A timesheet might seem simple, but it’s very crucial to businesses and companies. Contractors and employees use the system to record the number of hours they’ve worked throughout a certain duration of the time spent on a particular task.

Companies frequently use them to calculate payroll. A business can sustain its budget, meet deadlines, and attain success if it adopts effective time management. To do this, you should consider a timesheet template or applications of timesheets to streamline workflow, work smarter, and manage time while preventing messy spreadsheets. Here’s how to use a timesheet.

Understanding Timesheets

A timesheet typically comes in the form of a simple table that employees and employers can use to track the hours worked, whether it’s on a project or a job. Previously, the recording of this information would take place on paper. With technological advancement, it’s currently a norm for companies to work with digitalized ones and save them on cloud services.

A timesheet helps companies decrease expenses while increasing employees’ time. Ideally, an effective timesheet template must include space for employee ID number, name, and position. Additionally, it should comprise a table with the days of the week and columns for the start time, date, end time, overtime hours, and the hours worked. It should also feature a place where both supervisor and employee can sign.

The Types of Timesheets

Weekly

This type typically comprises a column for seven days in a week. You’ll input clock in and clock out times for employees in this sheet. To complete tasks, you’ll just need to include a simple formula and you’ll notice automatic calculations popping out.

Monthly

This type serves to track the hours an employee has worked over a particular month without breaks. The advantage of this sheet is that it will allow you to gauge the totals in the summary and weekly areas.

Bi-weekly

This type will suit your business if you pay employees bi-weekly. It will allow you to establish employees’ salaries and working time per two weeks rather than the weekly count.

Online versus Physical Timesheet

Tracking the hours your employees have worked for is crucial to your business’s bottom line. Although some companies still do things manually, others have adopted the online route. If you favor the manual type, you can use a printed timesheet with a template that suits your business needs; your employees will be able to complete the sheet manually.

Alternatively, you could request them to download and fill in a template with their information electronically. You want to avoid the manual way because it’s not only time-consuming but also tedious. Moreover, a manual timesheet will probably cost you in terms of lost money, time, or even legal problems, which might arise because of erroneous calculations.

Applications of Timesheets

Management accounting

Timesheets are important tools in management accounting. They allow managers to record the start and end times for projects or tasks. The tool is handy when managers want to identify the tasks that consume more time and recognize areas that delay work completion.

Payroll processing

They help employers track leaves, work hours, adjustments, and accruals for payroll processing. Tracking systems also offer employers a trackable workflow for payroll authorization. After all, imprecise data entry is the principal source of payroll errors. Tracking systems decrease these errors and maintain smooth payroll processing.

Accountant Timesheets

The profit that accounting businesses generate relies on how efficiently employees spend time on customers. High billability and utilization imply high profits. Tracking software and timesheets can help accounting companies track their time and bills. Therefore, selecting the appropriate software is a vital decision for accounting businesses.

Benefits

Gauge Employees’ Workload

A timesheet will reveal whether some of your employees are overworked, for instance. In that case, you’ll determine whether to bring in support from colleagues or hire contractors or new employees. If you find that employees are constantly working overtime, it could mean there’s a lack of appropriate workload distribution or the workload is just too big. The information you gather from timesheets will help you redistribute workload accordingly to make sure you don’t overwork key resources.

Accurate Billing

Timesheets facilitate accurate billing. That is, they’re a means of informing your clients that you manage their projects efficiently and that their money isn’t going to waste. Timesheets ensure your clients don’t have to worry about examining their projects’ status. They will recognize the amount of time you commit to them and justify the accuracy of your billing.

Decrease time wastage

Timesheets help you identify the areas in which you’re wasting labor. That is, they weed out projects that take longer than they should and help you determine how to optimize tasks.

With increasing technology and time becoming a significant business resource, time tracking is crucial to success. If you haven’t implemented time tracking in your business, perhaps it’s time you did.