A timesheet is a record of how much time you worked over a period — usually broken down by day, client, project, or task. If you bill by the hour it's the raw material for getting paid; if you manage a team it's the basis for payroll and project costing.
No credit card
Date plus start/end times or total hours.
Who or what the work was for, with a short description.
Whether the time is billable, the hourly rate if billing, and a running total of hours and amount due.
Grouped by period. Weekly is most common for freelancers and payroll.
Grouped by what the time was spent on, so you can see profitability per engagement.
Formats range from paper and spreadsheets to a time-tracking app with a start/stop timer.
A timesheet is a record of how much time you worked over a period - usually broken down by day, client, project, or task. Freelancers and hourly workers use timesheets to track billable hours, and businesses use them for payroll and project costing. The output is a clear total of hours and often the amount owed.
At minimum: the date, who or what the work was for (client or project), a short task description, the hours worked, and whether the time is billable. If you bill by the hour, add the rate and a running total so the timesheet doubles as the basis for an invoice.
The common types are daily, weekly, and monthly timesheets (grouped by period), and project or client timesheets (grouped by what the time was spent on). Formats range from paper and spreadsheets to time-tracking apps that record hours automatically.
Freelancers track billable hours against each client or project, then turn those hours into an invoice. The cleanest setup uses one tool to both track the time and generate the invoice, so the hours flow straight onto the bill instead of being re-typed from a spreadsheet.
No. A timesheet records the hours you worked; an invoice is the bill you send a client to get paid. They are closely linked - a timesheet is usually the source data for an hourly invoice - but the timesheet is internal tracking and the invoice is the client-facing request for payment.