Elapsing time display?

April 9, 201213 yr

Hi All,

I've been an Apple IT consultant for over 20 years. Ever since MYOB/AccountEdge introduced their Time Billing module way back whenever that was, I've been using it for on-site, off-site, phone support, etc. billing and time tracking. To be honest my business is simple enough that that is the only function of MYOB/AccountEdge that I have ever used. Way over kill for such a simple task, I know. Over the years I have looked at dozens of TimeBilling apps, none even come close the the simplicity and brilliance of it's implementation in MYOB/AccountEdge.

FileMaker 12 has been released. I've been checking it out and running it through it's paces with a few conversions from 11, etc. The Theme stuff is great, but I am more impressed with the iPad/iPhone stuff and FilerMaker Go 12. I want to recreate the MYOB/AccountEdge Time Billing experience in FileMaker 12 for my iPad.

It'll be a snap I know - a handful of tables, a few fields, simple calculations (kids stuff really), but I am perplexed of how to re-create one of my favorite features of the MYOB/AccountEdge experience.

Here's my typical workflow. I arrive at a client - I launch MYOB - I create an Activity Slip - choose the client - click the start button which captures the Start time and triggers the display of a running elapsed time - I close my laptop and go on with my day. Sometimes I carry my laptop with me and make notes as I go from task to task. At other times I enter a summary at the end and click the stop button. In either case, all the while the UI of the activity slip is displaying a running Elapsed time. Can I do this in FileMaker - make a field update or refresh in browse mode continually until I click a stop button which captures the End time and freezes the elapsed time display?

Thanks for any help or guidance anyone can provide.

Cheers

-JJ