Professional Service Timesheet

Term Definition
A Professional Service Timesheet is used to track time and expenses for professional services, which are then billed to the client. A timesheet improves project execution, decision-making and compliance with labor and government regulations. A professional service timesheet can be manual, electronic or part of an integrated time tracking software. Professional service timesheets enable you to track items such as an employee's time, project costs, profit margins, the current state of progress on the project, and materials cost. A professional service timesheet is a record that you can use to bill the client, and as a historical record, to find out how much time and money you spent on a project, which can help you to accurately quote similar projects in the future.

Billing in professional services organizations depends on detailed time and expense data. This data is tracked and then billed to specific customers. The data is tracked through time and billing applications, which can be manual, electronic, or web-based. Time and billing software is often used and is helpful to organizations with little to no product inventory to sell and maintain.

Small to mid-sized companies use spreadsheets to track work, expenses, and leave time. The information is then reentered or manually imported from spreadsheet files into the company's accounting, payroll and project systems. This process is highly error prone and can result in significant payroll and billing errors and lost or duplicate entries; consolidating this kind of data later, frequently results in conflicts and errors that are often difficult to identify or address. A time tracking software that is integrated with your accounting system and provides point of entry data validation, policy-based approval, and notification setup will eliminate such errors. Studies have shown that eliminating duplicate systems, manual processes and entry/approval errors can save you up to 3% of total payroll costs and increase your billable hours by as much as 4%.

Area of Application
Project Management
Time and Expense