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Employee Monitoring Glossary
Timesheet
A record of hours worked per employee per period — the foundation of payroll and client billing. Automated timesheets replace manual entry entirely.
Definition
A timesheet is a record of the hours an employee worked during a pay period or project engagement. It serves as the primary data source for payroll calculation (total hours × hourly rate = pay), for client billing (total billable hours × billing rate = invoice), and for productivity analysis (time allocated per project or task). Traditional timesheets are manual documents filled in by employees; modern automated timesheet software generates them automatically from activity data.
Manual vs Automated Timesheets
| Manual Timesheets | Automated Timesheets | |
|---|---|---|
| Employee effort | 5-15 min/day of admin | Zero — agent records automatically |
| Accuracy | 70-80% — reconstruction gaps | 95-99% — real-time capture |
| Short tasks (<15 min) | Often forgotten | Always captured |
| Manager verification | Manual cross-check required | Activity data provides verification |
| Payroll integration | Manual data entry to payroll system | Direct one-click payroll calculation |