My first week of trying to keep a timesheet has not gone well. I tend to move from one thing to another and I did not keep a record of time I started and finished one task and moved to another.
The last time I kept a time sheet was many years ago as an internal auditor. Even then I had difficulty in keeping a timesheet. In the end completing them was guess work. I just made sure I was inputting the budgeted time in order not to have an uncomfortable discussion with my ass of a manager.
There is also the terrible feeling that my life is ticking away, with each second that passes away I have less time left in this world. That is the reality but I just do not want a constant reminder of it by keeping a time sheet.
I see the importance of keeping track of time to assess how time is used and through this hopefully workout how efficiencies can be achieved. Without data it is difficult.
Do you think it is worth keeping timesheets? Do you keep them? How do you do it?
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Replies (8)
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I have Digita Practice Management
This means that as long as you enter your time on an Outlook like calendar and issue invoices using Digita then you can compare a notional charge out rate automatically and you have all the reports you would possibly need. Before I used to keep notes of time on paper and transfer them to spreadsheets for each client each day.
Why don't you try one of the following?
http://www.nchsoftware.com/timesheet/index.html
http://www.tbookman.co.uk/
https://www.toggl.com/
For free:
http://freelanceswitch.com/productivity/6-cool-tools-to-track-your-time/
I was recommended ...
... four four time on AW a while ago
You can download a free trial here
It is a simple program, like a stopwatch you click at the start and end of a job, it does the rest.
http://www.fourfourtime.co.uk/aboutsoftware.htm
No, No, No
Crikey!
What made you want to fill in a timesheet, are you not your own boss? (even the Aweb spellchecker thinks its wrong!)
I was an AVN member more than 10 years ago and one of the things I took away from it was to fix fees and not keep timesheets. I still keep a rough time record on some (not all) clients but that is against the job and not trying to allocate every last minute of the day because as the principal you are going to have a lot of non-chargeable time. If your productivity is ok then what benefit do you gain from keeping a timesheet?
Do you staff at the moment? It may be worth getting them to keep a timesheet, but I am not even sure about that - for me it would depend on how closely you work together, how many staff there are and if you have concerns about their efficiency.
How is tax return season going - are you chivvying those clients who are slow? Are you focussing on what needs to be done in the next couple of months? I did my chasing letters (not email, I think a letter has more impact) last week which told clients that if they don't get accounts and tax information to me by the end of November I cannot guarantee submission by the end of January, do you encourage your clients in the same way?
Tim
I think ...
.. you need to know FirstTab and have read all his posts, then you wouldn't ask this question as you would know why. Don't just see the word time-sheet and start berating them using your assumptions (one shilling's enough, we don't need a florin!).
He struggles with organising his day and allocating work flow and I think he wants the timesheet more as a aide to efficient working rather than as any costing or pricing tool. If he records what he does honestly during the day he can see where the time goes and address efficiency issues.
Timesheets good; no timesheets bad
"If your productivity is ok then what benefit do you gain from keeping a timesheet?"
You are able to know whether you should be doing the work at that price.
You are able to quantify whether your costs can be reduced by ensuring different information is provided.
Time is an important resource for an accountant. Just because a client doesn't care about how long you take it doesn't mean you should take longer than necessary because clients keep poor records.
If an accountant says that they don't care how long they take to do a job, they don't like timesheets so they won't keep them, they want to be focused on the job for the clients benefit, then that is their decision.
My view is that I can only do so much work in the time available and is important that I know what money I can earn in that time so my pricing should reflect that. If I have the chance of three jobs for (a) £500, (b) £1,000 and (c) £1,200 and my estimate is that (a) will take 10 hours, (b) will take 15 hours and (c) will take 25 hours and I only have 25 hours free then I will take (a) and (b) and reject (c). If I wanted to take all three jobs and take on staff then I would consider the time the staff took and what their costs are. If other other people want to not keep timesheets and use guesses then they are welcome to it but I prefer to use the same approach as I would recommend to my clients.
It's weird if accountants recommend understanding profitablility to their clients yet refuse to do the same themselves.
I will be going to an AVN seminar next week but if I get told that I shouldn't keep timesheets without a compelling reason I will continue to record my time. I am not gullible enough to be brainwashed.
I think an email has sufficient impact. I've yet to know a client who doesn't respond to emails to respond to letters. Maybe visiting the client will have more impact? Offering to go through their paperwork and find the information needed may focus their minds.
Clear desk
Firstly I'd second the use of the Four Four Timer (though sometimes I forget to turn it on and other times I forget to turn it off!).
But, maybe the problem is more to do with what you say about moving from one thing to another? You'd find it easier to record your time if you only had one job on the go. I bet you have several jobs on your desk at one time and flick between them? I have to admit if I have anything other than a tidy, relatively empty desk I can't work. If you clear your desk completely apart from the one part of the one job that needs doing, and then work on that until you've done as much as you can (i.e. until you have to stop because of missing info or whatever if you can't actually finish the job) you'd be more productive and find it easier to record your time. If you're the sort of person that gets distracted easily then the more potential distractions on your desk the less you'll achieve.
And I'm with Peter on the reasons for recording time.
Drawers
I have drawers A4 size and 1.5" or 2.5" deep. I also have a DYMO labeller and I put papers in each temporary client drawer which is in alphabetical order to work on when I have time. I have a list of clients who have sent me their data and I prioritise these and work through them. I try to keep my desk clear like that.
Eureka
I use Eureka to record time worked. I find the reports really useful as a billing guide and as a guide to how close I was to my fee estimates for fixed fee clients. It also helps focus on areas such as bookkeeping, for which I tend to charge a monthly fixed fee. If the time goes awry on those jobs because the client transaction turnover has increased I can address it sooner rather than later and it helps avoid awkward conversations. I bill through Eureka and I keep the timesheet entry open as I work so that I can record time as I go along. I also record non chargeable time spent on the business so that I can see how much time the business actually takes to run. How many times have you got to the end of the day with hardly any chargeable work to show, and that leaves you feeling deflated, but you may have had a couple of new client appointments, done some client contact work that may have turned out to be fruitful, all positive time that provides a contribution to the business just as much as chargeable client work. Recording non-chargeable work also stops me getting bogged down in the mire of admin and helps me focus on what is really important.