I was thinking of putting together a database, probably in MS Access for keeping a track of the duties and hours that I do.
Do you have suggestions of what fields to use. As I’m starting out on agency work I’d include such things as agency, company, vehicle reg, date, start time, end time, breaks taken, total driving time, total shift time & noties
I’ve got software on my PDA that once I’ve written it I can synchronise it on my pda phone (HTC Tytn)
Any other suggestions for fields? 
P-O-A and total working timewould be a good ones to add.
contact mick3911 hes already done one sure he wouldent mind sending it to you
I don’t know if access can do calculations, for adding your times or working out spread hours, a spreadsheet such as Exel would. Depends on what you want to record. You can still do searches for events, words etc.
I doubt I would do anything with calculations, just log recording.
Pity I’ve not found any software to download my digicard either… 
Thanks for the suggestions though
The software is available but getting hold of the card reader is expensive from what I have seen
Saratoga:
I doubt I would do anything with calculations, just log recording.)
How about a notebook and pen. Simples
Ian58:
Saratoga:
I doubt I would do anything with calculations, just log recording.)How about a notebook and pen. Simples
Yeah, I may still end up with that option. What I did last time was work out the fields and make up a spreadsheet as such and fill it in by hand…
I was only trying to be half funny, not having a dig
I started to do the same as you when I was doing agency work but found I was doing things twice just to fill in a spreadsheet for no real reason.
Ian58:
I was only trying to be half funny, not having a digI started to do the same as you when I was doing agency work but found I was doing things twice just to fill in a spreadsheet for no real reason.
Well yes, I don’t want to make work for myself
When I worked on the agency I spent hours trying to make a spreadsheet that would calculate my hours. The idea was that all I would have to do was enter the start and finish times on each day and it would print out a nice weekly timesheet that I could send in to the agency.
Working with times on a spreadsheet is not that easy to begin with; they are all reduced to a number which includes the date, hour, minute and second with No 1 being in 1900. I managed to sus that out, but what I could never get right was where a shift started on one day and finished on the next. I gave up in the end.
Just to give you the idea:
“The integer portion of the number, ddddd, represents the number of days since 1900-Jan-0. For example, the date 19-Jan-2000 is stored as 36,544, since 36,544 days have passed since 1900-Jan-0. The integer portion of the number, tttttt, represents the fractional portion of a 24 hour day. For example, 6:00 AM is stored as 0.25, or 25% of a 24 hour day. Similarly, 6PM is stored at 0.75, or 75% percent of a 24 hour day.”
Yeah, spreadsheets and databases are a tad complicated. Even more complicated is using a database and then linking in calculus functions with relational entries…
After a while it gets even more complicated. Just so much easier to print it out and keep it that way
why?
when i was on agency i scanned one of their time sheets that i’d signed, then just filled it in on me lappy and emailed it off at the end of the week, i didn’t live anywhere near the office so it suited me and i always had a copy.
whenever i worked somewhere new i’d fill in their details then save it as a template to save a bit more time as well.
i had to click on each box and fill it with blank texts spaces to make the original as is it was an image, if that makes sense, that could probably be bypassed with a bit more nouse or if the agency has time sheet to download on the website.
stevie
Saratoga I’ve made up a database I’ve been using for about 6 years, you’re welcome to a copy if you want it, it doesn’t at the moment calculate the weekly or fortnightly driving time (I’ll work on that when I get round to it 
) but you can enter the work details on a daily basis and call up a report of the weeks/months/years/whatever work details complete with weekly worked hours and have it automatically put into an addressed email as a PDF attachment.
Having said that I don’t bother sending reports to my agency now, the last time I did I sent it to both the agency Muppet i deal with and my wages was still wrong 
When I queried it they asked me to send them my hours for that week so they could check them
I’ve modified this database in access 2010 and I’m not sure if it will work properly in an earlier version but if you let me know which version of Access you have I can probably check it to see that everything works in your version.
Actually over the past few years I’ve modified it in just about every version there’s been so there are one or two little bugs I need to iron out, again when I get round to it
It’s something I keep going back to and changing and adding things when I feel so inclined so some may see it as being a little over the top
Give me a few days to clear the data and modify one or two things such as making it easier to change the email address it sends reports to and I’ll post a copy for you if you want it, let me know.
The thing about a database is that it can be very quick to enter the days work record if it’s set up right, it’s much quicker than a spreadsheet also the data is easily searchable.
For instance I’ve set up some preferences so when I work for the same agency or client regularly they can be set to be the default when you start a new record, the same applies to start/finish times ec’t, the use of input masks for dates and times makes inputting information very quick, today’s date for instance is simply input as 240411 the result will show the date as 24/04/2011 when the field is tabbed out of.
By the way for the person who doesn’t know if Access can do calculations …it can
In fact I’d say Access is more powerful than Excel because you can do calculations on forms and reports but you’ve also got powerful queries to manipulate the data, and reports to organise the data in any way you want.
Here’s some images of the database I use.
Work Record
Search
Report
That looks good Tacho, I do like Destination box 8. The [ZB] spreads. 
Coffeeholic:
That looks good Tacho, I do like Destination box 8. The [ZB] spreads.
Cheers
On reflection destination 8 should have been in Destination 4/5 in my opinion
Santa:
Working with times on a spreadsheet is not that easy to begin with; they are all reduced to a number which includes the date, hour, minute and second with No 1 being in 1900. I managed to sus that out, but what I could never get right was where a shift started on one day and finished on the next. I gave up in the end.
Try this:-
20/04/2011 Wed 12:00 01:30 13:30
Five columns Date, Day, Start Time, Finish Time, Hours worked
Formula for Hours worked (column E1), 13:30 is:- =D1-C1+IF(D1<C1,1)
where C1 is start time 12:00 and D1 is finish time 01:30 the next day
It seems to work for me.
Smart Mart:
Try this:-20/04/2011 Wed 12:00 01:30 13:30
Five columns Date, Day, Start Time, Finish Time, Hours worked
Formula for Hours worked (column E1), 13:30 is:- =D1-C1+IF(D1<C1,1)
where C1 is start time 12:00 and D1 is finish time 01:30 the next day
It seems to work for me.
i get an Err:508 when i use this formula
