Table of Content

Timesheet

A timesheet is a record of the time a person worked, usually showing dates, start and finish times, breaks, total hours and the job or pay category involved.

A timesheet turns worked time into something a business can review and use. It may support payroll, customer billing, project costing, leave records or compliance checks.

The timesheet records time; it does not decide the correct pay rate or legal entitlement by itself. An award, agreement, contract or workplace rule may determine whether recorded hours are ordinary time, overtime, a penalty period or unpaid time.

Where Timesheets Appear

You may see timesheets in:

  • employee clock-in, mobile time-tracking or weekly entry screens
  • manager approval queues
  • pay runs and payroll reports
  • customer invoices for time-based work
  • project and job-costing reports
  • employment, audit and dispute records

In Australia, Fair Work’s record-keeping guidance says employers must keep specified time and wage records and recommends keeping records of hours worked for all employees. The precise records required depend on the employee and working arrangement.

How A Timesheet Works In Practice

A useful timesheet normally captures:

  1. the employee or contractor
  2. the date and start and finish times
  3. paid and unpaid breaks
  4. the project, location or customer where relevant
  5. the pay item or work category
  6. notes and any supporting evidence
  7. who submitted, changed and approved the entry

After review, approved hours can flow into payroll, an invoice or a project report. Keeping approval separate from entry is a useful control because it gives another person a chance to spot missing breaks, duplicate time or an incorrect job code.

Simple Example

An employee starts at 9:00 am, finishes at 5:30 pm and takes a 30-minute unpaid break. The elapsed time is 8.5 hours, but the paid time recorded is 8 hours.

If the same pattern occurs for five days, the timesheet records 40 paid hours. Whether any of those hours attract overtime or penalty rates depends on the employee’s actual award, agreement or contract; the timesheet should not guess.

Why Timesheets Matter

Accurate timesheets help a business pay people correctly, invoice customers for real work and understand whether a project is profitable. They also create an audit trail showing who recorded and approved the time.

Poor records can cause underpayments, overbilling, lost revenue and unreliable job reports. A neat total is not enough if the start, finish, break or approval details behind it are wrong.

Regional Variations

The concept is universal, but employment record rules differ. Employment New Zealand’s record-keeping guidance requires complete wage, time and leave records and notes that timesheets can make this easier. Ireland, Canada and Singapore have their own requirements for hours and payroll records.

Some systems call the same record a timecard, time log, attendance record or work log. These names can overlap, but a roster is different: a roster shows planned work, while a timesheet shows work recorded as completed.

How Gimbla Can Help

Gimbla lets staff enter timesheets and send approved time into payroll and project workflows. Keeping the employee, job, hours and approval together reduces retyping and makes the final payroll or invoice easier to trace.

Helpful Gimbla Guides

In Short

A timesheet records completed work time so it can be reviewed and used in payroll, billing or job costing. It records the facts; the applicable employment rules determine how those hours are paid.