Timesheets your team submits on time
What this feature does
A timesheet collects your team's hours by project and task, ready for review. Managers approve the week, and approved periods lock so nobody can edit them once an invoice has gone out. Every change is recorded, so the number you billed is the number you can prove.
Implements timesheet locking, securing database logs against accidental or unauthorized edits after billing.
How to set up timesheets in TimeTracker
Open the weekly grid
The timesheet shows one row per project and task, with a column for each day of the week.
Fill the week
Type hours into the cells, or press Copy last week to bring the same rows forward as blank drafts.
Submit the week
Submitting moves the week from draft to submitted and sends it to your approver.
Approve or send it back
The approver approves the week, asks for changes, or reopens one that was closed too early.
What admins and owners see
See why a week looks odd
Submitted entries carry flags for a missing description, no task, going past the estimate, or a day above 12 hours.
Send a week back with a reason
Asking for changes returns the week to the person who filed it, with your note attached to it.
Lock the period once it is settled
Closing the period locks approved entries, so the numbers behind an invoice cannot move later.
What your team sees day to day
Copy last week
Copy last week brings the same project and task pairs forward. Anything already in the week is skipped.
Clear a row you do not need
Blanking a cell removes the draft row again, so a copied week does not leave empty lines behind.
Popular features
Employee time tracking your team will actually use
One click starts a timer, or people type hours in by hand. Every entry ties to a client, project, and task, so the record stays clean.
Explore Time Tracking→See where the time really goes
Break hours down by client, project, and team member. Find the work that pays off and the projects that run over.
Explore Reports & Dashboards→
Keep projects on track and in budget
Define project phases, set budget caps, and track work progress in real-time. See margins and utilization without building reports manually.
Explore Project Management→Configure custom rates for every agreement
Manage complex billing agreements with ease. Set client rates, assign member role pricing, and handle multi-currency projects with zero confusion.
Explore Rates→Invoicing software that bills from tracked hours
Approved time turns into itemised invoice lines with tax and multiple currencies handled for you. Check it over, then send it.
Explore Invoicing→Bill for every hour you earn
Mark each entry billable or non-billable while you work. Approved hours roll straight into reports you can bill from.
Explore Billing→Expense management software built for client work
Log a cost against the project it belongs to, attach the receipt, and send it for approval. Approved expenses go on the client invoice.
Explore Expenses→A worked example
A short Thursday changes the week
Week 28 shows 8.0 hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. A 5.0 hour Thursday brings the week to 37.0 hours and marks it as undertime. A 10.0 hour Thursday would total 42.0 instead and raise an overtime warning. Derek Mullins submits the week, and Karen Whitfield approves it.
Limits and edge cases
- Only approved time locks when a period closes. Draft and submitted rows are left alone.
- Copy last week only copies into your own week, never into somebody else's.
- Copied rows start at zero hours and stay blank until you type a duration in.
- A fix made after a lock is recorded as a separate adjustment, not an edit to the original row.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the 7 minute rule for timesheets?
- It is the US convention of rounding clock times to the nearest quarter hour, so minutes 1 to 7 round down and 8 to 14 round up. TimeTracker rounds to 6, 15 or 30 minutes and stores the exact duration alongside the rounded one. Our guide to what a timesheet is works through an example.
- How do I lock timesheets in TimeTracker?
- Send the period for approval. Once an approver signs it off, the entries lock against edits and every change is recorded, so the hours you billed from cannot quietly change later.
- Can team members edit locked timesheets?
- No, locked logs require admin overrides to change. Read about time tracking on the time tracking page.
- How do timesheet approvals feed invoicing?
- Approved hours compile automatically into invoice records. Learn about billing on our billing page.
- Does timesheet locking support custom lock rules?
- Yes, you can lock logs by date ranges. See invoicing details on our invoicing page.
- How do project leads approve timesheets?
- Leads can verify logs in the manager dashboard. Learn about project management on the project management page.
- Can I export approved timesheets to reports?
- Yes, approved entries compile cleanly into reports. Read about reporting on our reports page.
- Does timesheet logging support client tags?
- Yes, tags organize logs by activity type. See organization options on our use cases page.
- How do freelancers import client timesheets?
- Not through an importer, so most freelancers start fresh here and keep the old records where they are. Everything tracked here exports to CSV. See the freelancer page.
- Is timesheet locking included on the free tier?
- Basic approvals are free, while compliance locking is premium. Check the pricing page.
Start tracking time today
Set up TimeTracker in minutes and put timesheets to work. Track hours by client, project, and task, and bill for every hour your team works.
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