> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.agencydesk.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.agencydesk.io/admin/reports/work-distribution.md). # Work Distribution Review Task estimates, tracked work and overruns by Department, Client, Category, Account Executive and due month. Compare Hours, charge-out Value and labour Cost, and print each section. The **Work Distribution** report shows how Task estimates, tracked work, and overruns are distributed across your agency’s open Jobs. Read the same work by Department, Client, Job Category, Account Executive, or due month, in **Hours**, **Value**, or **Cost**, depending on your access. Because Agencydesk was built exclusively for agencies, the report draws from the [Job Costing](/jobs/job-costing.md) and time your team already records. It helps you see where work is concentrated, where estimates are being exceeded, and what that work is worth or costs in labour. ## Open the report and choose a mode {% stepper %} {% step %} ### Open Work Distribution Select **Reports** in the left-hand navigation, then the **Work Distribution** tab. **Hours** is the starting view. {% endstep %} {% step %} ### Choose the units Use the **Hours / Value / Cost** buttons above the colour key. The available buttons depend on your access and the report data. Money modes show the account currency beside Refresh. {% endstep %} {% step %} ### Choose a section to review Start with **By Department**, **By Client**, **By Category**, **By Account Executive**, or the due-month chart. Click a bar to inspect the Jobs contributing to it. {% endstep %} {% endstepper %} | Mode | What it measures | Who can see it | | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | | **Hours** | Task estimates and tracked time, with remaining estimate and overrun shown separately. | Manager access or higher. | | **Value** | Task hours valued at the Job’s charge-out rates, in the account currency. | Finance access or higher, including the Owner. | | **Cost** | Estimated and tracked labour cost to company, including disclosed assumptions where needed. | Super User or the Owner. | These views answer different questions. **Hours** shows the time budget and its use. **Value** shows charge-out value. **Cost** shows labour cost. Non-Billable Value is still valued at charge-out rates for comparison; it is not income earned from the client. ## Reading Hours and Value Both modes separate **Billable** and **Non-Billable** work. Each has three segments: Tracked, Remaining Estimated, and Overrun. The colour key stays visible as you scroll; it explains the colours rather than acting as a show/hide filter. | Segment | Colour | Meaning | | ------------------------------------ | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Billable Tracked** | Dark blue | Tracked billable work within its estimate. Any excess is shown separately as Overrun. | | **Billable Remaining Estimated** | Light blue | Billable estimate not yet consumed. | | **Billable Overrun** | Pink | Tracked billable work beyond its estimate. | | **Non-Billable Tracked** | Dark grey | Tracked non-billable work within its estimate. | | **Non-Billable Remaining Estimated** | Light grey | Non-billable estimate not yet consumed. | | **Non-Billable Overrun** | Grey overrun colour | Tracked non-billable work beyond its estimate. | In **Hours**, the segments are hours. In **Value**, the same categories are monetary values at charge-out rates. **Tracked** in a table includes both the within-estimate portion and the overrun, so compare the table with both segments together. {% hint style="info" %} A billable Task is estimated at **10 hours** and has **14 hours** tracked. Its Hours bar contains **10 hours Billable Tracked**, **0 Remaining Estimated**, and **4 Overrun**. The four extra hours are shown once, rather than being counted in both Tracked and Overrun. At a charge-out rate of **R1,000 per hour**, the corresponding Value is **R10,000 within estimate** and **R4,000 Overrun Value**. That overrun value does not mean an extra R4,000 has been invoiced. {% endhint %} ### Remaining estimate is a budget balance **Remaining Estimated** is unused estimate. It is not a promise that those hours still need to be worked. A Task completed below its estimate can still contribute an unused estimate while its Job remains open. The full Hours or Value bar combines the estimate and any overrun. Its percentage is the group’s share of the full bars in that section. It is not a completion percentage, a billed percentage, or a measure of a person’s free capacity. ## Reading Cost Cost uses one stacked budget bar for each group. Known Billable and Non-Billable labour costs are kept separate, with three parts in each: * **Tracked Cost** — the tracked cost within that group’s estimated cost. * **Remaining Estimated Cost** — estimated cost minus tracked cost, with a minimum of zero. * **Over-budget Cost** — tracked cost above that group’s estimated cost. These are balances at the selected group, Job, or month level. They describe the labour budget rather than estimating the cost of each unfinished Task. {% hint style="info" %} Two Tasks each have **10 estimated hours** at a labour cost of **R100 per hour**. Their Estimated Cost is **R2,000**. If five hours have been tracked, Tracked Cost is **R500** and the bar shows **R1,500 Remaining Estimated Cost**. If tracked cost later rises to **R2,300**, the bar shows **R2,000 within estimate**, **zero remaining**, and **R300 Over-budget Cost**. {% endhint %} ### Understanding ≈ and the orange segment An amount marked **≈** includes assumed labour cost. This can happen when work has unassigned estimated hours or a user rate is missing. The separate orange segment is labelled **Estimated unassigned labour cost**; it can also include tracked work with a missing rate. Click an **≈ amount** in a table or breakdown to open its explanation. It shows **Known labour cost**, **Assumed labour cost**, **Hours affected**, and the **Assumed hourly cost** used for this report. The report uses one weighted hourly assumption derived from known tracked labour costs, applying it consistently until Refresh. Assumed cost stays separate from known Billable and Non-Billable cost. If the required information is unavailable, the report shows **Unavailable** rather than treating missing cost as zero. ### Projected profit and To-date profit The Owner and Super Users can also see profit figures in the Client table and group/Job breakdowns: * **Projected profit** — estimated Billable Task value minus the full estimated labour cost, including Non-Billable labour cost. * **To-date profit** — Billable Tracked Value within estimate minus full tracked labour cost, including overrun and Non-Billable labour. Assumptions also mark any profit figure that depends on them. These are Task-and-labour planning measures; they are not payment receipts or a complete Job margin including supplier Costs. Use [Recon](/jobs/recon.md) for the Job’s broader reconciliation. ## The five sections ### By Department Work grouped by the [Department](/company-settings/departments.md) attached to its [Task Type](/company-settings/rate-card/task-types.md). Compare Design, Development, Content, Strategy, and the other disciplines on your Rate Card. {% hint style="info" %} **Great for** reviewing an estimate problem across a discipline. A Design bar with a large pink segment is a prompt to inspect the contributing Jobs and find where the hours are overrunning. Use the [Resource Planner](/task-schedule/resource-planner.md) to check actual future bookings before deciding who has capacity. {% endhint %} ### By Client Work grouped by Client or Business Unit, with the Client table below it. A Business Unit has its own row and shows its parent Client beneath its name. The parent row holds Jobs without a Business Unit, rather than a combined total for every unit. ### By Category Work grouped by [Job Category](/company-settings/general/job-categories.md), such as Websites, Retainers, Campaigns, or Corporate Identity. {% hint style="info" %} **Great for** a scoping conversation. If website Jobs repeatedly consume more hours than estimated, compare the Category’s Tracked and Overrun figures, open the Jobs, and check whether the same delivery phase is under-estimated each time. {% endhint %} ### By Account Executive Work grouped by the Account Executive responsible for the Job. It shows the work under each AE’s management, rather than the hours personally worked by that AE. ### By Due Month The chart heading changes with the mode: **Work Hours by Due Month**, **Work Value by Due Month**, or **Work Cost by Due Month**. A Task’s figures go into its due month. Job due date, then Job start date, are used when the Task has no due date. The chart can therefore include Tasks that have not been activated on an otherwise active Job. This is a view by work due date. It does not show the month each hour was logged, the date an Invoice was issued, or the daily bookings on the Resource Planner. Use **Show earlier months** and **Show more** to extend the range. The initial range fits your screen, and the chart scale follows the months displayed. A month labelled **No data** has no returned figure. ## Open a group and review its Jobs {% stepper %} {% step %} ### Open the group Click a bar or a Client name in the table. The popup shows the group’s figures in the selected mode, split into Billable and Non-Billable where available. {% endstep %} {% step %} ### Review the detail In Hours, inspect Estimated, Tracked, Unused Estimated, Overrun Time, and the Task-size figures. In Value or Cost, inspect the monetary table and any ≈ amount explanations. Profit figures are available only with the appropriate access. {% endstep %} {% step %} ### Find the Job behind the figure Use **Search jobs** to narrow the list, then click a Job name to open it in a new tab. The totals and Job count continue to describe the full group, even while search narrows the visible names. {% endstep %} {% step %} ### Close the breakdown Click **Close** to return to the report. If the Job detail does not reconcile to the group, figures are marked with brackets or shown as unavailable; use the displayed explanation rather than treating them as a confirmed breakdown. {% endstep %} {% endstepper %} In Hours and Value, **% of Group** uses estimated work plus overrun. In Cost, the Job table’s **% of Estimated Cost** uses estimated cost; the main Cost chart’s share includes its over-budget amounts. They answer different questions and can legitimately differ. ### Choose the correct Client or Business Unit The By Client chart, table, Clients picker and Job popup identify each Business Unit with its parent Client beneath the name. Search the picker by either name. To review all of a Client’s work, include its relevant Business Units and any parent row for Jobs without a unit. The unit changes the reporting grouping; billing remains with the parent Client. ## Using the Client table The table name follows your mode: **Client Task Hours**, **Client Task Value**, or **Client Labour Cost**. {% stepper %} {% step %} ### Select Clients Open **Clients**, search for the names you need, and select them. Use **All Clients** to clear the selection. The selection affects the Client table, while the charts retain their full scope. {% endstep %} {% step %} ### Sort the table Click a column heading to sort, and click it again to reverse the order. Hours includes a **Tracked / Estimated** ratio; monetary modes show the relevant value or cost figures and, where permitted, profit. {% endstep %} {% step %} ### Show more and check Totals Up to 15 Clients appear initially. Click **Show more** to add another batch. **Totals** adds only the currently displayed rows after selection and sorting. {% endstep %} {% step %} ### Open a Client Click its name for the contributing Jobs. Click an ≈ amount to inspect the labour-cost assumption. {% endstep %} {% endstepper %} {% hint style="info" %} **Great for** a retainer review. Select the Clients on the meeting agenda, sort **Overrun Time** in Hours, and inspect the Jobs carrying the excess. Switch to Value or Cost, if available, to understand the charge-out value or labour-cost effect of the same work. {% endhint %} ## Print or save a section as a PDF {% stepper %} {% step %} ### Set up the view Choose Hours, Value, or Cost and find the section you need. For By Client, select the Clients and display the table rows you want included. For the due-month chart, display the months you need. {% endstep %} {% step %} ### Click Print Click the **printer icon** at the top right of the section. The copy includes that section, its colour key, the selected mode and currency where relevant, your agency name, and the print date. {% endstep %} {% step %} ### Save or print In Chrome’s print dialog, select **Save as PDF** under **Destination** and click **Save**, or select a printer. Check the preview before sharing the copy. {% endstep %} {% endstepper %} Printing uses the groups, Client rows, or month range currently displayed, including parts outside an on-screen scroll box. Use Show more first if you need additional rows or months. Mode switches, Refresh, selectors, and Show more buttons are left off the copy. Review whether a Value or Cost copy is appropriate for its audience before sharing it; those views include internal financial measures. ## Refresh and interpret the figures Click the circular-arrow **Refresh** button above the key to reload the report. It closes open breakdowns and resets the visible group and month ranges. If the report cannot load, use **Retry**. If a notice says the sections contain different Task totals, compare figures within each section. Do not add the five sections together or force their totals to match. **Unavailable** means the figure cannot be supplied reliably, not that the amount is zero. Use [Billed vs Unbilled](/admin/reports/forecasting.md) for issued billing and remaining Task billing balances, [Financial Summary](/admin/reports/financial-summary.md) for monthly invoiced revenue, [Recon](/jobs/recon.md) for the Job reconciliation, and the [Resource Planner](/task-schedule/resource-planner.md) for bookings and capacity. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. 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