Time & Money with Timesheets

3 min readNov 6, 2023

Time is money. We all know that, but how often do we actually track our time? Timesheets can help you do just that, and they can be incredibly valuable for both freelancers and managers.

For freelancers, timesheets can help you track your billable hours and ensure that you’re getting paid fairly for your work. They can also help you identify areas where you can be more efficient with your time.

For managers, timesheets can help you track the time your team members are spending on different tasks. This information can be used to improve efficiency, identify potential problems, and make better decisions about resource allocation.

What are Timesheets?

Most of you might be aware about timesheets but in case you heard it here or for the first time from someone.

“A timesheet is a document used to record the amount of time spent on a task or project.”

It can be used for a variety of purposes, such as tracking billable hours, calculating payroll, and estimating project costs.

Why to use Timesheets?

There are a number of benefits to using timesheets, including:

Improved time management: Timesheets can help employees track how they are spending their time, which can help them identify areas where they can be more efficient.
Accurate billing: Timesheets can be used to track billable hours, which can help ensure that employees are paid accurately.
Improved project management: Timesheets can be used to track the time spent on projects, which can help managers estimate project costs and identify potential problems.

Benefits for Managers and Freelancers

For managers, timesheets can help you track the time your employees are spending on different tasks. This information can be used to improve efficiency, identify potential problems, and make better decisions about resource allocation.

Creating value out of Timesheets

Timesheets are a valuable tool for tracking time and money. They can help you to:

Keep track of how you are spending your time
Identify areas where you can improve your productivity
Calculate your hourly rate
Bill clients accurately
Manage your finances

Drawbacks of the Process

Timesheets can be time-consuming to complete, especially if they are not automated.
Employees may not be accurate in tracking their time, which can lead to inaccurate billing or project estimates.
Timesheets can be a source of frustration for employees, who may see them as a bureaucratic burden.
Timesheets can be difficult to manage, especially if they are not properly organized.
Timesheets can be a security risk, as they may contain sensitive information about employees’ work activities.

However, timesheets can also be a valuable tool for businesses, as they can help to track employee productivity, bill clients accurately, and identify areas where efficiency can be improved.

The above said timesheet is a great tool and to make this tool more effective and powerful in day to day use there are few things if implemented can take care of few things out from the cons if not all.

GTD pattern

Most of all might already know the book Getting Things Done by David Allen and the system explained within the book for getting your tasks done. Now we are trying to implement the same on the system of Timesheets which involves

Capturing the information
Processing the Information
Preparing a Plan
Scheduling the execution
Executing the process
Monitoring the Timesheets

In this article I have tried to cover the highlights of Timesheets in a brief. In my upcoming articles I will attempt to go into greater detail regarding Timesheets and explore the possibilities of automating various parts of the process which would increase productivity, make it more scalable and require a lot less work overall.

Hope you found something interesting or learned something from this article, let me know in the comments.