How to Get Employees to Submit Timesheets on Time: 10 Ways

Timesheets are documents that employees fill in with the hours they have worked.

Submitting timesheets is important because it ensures employees are paid accurately for their work and provides information about time spent on projects and billable hours, which is important for client billing.

Making sure your employees are at the top of their time management game and that you always receive employee timesheets on time can be challenging, but there are ways to do it.

We’ve compiled a list of 10 top ways to get employees to submit timesheets on time. They are:

1. Reminders
2. Automatic time tracking
3. Clear communication
4. Accountability
5. Guidelines and training
6. Support
7. Feedback and continuous improvement
8. Incentives and consequences
9. Designated timesheet day
10. Manager check-ins 

Read on to find out more.

Reminders and tools

One of the biggest reasons employees fail to send their timecards on time is that they simply forget. Simple reminders and automatic time tracking can overcome this challenge.

1. Reminders

Regularly reminding your staff to send their timesheets is a good way to ensure they submit them on time. 

You can achieve this by emailing a timesheet reminder email to those who haven’t submitted, creating an automated reminder message in your #general Slack channel for a day or two before the due date, or providing a friendly reminder of the deadline during your team meetings.

If staff members forget to track their time, using time tracking reminders like those offered by Toggl Track are handy. The automatic reminders are available via the desktop app and the Chrome extension.

2. Automatic time tracking

Using time-tracking software to track time automatically helps ensure employees don’t forget. Eliminating manual processes with automated timesheets can reduce the potential for human error and data inaccuracy.

Toggl Track’s timeline feature on its desktop apps automatically captures your activity. The captured activity is private to your account and helps you recollect what you spent your time on. You can also share specific activities as time entries with your manager. 

Automating your employee time-tracking process using a tool like Toggl Track makes timesheets easier to manage and more easily accessible by employees and management and ensures accurate timesheet data.

Strategies to ensure employees submit timesheets on time

Sometimes, your employees don’t submit their timesheets on time because they don’t understand why they’re needed. This can be especially true for salaried employees who are paid a set amount regardless of their hours.

Here are some strategies to help.

3. Clear communication

Submitting timesheets on time is important, so ensure this fact is communicated to all employees.

Explain how delayed timesheet submissions can impact payroll, project management, and business operations.

Here’s an email template you can edit and send out to your company:

Hi Team,

I wanted to take a moment to explain why submitting your timesheets on time is so important.

For you:

• It ensures your work is properly accounted for, so there’s no delay in payroll or recognition of your contributions.
• It helps us balance workloads more fairly and avoid last-minute stress for you and the rest of the team.

For the company:

• Timely timesheets allow us to bill clients accurately and on schedule, directly impacting cash flow and our ability to take on new projects.

By staying on top of this, we can keep things running smoothly for everyone. I appreciate your help with this!

Best,

[Your Name]

If staff members continually fail to submit their timesheets on time, clearly reiterate the above.

Additionally, highlight the benefits of timesheets, such as transparency.

4. Accountability

Just as you hold employees accountable for submitting their work on time, you should do the same for their timesheets. 

Set deadlines for timesheet submissions and hold your employees accountable for meeting them. Make sure they understand the consequences of failing to do so.

Check out this email template:

Hi Team,

I hope you’re doing well! I wanted to send a quick reminder about our monthly timesheet submission deadline. All timesheets must be submitted by the last Friday of each month.

Meeting this deadline is crucial to ensure payroll runs smoothly and we can bill clients on time. If timesheets aren’t submitted before the deadline, it can delay your pay and cause unnecessary complications for you and the company.

Let’s work together to keep things running efficiently by submitting timesheets before the deadline. If you have any issues, please reach out so we can help.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Best regards,

[Your Name]

HR Manager

5. Guidelines and training

Training your employees to fill their timesheets with the correct data and ensuring they know when to submit them is crucial for maintaining timely submissions.

Alternatively, you can use a time tracking software like Toggl Track which makes it easy to track time spent on tasks and projects with start/stop timers and comes with an automated timesheet approval process.

Clear policies and guidelines should be established from the get-go, and every employee should understand the importance of accurate time tracking and on-time timesheet submissions from the moment they join your company.

During an employee’s onboarding process, cover these guidelines and ensure they know how to log hours and track their tasks so you can avoid delays down the line. It may be useful to test them on this to ensure everything is understood. 

Consider creating a Loom video explaining how to fill a timesheet that employees can reference.

6. Support

It’s vital that your staff can reach out if they have issues with their timesheets, so you should either provide a central point of contact (such as someone in your HR or Payroll department) or a helpdesk where employees can ask questions.

Secondly, it’s important that timesheets and time tracking are not time-consuming. Ensure they can be quickly filled (ideally automatically) and are available anywhere, anytime. 

A convenient way to do this is by integrating your time-tracking tool with other daily tools your employees use.

For example, Toggl Track can integrate with several popular apps through native integrations, browser extensions, automation apps, and third-party integrations. Integrations include Asana, GitHub, Google Calendar, Notion, and Jira.

7. Feedback and continuous improvement

Gathering employee feedback about the time tracking and timesheet process is crucial for ensuring it works for everyone. It also allows you to improve and make adjustments if necessary.

Regularly review and improve the submission process and address recurring issues.

You can send feedback requests via email, include a section about timesheets in your monthly pulse surveys, or simply use a Slack poll and follow up with those who report issues.

Now, let’s look at how to motivate employees to submit timesheets on time.

Employee motivation tips

It’s all well and good to have robust guidelines and processes in place, but if your employees aren’t motivated to submit on time, you’ll probably struggle.

Here are some tips to motivate your team to submit timely.

8. Incentives and consequences

Late timesheets can hold up payroll processing for the entire team and sometimes the whole company.

It’s, therefore, a good idea to strictly handle instances when employees don’t meet the timesheet deadline, such as writing them up. However, you cannot withhold pay for late timesheet submissions, so look for other ways to discipline tardy employees.

Alternatively, you can offer small incentives for employees who submit on time, like a shout-out in team meetings or a small bonus gift card if they’re on time all year.

9. Designated timesheet day

Consistency is often key to making things happen on time. Therefore, a good tactic for ensuring the timely submission of timesheets is to designate a specific day of the week or month as ‘Timesheet Day.’ Encourage everyone to complete their submissions that day.

If your company requires monthly timesheets, you could specify a range of a few days (say, the 20th to the 25th or the 1st to the 5th) for timesheet submission to give your employees a better chance of submitting them on time.

10. Manager check-ins

Having your managers check in with their team is a great way to help them stay on track with their timesheets and ensure you address any issues before they evolve into bigger problems.

This is where Toggl Track’s Reports page is beneficial. Here, you can view a Summary report, a Detailed report, and a Weekly report showing different information about your team’s activities. 

You can filter this information to see exactly what you need so managers can assess how their team tracks their time and look for patterns that may indicate someone is having issues.

Users can also view recent time entries in the Time Activity tab to review Activity by User.

Why don’t employees submit timesheets on time?

Many employees don’t like filling out timesheets even though they know it’s a key part of their workday. This, in turn, makes them hesitant to submit them.

Here are some key reasons why employees are not submitting timesheets on time:

• It disrupts their workflow: Filling out a timesheet after each different task throughout the day is tedious, and it often disrupts the flow of work, making it hard for them to jump back into what they are doing.
• They don’t know how to do it correctly: Timecards can be intimidating if you’re new to them, especially as they are linked to your pay amount.
• They don’t understand why: Have you ever found yourself reluctant to do something when you don’t see the purpose? It’s the same for your employees if they don’t see the benefit of filling out a timesheet — their motivation is low.
• They fear negative consequences: Sometimes, employees worry that completing their timesheet will make them look bad at their job if they take too long on a task. 
• It’s time-consuming: Employees would rather spend their time carrying out their core responsibilities instead of filling out their timecards as it can be a lengthy process and, therefore, a low priority.

Now, let’s look at how you can handle employees who consistently submit their timesheets late.

How do you handle employees who don’t submit timesheets on time?

We’ve covered the methods and strategies for encouraging timely timesheet delivery above, but if you’re still having issues, here are some steps you can take:

• Ensure deadlines are clear: Set and communicate them via multiple channels.
• Reach out to employees directly: If the deadline is approaching, don’t be afraid to send them a direct message asking for their timesheets.
• Conduct refresher training: Conduct a timesheet refresher course for employees who are consistently late.
• Streamline the process: Find a better, more user-friendly time-tracking system, like Toggl Track. It even has a mobile app for Android and iOS!
• Address underlying issues: Besides the feedback loop, you can conduct one-on-one meetings with staff who repeatedly miss deadlines.
• Progressive discipline: Implement a system where initial infractions result in a warning, leading to more serious consequences for repeat offenders. Tie timesheet submissions into performance reviews to highlight their importance.

What are the benefits of timely timesheet submission?

When your employees consistently submit their timesheets on time, you gain a range of benefits, from accurate payroll processing to better project management.

Here are the key benefits of having employees submit their timesheets on time:

• Accurate payroll processing: Payroll can be processed on time, meaning employees receive their pay accurately and on the expected date, enhancing employee trust and satisfaction. It also helps minimize the need for reprocessing due to errors.
• Heightened employee accountability and motivation: Good feedback on timely submissions can help employees stay engaged and maintain good work habits. You can foster a culture of accountability by encouraging them to take responsibility for their time.
• Enhanced communication: Accurate time data reduces the potential for conflicts over work hours and pay discrepancies. Transparency around how time is spent helps facilitate better communication channels between management and employees.
• Better project management: Access to real-time data about resource utilization, project progress, and time spent allows for better resource allocation and management. It also helps identify bottlenecks in workflows and ensure accurate billing.

What problems occur when employees don’t submit timesheets on time?

Several problems arise that affect all aspects of the organization, including project management challenges, compliance risks, and financial management problems.

Here are some problems that arise in payroll when timesheets are late:

• Payment delays
• Inaccurate payments
• Budgeting issues
• Cash flow disruptions
• Employee disputes over inaccurate payroll
• Client disputes over incorrect billing

As you can see, it’s vital to ensure your employees submit on time.

Over to you

Accurate, timely timesheet submissions are vital to every business. With them, payroll departments can make timely payments, projects can go astray, and business reputation can ultimately suffer.

It’s crucial to make your timesheet process as efficient as possible.

That’s where Toggl Track comes in. With its detailed reporting features, user-friendly interface, integration capabilities, and easy-to-use one-click timer, employee time tracking has never been so easy. Sign up for Toggl Track for free and discover how it can automate your time-tracking needs.