Glossary
Timesheet
A timesheet is a record of the hours worked by an employee during a given period, broken down by project, client, and task. It is the primary data source for invoicing, payroll, utilization analysis, and project budget management at agencies. The quality of an agency's financial and operational data is only as good as the quality of its timesheet data.
How timesheets are used at agencies
Timesheets serve several functions simultaneously. For finance teams, they feed into invoicing and cost allocation. For project managers, they show how hours are tracking against project budgets. For resource managers, they inform utilization reporting and capacity planning.
Timesheets are also the record of what happened on a project. If a client disputes an invoice or a scope question arises, the timesheet data provides the evidence base for both sides.
Timesheet submission and approval
Most agencies require weekly timesheet submission, with a manager approval step before hours are locked for invoicing. The approval step catches errors, misclassified hours, and missing entries before they flow into client invoices or project reports.
Automated reminders for late submissions and clear escalation for repeated non-compliance are important operational controls. Late or inaccurate timesheets are one of the most common causes of invoicing delays at agencies.
Common timesheet problems
The most common failure modes are: delayed submission (people log time at the end of the week or retrospectively), rounding (logging 1 or 2 hour blocks regardless of actual time), and misallocation (logging time against the wrong project because it is easier to find). All three degrade the usefulness of the data.
Example
An agency requires all team members to submit weekly timesheets by Friday at 5pm. The system sends automated reminders on Thursday afternoon. Managers have until Monday to approve or send back for correction. Hours approved by Monday are locked and used in that week's project reports and monthly invoicing runs.