Our agency is instituting a policy to complete timesheets every day going forward... I can't even get myself to do it diligently on a weekly basis. This might just help but I can't understand why this change is happening. What does this mean? Any ideas?

Am I the only one who completes timesheets in about 90 seconds? I get that it’s one more thing on your to-do list, but complaining about timesheets takes more time than completing them.

They’re running a business. Simply put, creative professionals that don’t complete their timesheets…won’t be a creative very long in this environment

Maybe it simplifies payroll calculations? Or daily data could help managers pinpoint inefficiencies or bottlenecks in workflows? Can't think of other reasons why either.

It's possible someone decided to keep a closer eye on costs and you can't cut something unless you measure it first. It's hard to know whether it's some kind of ominous signal. But generally speaking, when an organization starts keeping closer records of things it's not just to have fun doing it.

Daily is kinda nuts but timely time entry helps billing, projections, and managing workflow. Also, I’d say you’re likely to be more accurate in your billing. Like I know that when I get backed up on time entry, some weeks I’ll just be like “eff it, that’s 40 hours, save and exit” and probably leave some billable time on the table.

Revenue and invoicing. Some agencies invoice based on work completed (hours entered into the timesheet). Especially true for agencies with a fixed fee pricing model. It also helps with overall project health - agencies need to track whether a project is running hot so they can stay within the agreed upon budget. Weekly timesheets are normal and I think daily is excessive. But I will never understand why creatives complain so much about doing them. It’s tedious, but it also gets you paid.

yeah I agree, it sounds like they are looking to figure out where they might be able to cut costs. Though on the other hand I also just think it's good for everyone to be more accountable on a daily basis to stay organized, but yeah they're probably looking to figure out cost saving

As a whole you could just be really bad at submitting timesheets and this is the crackdown. I’ve been to places that threatens these policies, it never sticks though, because unlocking every creative out of their machines on a daily basis requires IT to staff up.

My guess is they’re tracking over burning of hours in order to be leaner/more profitable.

There’s a whole slew of reasons coming from a corporate overload place. However, one thing I’ve noticed is that clients are moving away from AOR and more towards project based. And when you sell your senior experienced people in a pitch for project based work, you start to nickel and dime everyone’s time just to figure out how much business you can put each person on. It’s a cycle.

Well, honestly, if you’re having problems getting your timesheet in on time each week, it means other people are as well so your company changed the policy because they’re sick of all the late timesheets so they’re gonna have you do them every day and order to save themselves the hassle