Critical Pay & Bill Data on the Placement Record

The Placement record is the foundation of pay and bill processing in Bullhorn One. Incomplete or inaccurate data on a Placement record can result in errors throughout the pay and bill workflow, including failed syncs to Bullhorn Time & Expense (BTE), invoicing failures, and payroll export issues. This article identifies the most important fields on the Placement record and provides best practices for keeping that data accurate and complete.

Important Fields & Tabs

The fields and tabs below have a direct impact on how time is processed, how employees are paid, and how clients are billed.

Field / Tab Definition & Purpose

Status

The Placement Status indicates whether the placement is active. A Placement must be in "Approved" status to flow to BTE. An incorrect status can prevent an employee from submitting time or cause a placement to continue generating timesheets after an assignment has ended.

Start and End Dates

The Start Date and End Date define the active window of the placement. These dates control when timesheets become available for the employee and determine the range during which hours can be entered and approved. The End Date should reflect the last day the candidate is working under that placement agreement.

Employee Type

Indicates if the employee is W2 or 1099. The Employee Type is a common column filtered on the Payable Charges list

Billing Profile

The Billing Profile links the placement to the correct invoice terms, billing contact, and invoice email settings. Without a Billing Profile, billable charges cannot be invoiced. If BTE attempts to sync time on a placement that is missing a Billing Profile, an error will appear in the Issues Log. See Billing Profiles for more information.

Timesheet Cycle

This field is critical for any customer interpreting time using the Time & Labor Engine. The value set in this field also sets the value of the Work Week Start field that BTE uses.

Time and Expense Section

The following fields in the Time and Expense Section on the Overview tab are important to fill out correctly when a Placement is created:

  • Time & Expense Branch: This field must be populated. This dictates where the Placement/Assignment will land in BTE. If the placement is created in the wrong branch and the worker enters their time in the wrong branch, it is difficult to fix that data after the fact.

  • Time & Expense Source: This field indicates what the time collection method will be (Rapid Time Entry and Transaction Uploader would be classified as Web).

  • In Out Indicator: How the employee will log their time.

  • Approval Method: How the employee time will be approved.

  • Expense Indicator: This needs to be set to "Yes" if the employee will be submitting expenses.

  • Rounding: There are different options, but usually defaults to actual.

Rate Cards Tab

In BH1, pay and bill rates are stored on the Placement Rate Card rather than directly on the Placement record. Each Rate Card must include at least one rate line with a valid Earn Code, Pay Rate, and Bill Rate. The effective date on the Rate Card determines when those rates are applied. If the Rate Card is missing or has no valid version for the placement's Start Date, pay and bill processing will not function correctly. See Placement Rate Cards for more information.

Earn Codes on the Rate Card identify the type of compensation being applied (for example, Regular, Overtime, or Double Time). Each Earn Code can only be used once per Rate Card version. If an Earn Code on the Rate Card does not match the corresponding Adjustment Code configured in BTE, time will fail to process. See Earn Codes for more information.

Best Practices

Keeping Placement records accurate from the start reduces downstream errors and saves time during payroll and billing cycles. The following practices help ensure records are set up correctly.

  • Add the Rate Card at the time of placement creation: The Rate Card must have an effective date on or before the placement Start Date. Adding it after time has already been submitted can cause retroactive processing issues.

  • Add a new Rate Card version when rates change: Do not edit the current Rate Card version to reflect a rate change. Instead, add a new version with the new effective date. This preserves rate history and ensures that Analytics and reporting tools can accurately reflect pay and bill rates over time.

  • Verify Earn Codes match between BH1 and BTE: The Earn Codes configured on the Rate Card must align with the Adjustment Codes set up in BTE. Mismatched codes are a common cause of billing sync failures.

  • Confirm the Work State before the placement goes active: Work State drives tax jurisdiction and geolocation in payroll systems. If an employee is working remotely or in a state different from the client's location, confirm the correct Work State is entered on the placement rather than defaulting to the client's state.

  • End placements when assignments conclude: Update the Placement Status and End Date promptly when an assignment ends. Open-ended placements can continue to generate timesheets in BTE, creating unnecessary processing overhead and potential payroll errors.

  • Review the Issues Log regularly: Pay and bill errors surface in the Issues Log. Checking it on a regular basis allows your team to catch and resolve configuration problems before they affect payroll or invoicing deadlines.