How to Create an Operator Docket | Latner Software Documentation

An operator docket records a day of wet hire: which machine worked, who operated it, and for how long, so the hours flow straight through to the customer's invoice instead of being chased up on paper.

Overview

Wet hire is the one case where the rental rate alone can't tell Latner what to charge. The machine is on hire with an operator, the day is billed by the hour, and someone has to say how many hours were actually worked. That's the operator docket.

A docket belongs to one rental contract line, for one operator, on one date.
Only lines priced with Operator Pricing can have dockets, and Latner will not let you raise two dockets for the same operator, line and date.
The hours themselves live on timesheets attached to the docket. A docket with no timesheets cannot be completed.
Dockets move through Open, Pending Approval, Approved and Invoiced, and can be cancelled or reopened along the way.
Only Approved dockets are picked up by invoicing. Each timesheet becomes its own invoice line.

Before You Begin

Operator dockets need an operator-priced contract line and the right permissions.

Requirement	Where to Find It
A rental contract line using Operator Pricing	Rental › Rental Contracts › Options › Add Details, then choose Operator Pricing under Pricing Method
Operator Dockets permission (to see the screen)	Security › Configuration › Permission Groups › Rental › Screen
Create Operator Dockets permission	Security › Configuration › Permission Groups › Rental › Options
Create Timesheet permission (to record hours)	Security › Configuration › Permission Groups › Service › Options
Complete Operator Dockets and Approve Operator Dockets permissions	Security › Configuration › Permission Groups › Rental › Options

The Add Details form with Operator Pricing selected. The Hourly Rate set here is what each timesheet on the docket defaults to

The pricing method is what makes the docket possible, not the line's status. If Create Operator Docket is missing, the line you selected isn't priced with Operator Pricing - change the line's pricing method rather than looking for a setting.

Creating the Operator Docket

Step 1 - Open the rental contract and select the operator line

Go to Rental › Rental Contracts, open the contract, and on the Details tab tick the equipment line that is on operator pricing. The toolbar above the table changes as soon as a row is selected, and Create Operator Docket appears among the icons. Only one line can be selected at a time.

The contract's Details tab. The Create Operator Docket icon only appears in the selection toolbar once an operator-priced line is ticked

Step 2 - Open Create Operator Docket

Click the Create Operator Docket icon. Because you started from a contract line, Latner already knows which line the docket is for and only asks for the rest.

Date - the day being worked. Defaults to today, and a docket always covers a single date.
Operator - one of your skilled people.
External Operator - a supplier, when the operator is not yours.

Create Operator Docket opened from a contract line. The line is already known, so only the date and the operator are asked for

Step 3 - Choose the operator

Fill in either Operator or External Operator, not both. Choosing one clears the other, and Latner rejects a docket that has neither or has both.

On a sub hire line where the supplier is providing the operator, External Operator is filled in with that supplier automatically and both fields are locked - the operator on the job is the sub hire supplier's, and there is nothing to choose.

The completed form. Choosing an internal operator clears External Operator, and choosing a supplier clears Operator

You can also start from Rental › Operator Dockets › Options › Create Operator Docket. It's the same form with one extra field: you pick the Rental Contract Line yourself. The search only offers equipment and sub hire equipment lines that are on operator pricing, so a line that isn't eligible simply won't appear.

Creating a docket from the Operator Dockets screen, where the rental contract line is chosen by hand

Step 4 - Save

Click Save. The docket is numbered automatically and opens on status Open, carrying the contract, equipment class, model, equipment number and customer details across from the line. Nothing has been charged yet.

The new docket. Equipment and customer details are read from the contract line and cannot be edited here

Step 5 - Add the hours worked

Choose Options › Create Timesheet and record the day's work. The Retail Rate defaults to the hourly rate on the contract line, and the Start Date defaults to the docket's date.

Rate Type - Normal Time or Overtime Rate. Call outs don't apply to operator dockets and aren't offered.
Retail Rate - what the customer pays per hour. Override it if the day was charged differently.
Cost - only shown for an external operator, and defaults to the sub hire rate.
Hours and Minutes (or Start Time and Finish Time, depending on your timesheet input setting), plus any Breaks, which are deducted from the total.

Add as many timesheets as the day needs - a normal-time block and an overtime block, for instance, are two timesheets on the same docket.

Add Timesheet. Total Hours is calculated from the hours entered less any breaks

The Timesheets tab. Each timesheet here becomes its own line on the customer's invoice

Step 6 - Complete the docket

Once the hours are in, choose Options › Complete Docket. The status moves to Pending Approval and the docket's date and operator can no longer be changed. A docket with no timesheets can't be completed.

Pending Approval. The docket is now waiting on someone with approval rights

Step 7 - Approve the docket

Choose Options › Approve Docket. Latner stamps Approved By and Approved Date, and generates the docket PDF using your system's operator docket PDF template. Approval is the step that makes the hours billable, so nothing reaches an invoice until it happens.

Approved. The docket is now eligible for invoicing and its timesheets are locked

After Approval

The docket appears on the contract's Operator tab and on Rental › Operator Dockets, where quick filters for Today, Yesterday, Open, Pending Approval and Approved make the day's chasing easy.
The next invoice run on the contract picks up every approved docket dated on or before the billing date, and writes one invoice line per timesheet: the hours as the quantity and the timesheet's retail rate as the unit price.
Once that invoice is posted, the docket moves to Invoiced. Cancelling the invoice puts it back to Approved.
Timesheets can't be added, edited or deleted once the docket is approved or invoiced.
Options › Generate PDF is available from Pending Approval onwards, and every PDF you generate is kept on the PDF History tab.

An invoiced docket can't be cancelled or reopened. If the hours were wrong, cancel or credit the invoice first - that returns the docket to Approved - then reopen it and correct the timesheets.

FAQs

Create Operator Docket isn't in the toolbar on my rental contract. Why?

The action is hidden unless the line you've ticked is priced with Operator Pricing, and it's disabled if you've ticked more than one line or don't hold the Create Operator Dockets permission. Check the line's pricing method first - it's the usual cause.

Can I raise two dockets for the same operator on the same day?

Not on the same rental contract line. Latner allows one docket per operator, per line, per date, and will tell you so if you try. If the same operator worked two different machines that day, that's two lines and two dockets. If they worked normal time and overtime on the one machine, that's one docket with two timesheets.

Do I fill in Operator or External Operator?

Exactly one of them. Operator is one of your own skilled people; External Operator is a supplier providing the operator. Filling one clears the other. On a sub hire line whose supplier is priced for the operator, External Operator is set for you and both fields are locked.

I approved a docket by mistake. Can I undo it?

Yes, as long as it hasn't been invoiced. Options › Reopen Docket puts it back to Open and clears the approval details, so you can fix the timesheets and complete it again.

How do I cancel a docket that was raised in error?

Options › Cancel Docket, while the docket is still Open. Cancellation notes are required, and they're kept on the docket under Cancellation Details. If the docket has already been completed, reopen it first. An invoiced docket can't be cancelled at all.

The docket is approved but the hours aren't on the invoice. Why?

Invoicing only picks up dockets dated on or before the date being billed to, so a docket dated after the billing period waits for the next run. Advance and pro forma invoices, and quotes, never include operator docket hours - wet hire is billed in arrears from the dockets themselves.

Can operators raise their own dockets in the field?

Yes. Operator Jobs on the mobile menu lists the contracts with operator work, and an operator can create their own docket for the day, complete the pre-start checklist and add their timesheet from their phone. On mobile the checklist has to be completed before timesheets can be added, and the operator is set to the signed-in user.

Generate PDF is greyed out. Why?

A docket PDF can only be generated once the docket has been completed, so it stays unavailable while the docket is Open. If it's still failing on a completed docket, the operator docket PDF template hasn't been configured for your system - raise it with Latner support, as it isn't something you set from the Settings screen.