Why is everyone so hung up on timesheets?

[d000hg]

It seems to be taken for granted that every contractor has to get timesheets signed weekly, is this actually the case and if so why? I currently don't have to do this with any of my clients but reading CUK, it's standard practice and seems a bit out of place, akin to factory workers punching in/out on their shifts.

Is it an IR35 thing, something that's simply tradition in the UK contracting market, or what?

[jamesbrown]

Timesheets? I avoid them wherever possible.

[doodab]

Agencies and their clients like timesheets as they provide documentary proof that the contractor has done what they are billing for, which reassures the agency that the client isn't going to dispute their invoice. This reassurance is necessary when the agency often has to pay the contractor before the client has paid the agency.

For working direct they generally aren't needed although projects often like to keep track of resources used and the corresponding spend.

[SpontaneousOrder]

Timesheets can be needed too, especially if they are itemised to a degree, in order to capitalise costs for tax purposes. I.e. time I spend working on building a new feature is capitalisable.

[mudskipper]

Agency needs them.

Given that I invoice monthly to a day rate, I redesigned their standard one which was weekly and had start and finished times each day for a one which just has

1-2 Apr - 2 days
5-9 Apr - 4 days

etc.


Both client and agency are happy - saves me hassling client every week for a sig.

[craig1]

I like them. Signed or approved timesheets are a formal record of work done as accepted by the client. That way, if they don't pay an invoice then it's far easier for me to get my money out of them.

On a side-note on this, one way I can tell a good consultancy or supplier providing day-rate work is if they provide me with a Work In Progress summary regularly. The dodgy ones often get huffy about it because it's far harder for them to hide extra bits of in there then invoice it a good bit down the line when people can't clearly remember exactly what was done.

[TheFaQQer]

One agency I was working through had a clause on their timesheet which said something like "I confirm that the hours / days above have been worked to my satisfaction, and the agency can invoice us at the agreed rate" which saves any argument later about whether the work was done or was good enough.

At the moment, I now have an online timesheet to complete each week, but that doesn't link to my invoice in any way.

[VectraMan]

It's one of the things I hated most about contracting. Having to go bother some senior person at the end of the week, or on a Monday morning (or I would miss the deadline for the week) with "can you sign this?". Half the time the person signing wasn't around all week to know if I was there or not. Factory workers have clocking machines so as not to waste manager's time on such trivialities.

If you were all working the way you claim to work, work would be approved when you reached certain milestones in a project. Nobody would be having to agree to your hours.

I don't think the contractors here use timesheets. But then they also don't get paid via an agent.

[d000hg]

It's one of the things I hated most about contracting. Having to go bother some senior person at the end of the week, or on a Monday morning (or I would miss the deadline for the week) with "can you sign this?". Half the time the person signing wasn't around all week to know if I was there or not. Factory workers have clocking machines so as not to waste manager's time on such trivialities.

If you were all working the way you claim to work, work would be approved when you

Yeah, my feelings which motivated the question - it doesn't seem very business-y. In fact having to get approval on such a granular level is almost D&C

[JRCT]

I find it odd, too. The manager that signs mine is in another building and always asks for them to be submitted on a Thursday so he can sign all of his 'group' together on a Friday. Technically, that means I could take every Friday off and he a. would never know and b. has already signed it off.

Also, this is the first one I've had where I have to complete number of hours worked, rather than just tick a box for the day. I always put 7.5 hours, regardless of whether I've worked 5 hours or 10. It is, really, complete balderdash.