Struggling to Track Consultant Hours? Seeking Tools and Tips for Accurate Timekeeping

My friend is going to start a consultancy. He is planning to hire consultants who will work for his clients.

Consultant Duty Hours

Now, the question is, will their duty hours differ each day? Some days, a consultant may work for 2 hours, while on other days, he may work for 4 hours. Consultants mostly work at the client's place.

Charging Clients Based on Hours Worked

My friend wants to charge the client based on the total number of hours the consultant dedicates to his work. However, he is struggling to find a solution on how to keep track of the total number of hours the consultant has worked.

Seeking Suggestions and Tools

Do you have any suggestions? Are there any tools/software available for this purpose? Also, will the client have to approve the working hours daily with this method?

This is an interesting requirement. You can look for timesheet applications, or you can generate an Excel sheet with a weekly timesheet report. A standard day is 8.5 hours, and a week is 42.5 hours. You can allot one timesheet per consultant per client and evaluate the hours on a weekly, fortnightly, or monthly basis for billing to the client.

You can generate an Excel report with information such as:
- Time Sheet No:
- Submission Date:
- Consultant Name:
- Consultant ID:
- From Date - To Date
- Client Name:
- Location:
- Project Title:
- Weekly Time Schedule:
- DD-MM Mon / DD-MM Tue / DD-MM Wed / DD-MM Thu / DD-MM Fri / DD-MM Sat / DD-MM Sun: Total Hours
- Comments and Remarks
- Consultant Signature
- Manager Signature
- Client Signature
- Accounts Signature

Hi Hussain, first of all, thank you. Let me tell you what I understood from your post:

1. Each consultant will have a paper-based timesheet.
2. Daily, he will enter his working hours on his own.
3. He will present the timesheet for approval to the client.
4. Once he gets approval from the client, the consultant will have to seek approval from his manager.
5. Once the manager and client approve, he will get paid.

Why should the accounts person be involved in this? Not involving them creates problems in the later stages.

Yes, you have understood the process correctly as per your company's procedures. However, the approval sequence depends on your company's specific process. Once the consultant completes the timesheet, it should be submitted to the manager for review to determine if the hours charged are appropriate or not (there must be a policy on chargeable and non-chargeable hours).

After the manager's review, the timesheet can be forwarded to the client for approval. The accounts department then comes into play for maintaining accounts receivable records, which depends on your payment terms and conditions with the client. The accounts department receives the final approved timesheet for billing or invoicing to the client.

This process may seem like a lot of paperwork and passing around timesheets, consuming time, etc. To streamline this process, one can automate it by utilizing timesheet applications available in the market. Soft copies of timesheets can be forwarded between the concerned parties for e-approvals. Additionally, you can manage the records and database of both present and past timesheets for reference in completed projects and quoting pricing for future projects.

Considerations for Timesheet Management

Your query has a very exhaustive answer, as many considerations need to be taken into account:

- Set clear policies on chargeable and non-chargeable hours.
- Determine daily and weekly standard hours, overtime hours, and the percentage of billing, respectively.
- Ensure accurate and timely submission of timesheets on approved dates to all parties.
- Strong coordination is required between consultant-manager-client to approve timesheets and send for collections.
- Record, file, and retrieve timesheet data for present and future references.

I hope this information was helpful.