Why should you use Daily Timesheet Templates?
Often, it can be difficult to spot areas for improvement within your daily workflow or to fairly represent the time and effort that you’ve spent working on a project for a client, and that’s where daily timesheet templates come in!
Daily Timesheet Templates help you record the time that assigned workplace tasks take so you can compensate employees accurately and allocate resources appropriately. If you’re a freelancer looking for a way of accurately logging your project work, or a business hoping
to improve efficiency within your company, daily timesheet tracking is a fantastic method of optimizing your working hours.
What are the benefits of using Daily Timesheet Templates?
For any individual, team or organization, time management is a crucial aspect of achieving goals. An effective tool for managing time is a daily timesheet template that allows you to track and record the amount of time you’ve spent on tasks throughout the day.
Timesheets provide employees, businesses, and freelancers with a whole host of benefits. Daily timesheets allow for efficient time management, improved accountability, and accurate billing, allowing you to justify your working hours and spot inefficiencies in your workflow.
Timesheets also enable better project management, and simplified record keeping, which is highly useful for resource allocation, tracking performance and future planning.
How can I use a daily timesheet?
Here are some tips to help you use a daily timesheet template effectively:
Choose a template
There are several daily timesheet templates available that you can customize according to your needs and work requirements! Read more about the different types of timesheets below if you aren’t sure which to pick.
Customize your template
Once you have picked a template, customize it by adding your name, date, and project details. Tip! Make sure to save a timesheet with your name on it as the template to avoid having to add your name to a new timesheet each working day.
Track your working time
Begin tracking your time by recording your working hours on each task you complete each day. You may also want to record any breaks you take during the day too, for further transparency.
Review and analyze your data
At the end of the day, review your data to identify any patterns in your work habits. If suitable, send your daily timesheet to your employer to enable them to approve the timesheet and discuss your workflow with you.
Use the data to improve your productivity
Use the information on your timesheet and any feedback from an employer to identify areas where you could optimize your daily workflow efficiency.
What different types of Daily Timesheet Templates exist?
There are several types of daily timesheet templates that you can use. Each has unique features suited to the type of work you’re undertaking.
Basic Daily Timesheet Template
This is the most common type of daily timesheet template. The basic timesheet usually consists of a table to log daily tasks and may provide columns to include a description of the task, the time you began and finished working on the task, and a summative ‘total time spent on task’ column.
Weekly Timesheet Template
This type of timesheet template is similar to a daily timesheet, except it is designed to track time spent on tasks throughout the week. Weekly timesheets can be helpful for employees paid weekly.
Project-Based Timesheet Template
Project timesheet templates track time spent on specific projects that may be billed differently from an employee’s other work. In a similar way to the daily or weekly timesheets, it can include columns tracking the task description and total time spent on each task.
Employee Timesheet Template
Employee timesheets are used on a larger scale than individual timesheets. These templates are valuable for businesses that need to track their employees’ hours worked each day and may include another column to enter any breaks employees took in the day. Employee timesheets are vital for accurately tracking working hours for the business’s payroll.
Freelancer Timesheet Template
This type of timesheet template is specifically designed for freelancer workers to track the time they spend on their different projects. They are highly useful for freelancers as they allow the worker to justify the bill that they provide to clients for the time spent on a project.
What should I include in a daily timesheet?
To ensure that you’re accurately measuring your daily workflow, it’s important to include details of the following information in every timesheet you produce.
Date
Make sure you include the date of the workday at the top of every timesheet to ensure you have an accurate record of which tasks you completed on a given day.
Project or task undertaken
All daily timesheets should clearly list the project or task that you worked on during the day as this information is essential for tracking progress and paying staff correctly.
Tip! If you worked on the same task at different points in the day, make sure you give the task the same name in both entries.
Time spent
The amount of time you’ve spent on each task is the most crucial piece of information on your daily timesheet, and it should be recorded in hours and minutes. This information helps to track the total number of hours worked in a day or week, allowing employers to pay you accurately and enabling you to identify areas where you could improve your working efficiency.
Notes
It is essential to include comments related to each task that you’ve worked on during the day, as this information allows your employer to understand exactly what work you’ve completed.
Approval
To receive the pay reflected on your list of timesheet tasks, your daily timesheet needs to include a space for a manager or contractor’s approval.
Daily timesheets: The Takeaway
So there you have it! Whether you want to improve less productive areas in your business or working day, or if you simply need a method of accurately billing your employer, using daily timesheet templates can transform your efficiency at work.
By choosing a daily timesheet that suits your needs and following the simple process of logging your working hours on specific tasks, you can ensure that you’re getting the most out of your working life!
