Introduction to timesheets

Timesheets are an important part of any services business and drive a lot of information to help monitor progress and make decisions.

Timesheet are like a daily report, recording the activities that have been worked on. Updating timesheets accurately and frequently helps Project Managers keep track of progress and budget and also provides other insights to management. Timesheet entries are also often a key input into the invoicing process - another reason they are important!

Every person has a timesheet and will be able to log time to the timecodes and projects that are available to them. Timesheets are easily accessible and easy to complete.

Best Practice

Complete your timesheet every day
Include a brief comment to support your time entry (comments may be mandatory)
If in doubt on where to enter your time ask your Project Manager

Timesheet options

Timesheets are what people use to log details of what they do. Timesheets and operate in either a week view or day view mode to cater to different ways people work. There is also a targeted view for mobile phones so it is easy to do your timesheet from anywhere.

Week view	Day view
Most suited for people who don't update their timesheet throughout the day A good option if you only use a small number of timecodes (Eg are working on one project) Simply record the total time you spend on a timecode in any give day	Best for people who want to log time throughout the day as activities are completed A good option if you need to use lots of timecodes in a day Allows multiple entries to be logged to the same timecode on a day

Refer to the using your timesheet article for more details

Optional timesheet submit & approval process

There are a few ways timesheets can be configured to support how your company wants timesheets to function.

No submit process
Timesheets simply get time logged to a timesheet.

Submit only
Timesheets need to be submitted but don’t need to be approved

Submit & approval
Timesheets need to be submitted and require approval

Pros

Very simple, people just add time to their timesheet

Cons

No easy way to know if a timesheet has been completed
Timesheets can be edited

Pros

A simple process and can help drive good timesheet behaviour
Provides a way to know if a timesheet has been completed
Option to allow submitted timesheets to be edited (submitted timesheets can also be withdrawn and edited if required)

Cons

Does provide option for timesheets to be edited after being submitted

Pros

A simple process and can help drive good timesheet behaviour
Provides a way to know if a timesheet has been completed
Approved timesheets can’t be edited by the timesheet submitter which provides certainty for reporting

Cons

None really

Refer to the timesheet approvals article for more details on setting up and using the submit & approve process.

Time entries

All time is logged on timesheets with time entries available for reporting throughout Projectworks. There are screens for showing time entries for each person, each project and an all time entries screen including time entries for all people and projects. Time entries are also visible in the invoicing process to provide clarity over what is being invoiced.

My Time Entries	All Time Entries	Project Time Entries
Shows all time entries for a person Each person has My time Entries screen	Lists time entries for all people and projects on one screen Will only let people see the time entries for people and projects they are allowed to see	Lists all time entries for a project

Refer to the time entries article for more details

Optional process to review time entries

A time entry review process is a good way for Project Managers to keep on top of the time logged to their projects. Marking a time entry as reviewed will prevent that entry from being edited by anyone - the entry is essentially locked and can not be changed on a timesheet.

The review process is different to the timesheet submit and approve process which is for an entire timesheet - the time entry review is for individual time entries.

Many customers have project managers review time logged to their projects each week, with line managers approving a person's timesheet.

Refer to the reviewing time entries article for more details