Timesheets are not new, and since its inception, businesses have used it to solve a wide variety of problems:
Human resources managers use timesheets to calculate wages.
The accountant bills the client and makes the invoice with the help of the timesheet.
Project managers need timesheets to control schedules and cost overruns.
Team leaders, on the other hand, use timesheets to monitor employee attendance and evaluate work performance outcomes.
But that's not all there is to a timesheet, it has many more uses and goals. In this article, we'll give you a comprehensive overview of it and uncover the secrets behind managing timesheets effectively, so you can get the most out of them in your business.
What is Timesheet Management?
A timesheet is a record of the amount of work spent on different tasks. Timesheet management, on the other hand, is all about monitoring how employees use their time and analyzing their time tracking results.
In the past, timesheets were mostly simple weekly schedules drawn on or printed on paper. They require manual handling, can be easily damaged or lost, and overall, are quite cumbersome to deal with.
However, modern timesheets are not the same as traditional timesheets. They are digital, multifunctional, and largely automated, which makes it easy and efficient for everyone involved, from ordinary employees to managers and supervisors, to enjoy a convenient and efficient timesheet management process.
Therefore, if you want to get the most out of timesheet management, it makes perfect sense to use digital (** timesheets instead of paper timesheets.)
How do I manage timesheets?
The timesheet management process is straightforward and consists of three basic steps:
Fill out. Audit.
Analyse. The following takes the timesheet software 8manage timesheet as an example, and the following three steps:
Step 1: Fill it out.
8manage timesheets are intuitive, simple, and easy to navigate and use. They are in a weekly format and help employees and their managers easily track the progress of tasks according to different work types (e.g., vacation, recruitment, system support, etc.), projects, work activities.
With 8Manage Timesheets, employees can track their time based on specific tasks, attach notes to time entries, easily submit leave requests, and simply click on any task in the list to quickly access important work-related information.
Step 2: Review.
8manage timesheet has a timesheet approval function, which is convenient for managers to review and approve the weekly time tracking data of rejected employees.
You can easily see which timesheets are pending approval (only available to users with special manager privileges) on the timesheet approval screen. You can also view your team members' time usage on a case-by-case basis: click on the date to see what tasks they completed and how much time they spent during the week.
In addition, the timesheet approval interface can also approve reject employees' timesheets in bulk and view how much time each employee has taken off during the week. If you decide to reject someone's timesheet, you can also explain why you did so through a rejection opinion.
Step 3: Analyze.
8manage timesheets contain valuable analytics reports that allow you to learn some important lessons from the collected data to provide a better reference for decision-making.
Gain insight into all the time team members spend on different projects and tasks.
Know how much vacation time employees are getting and using in a specific period.
Find out how much overtime an employee has to be compensated.
Compare the set task estimate with the actual time tracking results.
Monitor project costs and compare them to revenue.
View consolidated billing summaries and link this data to financial systems.
Timesheet data in these reports plays an important role in many business management processes.
5 Practical Uses for Employee Timesheet Data
1.Payroll
It doesn't matter if you pay your employees a fixed amount each month, or if you pay them on an hourly basis. 8Manage timesheet data helps you know if your employees are working hours under contract.
2.Attendance and absence management
Daily time tracking is an easy way to monitor employee attendance. It allows you to know if each team member comes to work regularly and if they are devoting the necessary time to their work.
In addition, thanks to the leave management feature included in 8Manage Timesheet, you can also keep track of your employees' time offs.
3.Project tracking.
How time and money are spent can largely determine the success or failure of a project. Therefore, the importance of allocating reasonable deadlines and budgets for different project jobs is self-evident. More importantly, do your best to meet these requirements and avoid schedule and cost overruns.
* Timesheet software is also useful in this regard. 8Manage Timesheet allows you to control employee-related project costs, compare actual time spent with set time estimates, and analyze team performance with comprehensive time tracking reports. The timesheet software also includes useful features such as automated notifications, real-time reporting dashboards, and kanban boards, making managing project progress a breeze.
4.Better time estimates
Knowing how much time is invested in different types of tasks will allow you to make more accurate estimates of similar tasks in the future. Therefore, when planning a new project, it is useful to take a closer look at the timesheet report for completed projects. The time data described is key to better estimating time and controlling project and team resources.
5.Productivity and efficiency management
By showing how much time employees spend on tasks, timesheet data can help identify different time wastes and optimize various business processes.
For example, if you submit a work track record that doesn't meet your initial expectations and estimates, you can try to figure out why your team is spending too much time on that task. Problems can be with employee procrastination, miscommunication, technical issues, and other workflow issues. Timesheet data, while not directly pointing to these issues, can prove the existence of a problem and indicate that improvements are needed.