Key concepts
VendOrca keeps a small set of records, and they link together in one chain.
On this page
Workspace and program
A workspace holds one customer's program: its rules, people, records and subscription. Data in one workspace is never visible from another. Every record and every AI assistant access key belongs to exactly one workspace.
Program rules
Your program configuration is the set of rules your program runs on. You manage it on the Config page. It holds:
- job codes, sites and rate cards
- approval chains
- timesheet rules, such as the period, overtime thresholds, rounding and time zone
- invoice rules, such as grouping and numbering
- onboarding and offboarding templates
- the report library, which sets the figures and breakdowns people can ask about
- which capabilities are on: approvals, time capture and invoicing
A Program Admin changes the rules by describing the change in plain language or filling in a form. VendOrca drafts the change as a proposal, and the admin reviews it and applies it. Each applied change is saved as a new version of the rules, and the earlier versions stay as they were. Work that started under earlier rules keeps using them, so an assignment created last month still pays last month's rates. See Configure your program.
Workers
A worker is a person doing work in your program. Workers enter VendOrca through Import, the trial setup or assisted setup. Each worker moves through onboarding states: Invited, Onboarding, Active and Offboarded. Only an onboarded worker can be put on an assignment. A worker who signs in sees only their own profile, onboarding checklist and time.
Suppliers (billing entities)
A billing entity is the supplier or agency an invoice is addressed to. The app also calls these suppliers. Each one has a supplier code, the stable reference that rate cards and invoices use. A billing entity that signs in reaches the supplier portal and sees only its own invoices.
Org units
An org unit is a node in your department or cost-center hierarchy. You can attach an assignment or an approval chain to one. Each move records the date it takes effect, and earlier placements are kept.
Rate cards
A rate card pairs a job code and a site with a rate and a currency, and can name a supplier. Rates are held in whole cents. When you create an assignment you pick a rate card, and VendOrca takes the amount from the rules in effect at that time.
Assignments and terms versions
An assignment binds one onboarded worker to a rate card for a date range. It's where the money chain starts: time is recorded against an assignment, and invoices are built from approved time.
An assignment's terms are versioned. The first version is v1. Amending the rate, extending the end date or terminating the assignment each adds a new version with the date it takes effect, and earlier versions stay as they were. Assignments are never deleted. See Assignments.
Pay codes
A pay code says what kind of time an entry records. Workers choose Worked, Holiday or PTO when they log a day. Worked needs no setup. Holiday and PTO work once your timesheet rules include the pay codes HOL and PTO. Add them before a worker starts that week's timesheet.
Timesheets and entries
A timesheet covers one worker for one period and has an entry mode of Hourly, Daily or Monthly. It holds entries: a date, a quantity, an assignment and a pay code. A timesheet moves from Draft to submitted, then to Approved or rejected. A rejected timesheet goes back to the worker, who corrects it and submits the same timesheet again.
VendOrca prices entries from the program rules the timesheet follows. If an entry can't be priced, the timesheet shows a Can't price reason, and invoicing for that period waits until it's resolved. A Program Admin can send the reason to VendOrca support for help. See Time and expense.
Expenses
An expense records a cost a worker incurred on an assignment: a date, a category, an amount and a currency.
Approvals
Program Admins and Hiring Managers approve or reject timesheets. An approval chain sets the ordered approval steps a timesheet goes through. A chain applies to the whole workspace or to one org unit. Inside a chain, spend bands decide which steps apply at which amount. The lowest band starts at 0 and the highest has no upper limit. Keep a workspace-wide chain in place: a timesheet that no chain can route can't be submitted.
Invoices and credit notes
An invoice is generated for a period from approved work and grouped by your invoice rule: per worker, per org unit or consolidated. Each approved row is invoiced once, so generating again for the same period doesn't create duplicates.
An invoice has the type Invoice or Credit note, and a credit note counts as a negative amount in totals. See Invoicing and tie-out.
Tie-out
The tie-out compares what you invoiced for a period with what was approved. It says whether the two balance to the cent and lists each difference by kind, such as work that was approved but not invoiced, or work that can't be priced. You can record a tie-out snapshot as evidence. Invoices sent to accounts payable with Push to AP, or downloaded as a CSV file, carry the same figures as the tie-out.
Changes add records
VendOrca doesn't edit records in place:
- an assignment change adds a new terms version
- a change to the program rules adds a new version
- an org unit move records the date it takes effect and keeps the earlier placement
The earlier version is kept. Recorded time entries stay as recorded, and invoices can't be edited, voided or deleted in VendOrca. To correct either, a Program Admin can ask VendOrca support.