A timesheet is a claim about how long work took. The worker creates the entry, while a client or employer uses it to decide what to pay.
When the entry comes from memory and contains little detail, the person reviewing it has no way to understand what happened. This can create doubt even when the entry is honest.
A four-hour entry gets less evidence than dinner
A client dinner comes with a receipt showing the amount, date, and restaurant. Firms keep it so someone can review the expense without relying on the employee's memory.
The four hours billed for the meeting before that dinner may be worth more, yet the supporting record is often a duration and a short description written days later. If a client asks what the time covered, the firm has to reconstruct the answer.
A contemporaneous work record gives the firm more detail. It can show which client and project were involved, what task was performed, and how long the work took.
Weak records create avoidable disputes
Clients question vague invoice lines because they cannot connect the charge to work they recognise. Partners question large or late entries because they cannot tell whether the duration is complete, rounded, or assigned correctly.
The worker is also exposed. Careful professionals often round down when they are unsure or omit short tasks that are hard to remember. Their timesheet then understates work they completed.
A detailed record gives both parties something specific to review. Questions can focus on the task, scope, or project instead of the worker's credibility.
A work record should not become surveillance
Collecting work data creates a privacy risk if managers receive raw activity or continuous access to a worker's screen. Productivity scores, keystroke counts, and live monitoring are designed to judge behaviour.
Timeglass uses work visible on screen to prepare timesheet entries. The worker reviews those entries before releasing them, and managers receive the approved time record rather than a live activity feed.
This gives the firm more support for the final timesheet while keeping raw capture under the worker's control.
The controls that matter
Workers need to know who can see captured activity, when managers receive records, and how long the underlying data is retained.
Timeglass lets workers pause capture and exclude applications, websites, or displays. Captured activity stays private until the worker reviews and releases the resulting entries.
Retention settings control how long captured data remains available. The product creates time and project records; it does not produce a productivity score for managers.
The security page documents these controls and the order in which captured activity becomes an approved record.
Better records make review more specific
When a client questions an invoice, the firm can explain the work using entries prepared while the task was still visible. When a project exceeds its budget, the team can review the recorded scope and activity.
The worker benefits from the same detail because short tasks and fragmented work are less likely to disappear from the timesheet. The final record still carries their approval.
See how Timeglass prepares reviewed time records from work on screen.
Common questions
FAQ
Why is time tracking a trust issue?
A memory-based timesheet gives the person paying little information beyond a duration and description. If the entry is vague or late, the reviewer may have no way to understand what the billed time covered.
How can a firm prove billable hours to a client?
A firm can keep reviewed entries drafted from work visible on screen and assigned to the correct client and project. Those entries provide details the firm can use when explaining an invoice.
Is proof-of-work tracking the same as employee surveillance?
No. A worker-controlled system keeps raw activity private, lets the worker pause or exclude capture, and sends managers approved time records instead of a live activity feed or productivity score.
Does automatic time tracking help employees or only employers?
It can help both. Firms receive more detailed time records, while workers are less likely to omit short tasks or round down work they completed. The worker should still review every entry before release.
