you reach it in one click each period.

Is Deltek Time and Expense the same as Costpoint timesheets?

No. Costpoint has its own timekeeping screens, while Deltek Time and Expense is a separate product that captures time and expenses and feeds Costpoint after approval. Ask your administrator which one your company uses.

Related

Error fix

Costpoint Timesheet: Employee Cannot Charge to a Project

When Costpoint rejects a charge line on a timesheet, one of a short list of validations has failed: the project or task is not open for charging, the account or organization on the line is not valid for that project, the employee is not set up to charge it, or the timesheet date falls outside an open period. Work through those checks in order and the cause is almost always found in minutes.

How-to

How to Edit Favorites, Change Your Password and Delete Lines in Deltek Costpoint

In Costpoint you manage favorites from the navigation pane (add a screen to Favorites, then reorder or remove it there), change your password from the login screen or your user options when Costpoint itself authenticates you, and delete lines by selecting the row in the grid, using the delete-record or delete-line toolbar action, and saving. Exact labels shift slightly between Costpoint 7 and 8, and passwords are managed in your identity provider when SSO is on.

How-to

How to Run a Report in Deltek Costpoint (Project Status, Expense, SOC)

In Costpoint you run a report from the module's reports or report-type screen: open it, enter the parameters such as project, period and organisation, then preview or submit it to the process queue and open the output when it finishes. Project status and expense reports follow the same pattern. A SOC report is different: it is Deltek's independent assurance report, not something you run inside Costpoint.

How-to

How to Set Up Indirect Rate Pools in Deltek Costpoint

Indirect rate pools in Costpoint group related indirect costs, such as fringe, overhead, G&A, or material handling, so they can be allocated to direct cost bases using a defined rate. Pools and their bases are configured under the Indirect Rate Structure area, with pool tiers sequenced so that lower-level pools like fringe allocate into higher-level pools like overhead before G&A is calculated.

Error fix

Deltek Costpoint Not Working: Outage, Login and Mobile App Troubleshooting

First decide if it is an outage or a local problem: check Deltek's cloud status page if you are hosted by Deltek, or your own servers if on-premises, then test another user and another browser. Most Costpoint issues are login or session problems, browser or network changes, or a mobile app pointed at the wrong server. The mobile app pairs with a QR code or server URL generated by your administrator.

How-to

What Is the Latest Version of Deltek Costpoint?

Costpoint 8.x is the current generation of the web product, delivered as a series of releases such as 8.0 and 8.1 with regular updates, and Deltek publishes the authoritative current number on its support portal. The core bundle is the base licensed set of modules, and content management integration is usually done through document links or connectors to a separate repository such as SharePoint.

AI for ERP

AI for Deltek Costpoint Timekeeping and Labor: Timesheet Exceptions and Labor Questions

Private AI on Deltek Costpoint timekeeping and labor: spot late, missing or unusual timesheet entries and answer labor questions without leaving your network.

AI for ERP

AI for Deltek Costpoint in government contract accounting

AI on Deltek Costpoint for timesheets, indirect rates, and incurred cost, grounded on real data and deployed on-prem to keep DCAA-relevant data in house.

Stuck on Deltek Costpoint?

Talk to engineers who work inside Deltek Costpoint every week, and who build private AI that answers these questions from your own ERP data.

Talk to an ERP engineerBrowse ERP Help
All ERP Help articles

Keep exploring

Free tools

ERP fixes and how-tos

AI on your ERP

Integrations

Software