Timesheet

What a timesheet records and why it exists

A timesheet records when someone worked or how many hours they worked during a set period. It may stop at attendance—a date, start and finish times, and a daily or weekly total—or show what the person worked on.

That second level of detail assigns time to a task, project, client, contract, department, or cost code. Eight hours then describes both the time worked and where it went. In one limited U.S. federal-contracting example, DFARS 252.242-7006 requires covered contractors' timekeeping systems to identify labor by intermediate or final cost objectives. The clause does not make cost codes necessary for every business, but it shows why some organizations connect labor time to a specific piece of work or cost pool.

The intended use determines how much detail belongs in the record. For payroll, hours sit alongside the relevant pay period, earnings, and overtime information. 29 CFR 516.2 provides one example for covered U.S. employees. A manager who only needs to confirm attendance may not need task-level entries. A team that needs to understand where labor went usually does.

For client work billed by the hour, a timesheet can support an invoice or other payment submission while remaining a separate record. The applicable agreement determines what is billable, which rate applies, and whether approval is required. Under the U.S. federal time-and-materials clause in FAR 52.232-7, for example, individual daily job timekeeping records can substantiate a voucher. That clause applies only to contracts that incorporate it.

Allocated time can also feed project-cost, profitability, capacity, and resource analysis. Hours tied to a project or code can be combined with labor rates to examine labor cost and compared with delivery plans to inform staffing decisions. A GAO review describes an operational example in which time-and-attendance hours assigned to accounting codes became labor-cost data for analysis and resource allocation. A timesheet supplies one input; profitability also depends on revenue and other costs, while capacity analysis needs assumptions about availability and demand.

What to include in a timesheet

Start with the question the record needs to answer. Payroll, client billing, and project costing may all use dates and hours, but they need different identifiers and codes. No single field list fits every worker, jurisdiction, contract, or internal process.

Most timesheets identify the person, reporting period, date, and either start and end times or a duration. Add total hours when a period total matters. If time must be attributed, include the relevant task, project, client, contract, department, or cost code. An hourly client engagement may also need a billable marker and the agreed rate. Submission status, approver, and approval date belong in workflows that use them.

Include breaks when the applicable rule or policy requires that distinction. Under the U.S. FLSA, short rest periods and bona fide meal periods during which a worker is fully relieved of duty receive different treatment; the Department of Labor explains that distinction. This is a U.S. example, not a worldwide template.

A practical contractor example

Suppose a contractor records an eight-hour Tuesday. Their agreement permits charges for implementation work at an agreed rate, while internal administration is not chargeable under that engagement.

Date	Work item	Client or code	Hours	Billable	Rate
Tuesday	Implementing the client's requested feature	Client A / implementation	6	Yes	$100/hour
Tuesday	Preparing internal project notes	Internal administration	2	No	—

The billable marker separates the six chargeable hours from the two hours retained only for the contractor's records. At the agreed rate, the six hours produce a proposed charge of $600. This example does not make administration universally non-billable or every hour of delivery work chargeable. The engagement's scope and billing terms control that decision.

Once the record passes any review required by the parties, the contractor can use the billable entries to prepare an invoice. The invoice still states the payment request separately, including the client, amount, and other required terms. FAR 52.232-7 illustrates the distinction by treating daily job timekeeping records as support for a voucher. Approval confirms the time record within that workflow; it does not create a payment obligation by itself.

Common types and formats

A timesheet's “type” may refer to the period it covers or the way entries are organized. These choices can overlap. The same daily entries might appear in a weekly total, a client view, or a project report.

Choose the reporting period and grouping

A daily timesheet keeps each day's entries distinct. That detail is useful when start and finish times, breaks, shifts, or several tasks within one day need to remain visible. Weekly, biweekly, and monthly timesheets roll entries into longer reporting or pay periods. The appropriate period comes from the workflow unless a rule, pay arrangement, or contract specifies it.

Daily detail can remain available beneath a longer summary. For covered U.S. employees, 29 CFR 516.2 distinguishes daily hours, weekly totals, and the pay period. That scoped recordkeeping example shows why a weekly or monthly summary need not erase day-by-day data.

Grouping by work answers a different question: where did the time go? A project view brings together time assigned to one deliverable or engagement across calendar periods. A client view may combine several projects, while a task or cost-code view identifies the activity or cost objective within a project. These views matter when a contractor divides a week among clients or a manager compares labor across work items.

Both dimensions can use the same underlying entries. A dated work session might contribute to a weekly payroll total, a monthly client-billing summary, and a project-cost report. The FAR time-and-materials clause offers a narrow U.S. contracting example: it refers to individual daily job records while limiting how often vouchers may be submitted under that clause. Daily detail and a longer billing cycle coexist.

Choose the simplest period and grouping that retains what the next reader needs. Attendance may call only for a date-based view. Hourly billing may also need client and task fields, while project-cost review needs project or code totals.

Choose a capture method

Paper, spreadsheets, and timekeeping software can all hold a timesheet. Match the method to the number of people and entries, the required fields and approvals, and the way data will move into payroll, billing, or project reporting.

Paper can suit a small process or a workplace where a physical record already forms part of the workflow. The organization still needs a way to collect sheets, review totals, retain records, and transfer data when another system needs it. A spreadsheet can group entries, calculate totals, and produce summaries. Someone must own the file, control versions, and check formulas and changes before the data move downstream. In one U.S. federal procurement example, GAO documented an errant formula in an official Excel labor-hours workbook. That finding supports checking the calculations, not treating spreadsheets as inherently inaccurate.

Visibility depends on how entries move. A remote reviewer may not see a paper record until someone circulates it or enters it into another system. A spreadsheet can provide a current shared view when contributors update the same controlled file and the reviewer has access; separate copies or delayed updates remove that benefit. Direct electronic capture can provide more current visibility when entries update promptly and authorized reviewers can see them. In one GAO-described TSA system, badge-swiped attendance and project-code data reached supervisors in near real time. Another GAO review found that an amendment to a hard-copy time card was missed during proxy entry and the discrepancy remained undetected until the review. The example shows what can go wrong when data must be copied between records.

Software can bring data entry, project codes, review steps, permissions, and exports into one configured system. Check whether the particular setup preserves a history of changes, identifies who entered or approved a record, supports the required codes, and exports the right fields. Software does not guarantee those outcomes.

For a larger or more complex process, count the contributors, approvers, work codes, locations, reporting views, and downstream transfers the method must handle while keeping review timely and controlled. Paper or spreadsheets may remain workable at a given volume. A configured system may reduce separate handoffs when its integrations and controls fit the workflow. A USDA OIG report, for example, describes a phased federal project designed to replace separate timekeeping, billing, and paper-capture processes, connect payroll and billing data, and reconcile billing with recorded reimbursable hours. GAO guidance still calls for technology and controls suited to the users, risks, and operating environment. Weak access, configuration, integrations, or review practices can limit a software system regardless of the medium.

The law may permit several methods while a contract or control environment demands more. For covered U.S. FLSA employers, Department of Labor guidance allows any complete and accurate timekeeping plan and does not require a time clock or particular form. In the narrower defense-contract setting, the DCAA Contract Audit Manual discusses traceability, certification, approval, and reconciliation for paper and electronic records.

Before choosing a method, establish who enters time, who may correct it, how corrections remain visible, who reviews the record, and where the approved data go next. Those questions expose the limits of a paper form, shared spreadsheet, or configured system before the workflow depends on it.

How a timesheet moves through a work and payment workflow

The usual sequence is straightforward: record the time, assign it to the right work, complete any required review, and send the approved data to payroll, billing, or project reporting. The organization, contract, and applicable rules determine the exact sequence and what approval means.

Record and code time close to the work

Enter time while the work is still easy to describe and assign. This is an accuracy practice, not a universal legal deadline. It gives the worker a better chance to separate activities, remember the correct client or project, and identify time that belongs under another code.

U.S. government-contractor guidance supplies one scoped example. The DCAA tells employees in the covered setting to record time daily and distribute it by project number, contract name or number, or another assignment identifier. The guidance illustrates the control objective without setting a rule for every employer or contractor.

Code each entry to the work actually performed. If the task changes, split the time among the relevant tasks, projects, clients, or cost codes instead of placing the whole day under the most convenient label. Accurate allocation improves the data available for cost and resource analysis, although those hours remain only one input to project performance or profitability.

For client work, mark time as billable only when the engagement permits the charge. Delivery, internal administration, travel, and other activities may fall on either side depending on the scope and rate terms. FAR 52.232-7 connects payable labor with covered work, labor categories, qualifications, and contract rates in its limited federal context.

Record breaks and time off under the fields, policy, and rules that govern the record. A break is not automatically excluded from work time. Under the U.S. FLSA, for example, short rest periods differ from bona fide meal periods when a worker is fully relieved of duty. Use the designated time-off category where the workflow tracks one rather than recording leave as client delivery.

Review before approval or billing

Review the timesheet when the organization, client, or contract calls for it. The reviewer needs enough knowledge of the work to compare entries with the relevant schedule, assignment, or delivery progress. In a U.S. federal control example, GAO guidance says an authorized official who knows about the recorded time should review and approve time-and-attendance reports and supporting records.

Begin with completeness. Check for missing days or work periods, internally inconsistent totals, and breaks or time off that the process requires. Then compare each work code with the task or project performed. A gap, code mismatch, or unexplained total calls for clarification or correction; none proves misconduct on its own.

Review overtime and billing details separately when they affect the record's use. For covered U.S. employees, 29 CFR 516.2 places daily and weekly hours alongside overtime and payroll information. For hourly client work, compare the billable marker, rate, work category, and hours with the agreement before preparing an invoice. The governing law, agreement, and policy supply the applicable overtime threshold and billing terms.

Regular or round totals need context. Under the FLSA fixed-schedule method, a covered employer may record that the normal schedule was followed but must capture actual deviations. Department of Labor Fact Sheet #21 explains that exception approach. A reviewer can compare the pattern with the schedule and evidence of the work, then correct any real discrepancy.

Approval confirms the record within the workflow that granted it and may release data for payroll processing, invoice preparation, or project reporting. Whether it affects legal pay, invoice validity, or a payment obligation depends on the relevant law, agreement, and any other required controls.

Important distinctions

Several records contain hours, but their role in the workflow differs. Look at what the record captures, who uses it, and whether it documents attendance, allocates work, or requests payment.

Timesheet vs. time card

A time card usually focuses on attendance: when someone started, stopped, and perhaps took a recorded break. A timesheet may contain the same clock-in and clock-out data, then add tasks, projects, clients, cost codes, billable status, totals, or approval details.

If the record mainly answers…	It is often called…	It may also need…
“When was this person at work?”	A time card	Start and stop times, breaks, daily hours
“Where did the work time go?”	A timesheet	Task, project, client, or cost-code allocation
“Is the entry ready for the next step?”	A timesheet	Totals, reviewer, and workflow status where used

The names overlap in practice. One company may call a clock-in record a timesheet; another may call an electronic record with job codes a time card. U.S. recordkeeping rules do not create a hard boundary: 29 CFR 516.6 groups “time and earning cards or sheets” among records of start and stop times or work accomplished.

Use the fields the next user needs. Attendance alone may require only a clock-in and clock-out record. Payroll, client billing, or project costing may also require work allocation. The form's title does not determine its legal effect or adequacy for a particular workflow.

Timesheet vs. invoice

A timesheet records time worked. An invoice asks a client to pay for goods or services. The timesheet is usually an internal or supporting record with dates, hours, work items, and billable status. The invoice is the client-facing payment document and contains the amount sought plus the information required by the agreement, tax rules, and invoicing process.

For an hourly engagement, a contractor may record hours against a client task, complete the agreed review, and use the billable hours and rate to prepare an invoice. The invoice can summarize the billing period while the timesheet retains the detail behind the amount. The agreement decides whether the client receives that underlying record or must approve it before billing.

Record	Main purpose	Typical content
Timesheet	Record work time and its allocation	Dates, hours, task or project, client/code, billable status, and workflow details where used
Invoice	Request payment	Client, billed amount, payment terms, and the agreed billing description or reference

FAR 52.232-7 illustrates the distinction in its limited U.S. federal context: individual daily job records substantiate a voucher, while the voucher is the payment submission. Supporting records can explain an invoice without becoming the invoice.

Keep the records separate even when their figures match. Correcting a task code or time entry changes the supporting record; issuing or revising an invoice follows the billing process. Timesheet approval alone does not create a payment obligation or establish that an invoice is valid.

Billable vs. non-billable time

In hourly services, billable time is time the provider may charge to a client under the engagement. Non-billable time is recorded time that cannot be charged to that client under the same terms. These labels describe client billing; they do not determine how the person doing the work is compensated.

The agreement, statement of work, and billing policy determine the label. Client delivery, administration, proposals, learning, travel, and rework can be billable or non-billable depending on the terms. The example in FAR 52.232-7 ties payable hourly labor to covered work, rates, categories, and qualifications; it is not a universal classification rule.

Recording both categories preserves the reasoning behind a total. A contractor can use the billable hours and agreed rate for an invoice while retaining non-billable hours for internal analysis. A project or operations team can compare the split with its labor plan or examine how much available time went to internal work.

Allocated hours also contribute to labor-cost and resource analysis, as this GAO operational example shows. They do not establish profitability on their own. Revenue, other costs, availability, demand, and commercial terms complete the picture.

Recordkeeping is context-specific

Required fields, retention periods, review steps, and the effect of approval vary by jurisdiction, worker status, agreement, and internal policy. A generic timesheet template can organize information, but it cannot establish compliance, correct classification, proper pay, valid billing, or the correct retention period by itself. Check the rules and terms that govern the specific relationship.

U.S. FLSA recordkeeping example

This example applies only to the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act. For covered nonexempt employees, the employer carries the recordkeeping duty. A contractor's timesheet does not automatically become an FLSA record, and the document does not resolve worker classification. 29 CFR 516.2 defines the scope and records required under that provision.

The FLSA does not prescribe a timesheet form or require a time clock. According to Department of Labor Fact Sheet #21, a covered employer may use a time clock, a timekeeper, or workers recording their own time, provided the plan produces complete and accurate records. Worker self-entry is a permitted method; responsibility for the records stays with the employer.

The record must contain the required information for the covered employee, including hours worked each day and total hours worked each workweek. Related payroll records matter too. Paper, a spreadsheet, and software are methods for maintaining the information. The choice of method does not satisfy the rule on its own.

For an employee on a fixed schedule, the employer may keep the normal schedule and indicate that it was followed. If the employee works more or fewer hours, the record must show the actual daily and weekly hours. Fact Sheet #21 explains this method, and 29 CFR 516.2(c) provides the regulatory text.

State and local laws, other federal requirements, collective arrangements, contracts, and company policy may impose different or additional duties. Apply the rules that govern the particular workers and records rather than carrying this U.S. FLSA example into another jurisdiction or contractor relationship.