Architekwiki
  • Home
  • WIKI
  • Start Here
  • Resources
  • Other
    • Reading List
    • Ochre >
      • Ochre
      • Ochre KB
      • Ochre FAQs
      • Ochre Help
    • Details
    • The 3 Aspects
    • About
    • Subscription FAQs
    • Terms of Use
  • Subscribe
  • Home
  • WIKI
  • Start Here
  • Resources
  • Other
    • Reading List
    • Ochre >
      • Ochre
      • Ochre KB
      • Ochre FAQs
      • Ochre Help
    • Details
    • The 3 Aspects
    • About
    • Subscription FAQs
    • Terms of Use
  • Subscribe

Architekwiki

A Resource For Architects
Click here to get good stuff in your inbox

Timekeeping

9/9/2018

 
Timekeeping
Click Image For Source
How often do you complete your timesheet?

I personally have used 'twice monthly', 'weekly', and 'daily' timesheets. You are probably different than me; but when I filled out my timesheet it usually went something like this ...

Twice Monthly 
The timesheet had all the firm's projects listed down the left side and all the days of the time period across the top. There were totals for each day and for each project. The format varied over time from paper form, electronic spreadsheet, to software. More about that later. 
  • First, I checked my calendar so I didn't miss anything obvious - holidays, meetings. 
  • Second, I checked my email folder to see what I was doing each day. Hopefully that would bring back a vision of what else was going on that day, or near that day. 
  • Third I reflected on the list of projects one by one - did I do anything on this one? 

My accuracy varied by how often I did this during the time period. 
  • Once - probably 70%, a 'C -', "barely respectable". I didn't miss too many things. How much time I spent on each project per day was 'experienced guesswork', not to be confused with pure guesswork. "General Office" was pretty much used to make up gaps in my memory; but, of course, with an eye to not seeming too non-productive.
  • Every Friday - same process, better results, say, 80%, 'B -', "can do better".
  • Twice weekly - abbreviated process, still better results. 88%, 'B +', "respectable, but not great".

Weekly
Much the same process and results.

​
Daily
Daily - still simpler process. 1) Recollect the day's activities. 2) Maybe glance at email to jog my memory. Results - 95%+.  'A',  "well done".
Twice daily - almost real time logging of results. I'd say 98% accuracy, "just showing off".


It seems that accuracy, at least for me, increases with frequency. Amazing!


Who Cares
Well, who cares are the people that benefit from higher accuracy. The boss(es), the client, maybe you. Here are the benefits.

Less time - Daily Timekeeping takes less time than other timekeeping frequencies because it eliminates 90% of the research you expend trying for a modest degree of accuracy.

More income – virtually nothing falls through the cracks so the firm gets paid for everything it does. More income for the same effort will lead to profit and bonuses. 

More honesty  – we all know that some people ‘game’ the system. When the reporting time frame is a week, two weeks, a month (horrors!), the time sheet exercise becomes more about "what should have happened" or "what you want ‘the boss’ to think happened". It’s a lie that hurts somebody – the client, the firm, co-workers. Trying to operate a firm based on dishonesty is going to undermine the firm's finances eventually. No profit, no bonuses, eventually - layoffs.

More realism – a more realistic view of what is going on is a really good thing for everyone. You can’t fix problems that you don’t know about. Daily timesheets give you information about who’s working on what, and how much time has been spent for the results delivered. Knowing this, you can give kudos, or you can take corrective action.

An Architectural Bookkeeping system uses Daily Timekeeping to manage projects with less effort because everyone is submitting a daily report without any extra effort. 

​Faster invoicing – when all the data is already in, invoicing can be done in a snap. Invoicing once a month means you have a lot of time that you have already paid out through payroll. Don’t wait another week or more before your client even sees the invoice, which is when the meter starts ticking on getting paid. If getting paid drags out too long, you will start thinking you need a 'working capital' loan to fill the gap between spending and income.  Loans are only good for bankers.
​


The How To 
When we first introduced daily time sheets, we were accustomed to twice monthly timesheets that were due on the 1st and the 16th.

The bitching was magnificent! 

"The problems!   The extra time!   The disruptions!" 

In less than one month everyone was on board and the world didn’t end as predicted.

​Make the new rule clear, set an example, and dun any slackers until they decide compliance is the lesser of two evils. Use embarrassment if needed. Every morning we sent a group email reminder about daily timesheets and listed who was missing timesheets. 
​​
Timekeeping
The Ideal Option
Here is the ideal - a cloud-based app. This means the software is accessed through your browser or a mobile app that runs on your phone or tablet. There is no software to maintain, no servers to own and your data is backed-up for you better than you would on your own; but you can still save your data by exporting it.

Once or more a day, you open the app in the browser you already use. This means you can be anywhere there is internet, or, if using your phone or tablet, you can be anywhere with a cellular signal. With a few clicks and key strokes you enter the projects/phases/tasks/hours and maybe a description of what you worked on recently. DONE. A few times a month you open a new project or phase. Until Google can record all this for you as you work, this is as simple as timesheets get. 

Admittedly the time entry process isn't much different than any other option you have used. The simplicity of the Ideal Option comes from avoiding all the other hassles that other methods have - interpreting new 'penciled-in' entries, compiling everyone's time by project, updating the timesheet form or spreadsheet, software and server 'overhead'. 

Above is the Timesheet page of the Ochre app that I have developed. You can test drive the whole app here to see what I am talking about..

Of course, the fact that your time is stored and compiled every day is an enormous advantage. Not even the expensive accounting systems that I am familiar with let you see your month to date results any time that you like. (Accounting requires 'posting'.) It is really nice to know how the month, and each project, is going without waiting for the invoicing process to finally show you the historical data. ​
Picture

Comments are closed.
    Resources

    Start Here

    YouTube Channel

    Join The Mailing List

    Picture

    Terms of Use
    Your use of Architekwiki is implicit agreement with the 
    ​
    Terms of Use.
    Thank You for your donation

    x
    Get Good Stuff in Your Inbox
    Picture
    Subscribe

    RSS Feed


    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    Categories

    All
    Business Development
    Business Management
    Design
    Detail
    Miscellaneous
    Project Management
    Resources

Picture

Picture
VISIT ARCHITEKWIKI'S RESOURCES
​
START HERE
ABOUT
SIGN UP
TERMS OF USE
Architekwiki | Architect's Resource | Greater Cincinnati 
© 2012-2022   Architekwiki​