Timesheet Report

Location: Management Hub > Time Tracking > Timesheets
Navigation: From the main navigation, select "Management" to open the Management Hub. Under the "Time Tracking" section, click "Timesheets" to access this report. The page is available at /reports/timesheets.

Overview

The Timesheet Report is the administrative command center for managing employee time submissions across the organization. It provides managers with a consolidated view of all employee timesheets organized by week, enabling efficient review, approval, correction, and finalization of time entries before they flow into the billing pipeline.

Unlike individual time entry screens where employees record their own hours, this report presents a management perspective—showing which employees have submitted time, what status each submission is in, and whether time has been billed. Managers can drill into any employee's timesheet to see detailed breakdowns by project and activity, flag errors requiring correction, return timesheets with notes, approve and finalize for billing, or copy timesheets to expedite recurring work patterns.

The report operates on a weekly cycle, displaying timesheets from the selected week or defaulting to the most recent eight weeks. Each employee appears once per week with their timesheet status clearly indicated, allowing managers to quickly identify whose time needs attention and take appropriate action.

Business Value

Why Does This Matter to the Company?

1. Billing Pipeline Control - The Timesheet Report serves as the gateway between employee-entered time and client billing. By requiring management review and approval before time becomes billable, it ensures only accurate, verified time flows to invoices. This prevents billing errors that damage client relationships and protects against both over-billing (which causes disputes) and under-billing (which loses revenue).
2. Labor Cost Visibility - Managers gain immediate insight into workforce utilization across all employees. Seeing who has submitted complete timesheets versus who is still in process enables proactive follow-up to ensure complete time capture before billing deadlines.
3. Workflow State Tracking - The clear status indicators (In Process, Complete, Finalized, Returned) provide instant visibility into where each timesheet sits in the approval workflow. This eliminates the uncertainty of "did they submit it?" or "has it been approved?" that plagues organizations without structured time management.
4. Billing Status Transparency - Beyond workflow status, the report shows billing status (Not Billed, Partially Billed, Fully Billed) for each employee's timesheet. This prevents the common problem of re-billing time that was already invoiced and helps identify when partial billing has occurred.
5. Error Correction Mechanism - The error flagging system allows managers to mark specific time entries that need correction without rejecting the entire timesheet. This granular control speeds up the correction cycle and maintains clear communication about what needs fixing.
6. Remote Work Tracking - Integration with the work-from-home (WFH) request system shows when employees worked remotely, supporting policies that require visibility into remote work patterns and ensuring appropriate cost allocation.
7. Time Efficiency for Recurring Work - The copy timesheet feature eliminates redundant data entry for employees with consistent weekly schedules. Managers can copy an approved timesheet to a future week, dramatically reducing entry time for employees with predictable work patterns.

Business Benefits

For Operations Managers and Office Administrators

• Single Dashboard View: See all submitted timesheets across all employees in one place, eliminating the need to check individual records
• Quick Status Assessment: Color-coded indicators immediately show which timesheets are finalized, complete, in process, or returned
• Batch Processing Capability: Review multiple timesheets in sequence without navigating away from the report
• Week Selection Control: Filter to specific weeks for period-close processing or review recent eight weeks for ongoing monitoring
• Billing Status Clarity: Know at a glance whether time has been invoiced, preventing duplicate billing and identifying unbilled work

For Finance and Billing Teams

• Billing Readiness Verification: Ensure all time for a billing period has been finalized before generating invoices
• Partial Billing Tracking: Identify timesheets that are partially billed when some days have been invoiced but others remain outstanding
• Audit Support: Complete visibility into which time entries are billed versus unbilled supports billing reconciliation and audit inquiries
• Revenue Protection: Systematic finalization process ensures billable time is not overlooked or lost

For Project Managers

• Project Cost Visibility: See time logged against your projects across all team members
• Client Link Context: Each time entry shows the client name, helping verify time is logged to the correct accounts
• Activity Breakdown: Understand how time is distributed across different work activities on projects
• Notes Review: Read employee notes describing work performed to validate time entry accuracy

For Human Resources and Payroll

• Timesheet Compliance: Verify all employees have submitted required weekly timesheets
• Work-From-Home Tracking: See which employees have approved WFH status for any given week
• Return Documentation: When timesheets are returned for correction, the reason is documented and employees are notified

For Employees (Indirect Benefits)

• Clear Feedback Loop: When managers return timesheets, employees receive email notification explaining what needs correction
• Entry Efficiency: Copied timesheets reduce repetitive data entry for recurring work patterns
• Edit Access: Direct navigation to edit individual time entries when corrections are needed

Usage Scenarios

Scenario 1: Weekly Timesheet Review for Pay Period Close

Situation: The office manager needs to review and finalize all employee timesheets before the bi-weekly payroll deadline.

How to Use:

1. Navigate to Management Hub > Timesheets
2. The week selector defaults to recent weeks; adjust if needed for the specific pay period
3. Scan the employee list for each week being processed
4. Look for employees marked "COMPLETE" (orange) - these are submitted and awaiting approval
5. Click each employee name to view their detailed timesheet
6. Review hours by project and activity for accuracy
7. If entries are correct, click "Finalize" to approve for billing
8. If entries need correction, add notes in the text area and click "Return"
9. Repeat for all employees with complete timesheets

Scenario 2: Identifying Missing Timesheets

Situation: A manager needs to ensure all team members have submitted time before month-end billing.

How to Use:

1. Open the Timesheet Report and select the target week
2. Review the employee list - employees with "IN PROCESS" status have not yet submitted
3. Note which employees are missing from the list entirely (no time logged)
4. Follow up with individuals who have incomplete or missing timesheets
5. After employees submit, return to verify status changes to "COMPLETE"

Scenario 3: Handling Error Corrections

Situation: A manager notices an employee logged time to the wrong project and needs it corrected.

How to Use:

1. Click on the employee name to view their timesheet detail
2. Locate the incorrect entry in the project list
3. Click the gray flag icon next to the entry to mark it as an error (flag turns red)
4. Add an explanation in the notes area (e.g., "Please correct project ID from 12345 to 12350")
5. Click "Return" to send the timesheet back to the employee
6. The employee receives email notification with the correction request
7. After the employee corrects and resubmits, review the changes and remove the error flag

Scenario 4: Copying Recurring Weekly Timesheets

Situation: An employee works on the same projects every week and their manager wants to reduce their data entry burden.

How to Use:

1. Navigate to a week with the employee's correctly-entered timesheet (Complete or Finalized status)
2. Click the employee name to view the detail
3. Click the "Copy" button
4. A dialog appears with a dropdown of target weeks
5. Select the week to copy the timesheet to
6. If time already exists for that week, confirm the copy operation
7. The system creates new time entries in the target week with "In Process" status
8. The employee can then adjust hours as needed and submit

Scenario 5: Reverting an Accidentally Finalized Timesheet

Situation: A manager finalized a timesheet that contained an error they didn't notice until later.

How to Use:

1. Navigate to the week and employee whose timesheet needs correction
2. Click the employee name to view the finalized timesheet
3. Click "Revert to in process" to return the timesheet to editable status
4. The timesheet returns to "In Process" state
5. Now click "Edit" to navigate to the time entry screen
6. Make necessary corrections to the time entries
7. Return to Timesheet Report and re-finalize after corrections

Business Logic Details

Timesheet Workflow States

The system tracks each timesheet through a defined lifecycle:

State transitions follow business rules:

• Only "Complete" timesheets can be Finalized
• "Finalized" timesheets can be Reverted back to "In Process" for corrections
• "Returned" timesheets must be corrected by the employee and resubmitted

Billing Status Tracking

Beyond workflow state, the system tracks billing status at the day level within each timesheet:

Billing status is determined by comparing invoiced time entries against total entries for the week. This granular tracking supports scenarios where invoicing happens on different schedules than timesheet finalization.

Week Selection Logic

The report organizes timesheets by calendar week:

• Default view shows the last 8 weeks of activity
• Selecting a specific date shows timesheets for that week only
• Week boundaries are Monday through Sunday
• Empty weeks (no time entries from any employee) do not appear

Key Features

Week Selection Panel

Employee List View

Timesheet Detail Panel

Action Controls

Summary

The Timesheet Report serves as the critical management checkpoint between employee time entry and client billing. By providing a consolidated view of all employee timesheets with clear status indicators, it enables efficient review and approval workflows that protect both revenue accuracy and client relationships.

Key capabilities include:

• Consolidated Employee View - All employees' timesheets visible in one report, organized by week for efficient batch processing
• Clear Status Tracking - Multi-state workflow (In Process, Complete, Finalized, Returned) plus billing status (Not Billed, Partially Billed, Fully Billed) provides complete visibility
• Detailed Drill-Down - View individual timesheet entries by project and activity with daily hour breakdowns
• Flexible Actions - Finalize approved time, return with correction notes, revert mistakes, copy recurring timesheets
• Error Flagging - Mark specific entries requiring attention without rejecting entire timesheets
• Automated Notifications - Employees receive email when timesheets are returned, including manager's correction guidance
• WFH Visibility - Integration with absence requests shows when employees worked from home
• Audit Trail - All status changes are logged, supporting compliance and internal control requirements

The Timesheet Report transforms timesheet management from a fragmented process of checking individual records into a streamlined workflow where managers can efficiently review, correct, and approve time submissions. This systematic approach ensures billing accuracy, complete time capture, and clear communication between managers and employees about timesheet requirements.

For organizations billing professional services, the Timesheet Report is an essential control point that prevents revenue leakage from unbilled time, protects against billing disputes from incorrect entries, and provides the visibility needed for confident financial management.