Online Timesheet

Term Definition
Online timesheets provide a  web-based or online method to track hours worked. This can be through the Internet or a company intranet. Online timesheets can interface with a company's payroll applications, which eliminates duplicate data entry and reduces payroll errors. Employees enter their time online and from any location. The online timesheet application will calculate hours worked, overtime, and paid time off facilitating compliance.

Timesheets were originally developed for employers to track the number of hours worked for payroll. However timesheets are no longer used just for payroll. Timesheets are used to record the start and end time of tasks or simply the duration of the task. Timesheets may contain a detailed breakdown of tasks accomplished by the individual(s) who worked on the task. The information can be used for project costing, job estimation, tracking, management, client billing and payroll.

Tracking time can reduce an  organization's costs by making payroll processing more efficient, by making costs visible so you can lower them, and by automating billing & invoicing. Tracking time can also increase revenue through automated billing. Automated billing facilitates client invoicing by providing access to accurate data for all the hours worked by the consulting staff. This in turn expedites the invoicing process avoiding billing backlog. In turn, payments are received much faster and the inconvenience of missed bills is eliminated. Online timesheets provide an additional advantage of allowing employees to track time from any location. This is critical when organizations have consultants or off-site employees.

Timesheets are a great asset in project management. In addition to providing data about the amount of time devoted to tasks, and hence the costs associated with those tasks, timesheets can also be used to build a body of knowledge about how much effort tasks take to develop. For example, if developing a training plan has historically taken a month, then it can be assumed that creating a new one will take a month.

Area of Application
Project Accounting
Timesheet Policy

Related Terms
Timecard
Time Sheet
Web Timesheet