Hourly contract but I am using printed documents to reconcile some bank statements

[wiredjp]

Hi Everyone,

I work as a bookkeeper on an hourly contract. As a part of my job, I have to reconcile bank statements. So I will normally print a hard copy of the bank statement and using it to reconcile the bank account in the online accounting software. In doing so, I would show a little activity as I checking off transctions from the hard copy documents against the transactions in the accounting software. I was penalised the past by Upwork where money to a client for showing little activity (or mouse clicks) for certain periods of time. Was the best way to avoid this issue? Should I not use the time tracker and only record manual time or turn on the time tracker and then a message to the client was working the bank reconciliations during x period of time?

Thanks and kind regards.

[ashrafkhan81]

I think Upwork cannot penalize you for low activity; the client has to raise an objection after reviewing the low activity blocks of time. 

It is best to inform the client that you will be working offline for his project on certain tasks and post an appropriate memo indicating offline time on-time tracker app! 

Manual time is a big no! Upwork does not offer protection on manually logged time! Automatically logged time with low activity and proper notes is always better than Manually logged time! 

[petra_r]

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Laurence H wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I work as a bookkeeper on an hourly contract. As a part of my job, I have to reconcile bank statements. So I will normally print a hard copy of the bank statement and using it to reconcile the bank account in the online accounting software. In doing so, I would show a little activity as I checking off transctions from the hard copy documents against the transactions in the accounting software. I was penalised the past by Upwork where money to a client for showing little activity (or mouse clicks) for certain periods of time. 

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You weren't "penalized", you just lost protection for such segments so when your client failed to pay or disputed, and not-protected segents were not paid out of Upwork's pocket the way protected hours are.

There is no way to avoid this unless you work purely on the computer or at least make sure that there is a mouseclick or a keystroke each in more than 5 minutes out of the 10 minutes in every segment.

As manual time is not protected either, it makes no difference.

Ashraf K wrote:

Automatically logged time with low activity and proper notes is always better than Manually logged time! 

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Nonsense. Both are equally non-protected and low activity segments won't get paid any more than manual time in case of non-payment or dispute.

[wiredjp]

Thank you for the responses. For the specific client in question, Upwork sent me an email about sending an refund to the client for low activity during specific time periods. At first, I puzzled about this issue but I then remembered that those periods occurred while I doing a bank reconciliation during a hard copy of the document to match transactions which I saw on the screen. 

[wlyonsatl · Accepted solution]

Laurence,

Figure out a reason to have mouse or keyboard activity while you're working.

For example, do you write a message to your client explaining any discrepancies you've found, describing what you've done, etc.? Write that message with regular updates throughout the time TimeTracker is tracking your work time.

This type of work is a big blindspot for TimeTracker, but it's unlikely to be fixed any time soon.

Another big blindspot for TimeTracker is time spent with a client using Upwork's own audio/video apps. Upwork already tracks activity on these apps but the time is not automatically included in TimeTracker's payment protection system. It is indisputably time spent with a client, so there is no reason to require keyboard or mouse activity to prove work is being done for the client during such times.

[2a05aa63]

For work that you don't do on your computer, you need to communicate with the client a way to calculate the time and get paid in bonuses or manual time.