Shared file problem in Timesheet workbook

Stephen F Smith · May 22nd, 2002, 10:58 AM

I am having a nagging problem with a VERY complicated excel timesheet system that I created for charting billable time in a service industry. I have a shared Excel workbook for 25 employees who report their time to individual timesheets (set up as worksheets in the workbook). The shared file is located on a network drive. The billable and unbillable hours are collated at a summary page in the Timesheet workbook that reports to a Yearly Summary workbook. The Yearly Summary workbook, located on a secure drive, generates reports for the company owner.

Here is my problem - within the last year, data that has been entered and saved (sometimes several days of information) has begun disappearing from some or all of the employee timesheets. It seems random and I cannot isolate a particular individual that is causing the problem. Also, copies of the timseheet workbook have begun appearing in most of the users' personal folders on their hard drives.

We use a mix of Office 2000 (20 licenses) and Office XP (5 licenses) on a Windows NT4 network. Our operating systems are also mixed between Windows NT4 (19 licenses) and Windows 2000 (6 licenses). Thanks in advance.

Asala42 · May 22nd, 2002, 11:35 AM

Hey,

I can't be sure but it sounds like some of your employees might be trying to access the files at the same time, opening the file as read only, entering their times, saving to their C: drive, then later overwriting the file (thus losing any new info).

-I could certainly be wrong however. Some employees might be just saving the file to their PC's to copy/paste their data into the real file later.

I guess one solution (other than telling the employees to never overwrite the file) is to give each employee their own timesheet file on the server. The idea there would be the server would have a large number of links to these files and summarize them there (this master file could be protected or hidden on another location of the server- reducing the chances of it being overwritten). The main drawback of course would be a redesign of an already complex file and the creation of 1 timesheet file per employee - although creating a template file can take some of the sting out of that issue.

Hope that helps,
Adam

Stephen F Smith · May 22nd, 2002, 11:57 AM

Thanks for the reply. My users aren't saving to their workstations directly. I have set up a "save" button at the front page of the multiple timesheet workbook that (supposedly) everyone uses to save to the server. Your "read-only" comment does hit home though.
What if - - - they open the workbook read-only, do their work and hit the save button. Maybe they are saving to their profiles inadvertantly using this method?

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May 22nd, 2002, 10:58 AM	#1
Stephen F Smith New Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Steve in Albuquerque Posts: 2	I am having a nagging problem with a VERY complicated excel timesheet system that I created for charting billable time in a service industry. I have a shared Excel workbook for 25 employees who report their time to individual timesheets (set up as worksheets in the workbook). The shared file is located on a network drive. The billable and unbillable hours are collated at a summary page in the Timesheet workbook that reports to a Yearly Summary workbook. The Yearly Summary workbook, located on a secure drive, generates reports for the company owner. Here is my problem - within the last year, data that has been entered and saved (sometimes several days of information) has begun disappearing from some or all of the employee timesheets. It seems random and I cannot isolate a particular individual that is causing the problem. Also, copies of the timseheet workbook have begun appearing in most of the users' personal folders on their hard drives. We use a mix of Office 2000 (20 licenses) and Office XP (5 licenses) on a Windows NT4 network. Our operating systems are also mixed between Windows NT4 (19 licenses) and Windows 2000 (6 licenses). Thanks in advance.

May 22nd, 2002, 11:35 AM	#2
Asala42 Board Regular Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Southfield,MI USA Posts: 1,027	Hey, I can't be sure but it sounds like some of your employees might be trying to access the files at the same time, opening the file as read only, entering their times, saving to their C: drive, then later overwriting the file (thus losing any new info). -I could certainly be wrong however. Some employees might be just saving the file to their PC's to copy/paste their data into the real file later. I guess one solution (other than telling the employees to never overwrite the file) is to give each employee their own timesheet file on the server. The idea there would be the server would have a large number of links to these files and summarize them there (this master file could be protected or hidden on another location of the server- reducing the chances of it being overwritten). The main drawback of course would be a redesign of an already complex file and the creation of 1 timesheet file per employee - although creating a template file can take some of the sting out of that issue. Hope that helps, Adam

May 22nd, 2002, 11:57 AM	#3
Stephen F Smith New Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Steve in Albuquerque Posts: 2	Thanks for the reply. My users aren't saving to their workstations directly. I have set up a "save" button at the front page of the multiple timesheet workbook that (supposedly) everyone uses to save to the server. Your "read-only" comment does hit home though. What if - - - they open the workbook read-only, do their work and hit the save button. Maybe they are saving to their profiles inadvertantly using this method?