Timesheet and Reporting Template.

Timesheets, whilst painful, can offer a lot of benefits. We spoke about these benefits in a recent blog post (Time for timesheets). Whilst they also have a number of benefits, we need to be careful on how we introduce timesheets back into an audit team, particularly for those audit teams who have not previously had timesheets.

A good timesheet system can also be expensive. Whilst there are specific tools available, and teams can even purchase add on’s such as Timesheet for Microsoft SharePoint, reality is many teams will not want to purchase any systems; particularly where there is no chance of the costs being recovered. This is where we turn once again to our best friend, Microsoft Excel.

We have developed a simple, yet effective, Excel tool which allows audit team members to record time and have this translated into meaningful reporting for the management team to use. The reporting can assist in annual planning and ensure that the annual plan is both achievable and realistic, and based off the average time taken to complete a review as per the weekly timesheets.

Whilst our templates do require some manual intervention, we have develop some simple instructions to ensure the process is not too labour intensive and can be completed quickly. At the end of the day, timesheets should not take away from actually performing audit work.

Below is an overview of what the timesheet template and reporting dashboard looks like.

A copy of the free template can be viewed here.

To purchase an editable version of this template (and obtain the instructions), please click here.

This set of templates and reporting is quite basic, however it has the added benefit of being flexible and adaptable to suit the needs of you and your department.