Time Activities not posting to GL Account in Service Management

We are doing some final testing on our AI Assistant for Acumatica and using it to try and help the community.  Let me know if this helps out and gets you going in the right direction:

You're not alone — this is a very common configuration pain point in Acumatica Field Service.  Here's the precise configuration path to bill time through the Service Order and have the related labor post to the GL.

🎯 Goal:

• ✅ Bill the customer via the Service Order (not a Project Invoice)
• ✅ Post time/labor cost from Time Activities to the GL
• ❌ Not use project billing or WIP model

1. Prerequisites 🔐

• Role: System Admin or Field Services Manager
• Installed Modules: Field Service, Time Management (optional), GL

2. Navigation 🗺️

• Service Management Preferences
  Path: Field Services → Preferences → Service Management Preferences (FS100000)
• Time Activity Type Settings
  Path: Time & Expenses → Preferences → Time Activity Codes (EP102000)
• Employee Settings
  Path: HR → Preferences → Employees (EP203000)

3. Detailed Configuration Steps 🚀

✅ Step 1: Service Management Preferences — Set Billing Mode

1. Open Service Management Preferences (FS100000).
2. Under the Billing Settings tab:
   • Billing Type: Set to Standard Billing

❗ Do NOT set to Project Billing — that disables service-based invoicing.

• • Ensure Post to GL is checked/enabled.
  • Post Time Activities to GL: Enabled ✅
  • Optionally enable Create Time Activities on Appointment Release.

✅ Step 2: Define Time Activity Code with Earnings Account

1. Go to Time Activity Codes (EP102000).
2. Edit each time activity code (e.g., FSREG, OT, etc.).
3. Set:
   • Earning Type (linked to Employee Class & Payroll, if used)
   • Account Group: Leave blank (if not using projects)
   • Post to GL: ✅ Enabled
   • Expense Account and Subaccount: Set here.

✅ This drives where GL entries will post from time activities.

✅ Step 3: Employee Settings – Assign Correct Posting Defaults

1. Open Employees (EP203000).
2. On the Time & Expenses tab:
   • Time Activity Default should point to a valid code (from Step 2).
3. Ensure that the Time Activities are not linked to a project or task (unless intentionally used for tracking only).

✅ Step 4: Appointment Type Billing Behavior

1. Go to Appointment Types (FS100300).
2. Ensure Bill Customer is enabled.
3. Make sure the Service and Labor items on the appointment:
   • Have a valid Inventory ID (type Labor Item)
   • Are billable
   • Have a Sales Account for revenue posting.

4. Expected Results 👀

When a Service Order → Appointment → Time Activity → Posted:

• A Sales Invoice is generated from the Service Order (not project).
• A GL transaction is created for labor cost (from Time Activity) using:
  • The account on the Time Activity Code or Labor Item.
• The GL batch will show debit to expense (labor) and credit to wages payable or clearing (depending on setup).

5. Helpful Next Steps ➡️

• Review Labor Item Inventory setup:
  • Must be non-stock or service type
  • Must have Expense Account for GL posting
• Run FS Appointment Post (FS500000) to confirm GL entry generation.

6. ERP Pro Tips 💡

💡 Tip for Controllers: If you want labor costs and billing to use different accounts, ensure the Sales Account on the Labor Item is set for revenue, and the Expense Account on the Time Activity is set for cost of labor.

💡 Tip for Auditing: You can trace back GL batches created from appointments using the Source Module = FS and Batch Origin = Time Activity or Appointment.

✅ Final Answer:

To achieve your goal, ensure that:

• Service Management Billing Type = Standard Billing
• Post Time Activities to GL = Enabled
• Time Activity Codes have GL accounts defined
• Labor Items are set up correctly with Sales Accounts

@CherryStreet Hi!

Thanks for sharing — I appreciate the intention to help the community, and the structure of the response is very thorough.

That said, I want to flag that the answer includes critical inaccuracies, and I’m concerned it could lead users down the wrong path:

• The screens ID’s are incorrect
• The steps decribe options that don’t exist in Acumatica
• Hence, the process described to help users will mislead the users

To be transparent, it seems likely this was generated by an AI tool, but not reviewed by someone who has tested the behavior in a real Acumatica environment. I totally support experimenting with AI tools to help the community — but it’s important we double-check the content before sharing, especially for something as nuanced as Field Service billing setup.