QuickBooks Timesheets Guide: How to Use, Key Features, Tips and Tricks, and More

Does keeping track of employee work hours, running accurate payroll, or managing project timelines feel like a constant struggle? If so, QuickBooks Timesheets could be the game-changing solution you need.

This versatile time-tracking tool, now known as QuickBooks Time, combines powerful features with ease of use, making it a top choice for businesses of all sizes. 

In this QuickBooks Timesheets guide, we’ll explain QuickBooks Time’s essential features, how to use it to maximize efficiency, and tips and tricks for simplifying your workflow. 

Whether you’re an experienced QuickBooks user or just starting with time tracking, this guide will help you unlock the full potential of QuickBooks Timesheets and take control of your time management like never before. 

Now, let’s explore how this tool can transform how you track time, manage schedules, and streamline payroll!

Overview of QuickBooks Timesheets (Now QuickBooks Time)

QuickBooks Timesheets, now known as QuickBooks Time, is a time tracking solution that helps businesses efficiently monitor and manage employee work hours. Originally launched as TSheets in 2006, the platform was acquired by Intuit in 2018 and rebranded as QuickBooks Time in 2021.  

QuickBooks Time is a digital timecard for a construction company’s front-line workforce. It replaces traditional manual timesheets with a cloud-based platform that provides tools for tracking, scheduling, and reporting employee time. 

Accessible via desktop and mobile devices, QuickBooks Timesheets offers flexibility for businesses with both on-site and remote workers. Workers in the field use the QuickBooks Workforce app to clock in and out, track their time spent on worksites and their mileage, and view their payroll information. Managers can use it to track project progress, adjust employee schedules, and approve submitted timesheets.

QuickBooks Time also integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks Payroll and various third-party tools to streamline time tracking, payroll processing, and overall business operations.

Key Features of QuickBooks Timesheets 

QuickBooks Time offers a comprehensive suite of features to streamline time tracking and workforce management for businesses. Key features include:

• GPS tracking: Real-time smartphone GPS data has become an increasingly accurate way for companies to see their employees’ location information. The QuickBooks Workforce app can track employee GPS locations only when the employee is “on the clock.”

• Geofencing: Set virtual boundaries around specific job sites and receive notifications when employees enter or exit these boundaries. Geofencing ensures timely arrivals and departures and prevents unauthorized site visits.

• Scheduling: Create or adjust workforce schedules based on shifts to ensure adequate staffing for every project phase. Schedule your workforce based on specific jobs for optimal resource allocation throughout the project.

  Dive even deeper by scheduling employees based on specific tasks within a job. This granularity ensures each task is addressed promptly and by the right person, which can help manage projects with many sub-tasks and secondary or stretch objectives.

• Time kiosk: With the time kiosk feature, employees can clock in or out on any computer or tablet with an internet connection. This can be beneficial for larger job sites with multiple entry/exit points, particularly for teams who are not keen on using GPS tracking or don’t have compatible smartphones.

• Alerts and approvals: Customize notifications based on expected employee behavior, like regular clock-ins or clock-outs. Set alerts for unexpected behavior, such as early departures or late arrivals. You can also set up an approval process to review and approve timesheets before payroll processing.

• Time off management: Manage and track employee paid and unpaid time off, with options for employees to submit requests through the app.

• Payroll and accounting integrations: Integrate with QuickBooks Payroll and other accounting software for streamlined payroll processing and accurate invoicing.

• Reporting: Customize reports with insights into workforce performance, including hours, rate, overtime, and more. Perform data-driven assessments based on individual employees, teams, entire projects, specific customers, or custom groups.

Benefits of Using QuickBooks Timesheets

QuickBooks Timesheets can be a helpful addition to a construction company’s technology stack. Here’s a closer look at its main benefits:

Improved Job Costing Accuracy: By keeping track of each employee’s time against specific tasks, jobs, or projects, it becomes simpler to allocate labor costs accurately, ensuring a clear picture of the project’s finances. With accurate job costing, you can make informed decisions to control budgets and maintain profitability, 

Streamlined Payroll Processing for Hourly Workers: Accurate time tracking drastically reduces the chances of payroll discrepancies. Employees are compensated for their exact hours, resulting in greater job satisfaction, less payroll waste or misallocations, and increased trust and efficiency within the organization.

Enhanced Profitability Analysis on Projects: Having a clear breakdown of time and resources allocated to each project allows managers to evaluate project profitability, identify areas of improvement, reallocate resources as needed, and adjust strategies for future projects.

Improved Resource Allocation and Scheduling: The scheduling feature allows managers to ensure that resources are utilized effectively, leading to timely project completion and reduced idle time.

Reduction in Manual Paperwork and Data Entry Errors: Digital time tracking eliminates the need for manual time cards, reducing the potential for human errors and making data processing more efficient. Automating time tracking and record-keeping saves administrative time and provides more reliable payroll, reporting, and compliance data.

How to Set Up and Use QuickBooks Timesheets

Here are the steps to help you get started on QuickBooks Time:

1. Set Up Your Company

If you will integrate your account with payroll or accounting software, it’s best to do this first since many integrations require specific configurations. 

For QuickBooks Online users, you can set up your QuickBooks Time account directly through QuickBooks Online. 

If you’re using a different payroll software, you can refer to the integration guides specific to your platform for detailed instructions.

Your primary QuickBooks Time settings are in the Company Settings section, where you can configure company-wide and default preferences. While most settings apply broadly, some can be customized for individual team members to meet specific needs. 

Explore all available options to ensure everything is configured to suit your business. Below are the most critical settings you should review:

• Pay schedule: Ensure your QuickBooks Time matches your payroll dates to quickly and accurately run reports by pay period, compute pay period totals, and export timesheets to run payroll. 
• Overtime: Calculate employee overtime accurately when you set up overtime tracking rules on QuickBooks Time. Go to Company Settings and then select Payroll & Overtime. Select Overtime and make your selections (Calculate weekly overtime after, Also calculate daily overtime after, Also calculate daily double time after, and California overtime rules). Using the Pay Rate Engine, you can also customize your overtime calculations in QuickBooks Time. 
• Time option: QuickBooks Time offers flexible ways for your team to track their hours. In the Time Options settings, you can configure essential details such as your company’s default date and time format and your preferred method for team members to enter their timesheets. Additional customization options include enabling features like adding notes or requiring signatures on timesheets, ensuring accurate and detailed records.
• Time off: If your company tracks time off hours and accruals, you can easily set up the codes and rules in QuickBooks Time. This allows your team to accrue time off, view their balances, and submit requests seamlessly. 

Create time off codes, then configure the accrual rules and balances to align with your company policies. This setup ensures smooth and accurate tracking of employee time off.

2. Set Up Time Tracking 

It’s time to set up how you want your team to track time. You must decide where employees should enter their timesheets and for what customers or jobs to bill customers, run reports, and approve time for payroll. 

Time tracking options: You can track time on a web browser, which is great for employees working at a desk, on a mobile device, which is ideal for tracking time on the go, or on a kiosk, which you can conveniently set up on a tablet or computer. 

Jobs, customers, and projects: Set up jobs and customers to determine how much time employees spend on jobs or projects or to invoice customers for their time accurately. 

Custom fields: Set up custom fields on time cards for a more granular time tracking option, which can be beneficial for recurring team or individual tasks or services

Breaks: If you need to track your team’s breaks throughout the day, there are two ways to set them up. 

Manual breaks track when an employee starts and ends their breaks. With automatic breaks, employees only track their clock-in and clock-out times, with breaks added after they clock out. You can also customize break settings to align with your company’s policies, ensuring compliance and accurate time tracking.

3. Add and Invite Your Team

Now that you have your account set up, invite your team members so they can start tracking their hours. 

Many payroll software integrations automatically add employees. If your integration does not import team members, or you don’t have an integration, add them to QuickBooks Time and include employees who manage or approve time (even if they don’t track their hours).

After adding employees, set up their permissions. For example, some team members may be permitted to edit their timesheets, while others may not. Remember that any changes in member’s permissions will override the earlier settings.  

You can also set up groups and managers. Create a group and add a manager who will track, edit, and approve the time of the group members. 

4. Start Managing Your QuickBooks Time Account

Once time is tracked, you can manage the timesheets and run reports to get timesheet data to see how everyone’s time is spent.

Schedule: Create schedules and set up reminders for employees working on shifts, including clock-in and break times. 

Manage time: Get an overview of tracked time and timesheet details and edit time via Time Entries. You can also view and adjust timesheet details directly on the QuickBooks Workforce app. 

Approvals and reports: QuickBooks Time offers different reports so you can access essential timesheet data to help you run your business efficiently. Use the Approval reports to approve or reject timesheets within a date range. 

You can also check out this helpful video to guide you through the basics of setting up your QuickBooks Time account:

Potential Issues With QuickBooks Timesheets for Construction Businesses

While QuickBooks Timesheets offers many features and benefits, it’s essential to consider the specific challenges construction businesses may face and whether or not Timesheets adequately addresses these challenges:

Poor GPS Tracking: Some users have reported occasional inconsistencies in the GPS tracking feature, which might lead to inaccurate location data.

Poor Support: While Intuit generally offers customer support, some users feel that the response time or quality of support may not always meet the specific needs of the construction industry.

No Job Costing: Unlike other tools’ in-built job costing feature, QuickBooks Timesheets does not provide a direct job costing solution, which might require some workaround or integration with other modules.

Not Designed for Construction Scheduling: Though it offers scheduling features, it’s not tailor-made for the complex scheduling needs of large-scale construction projects. The app does not allow users to add attachments to schedules from either the employee or management sides, and managers can only provide limited instructions to employees in their schedules. These constraints may require supplementary tools or workarounds to meet specific project needs.

Inefficient Clock-In Clock-Out: While the Time Kiosk feature can be beneficial in some cases, the QuickBooks Workforce app is not always the best at clocking employees in and out accurately or intuitively. This leads to time tracking discrepancies, affecting payroll and project management.

Alternatives to QuickBooks Timesheets

Given these issues, some construction companies may opt for other software solutions that are more industry-specific or offer features better suited to their needs. 

For example, Workyard (that’s us!) addresses all the issues highlighted above, with other helpful industry-specific functionality for construction companies of all sizes. 

Take a look at how we do it in this helpful video:

Tips and Tricks for Using QuickBooks Timesheets

Mastering QuickBooks Time can drastically improve efficiency, time management, and productivity. Here are some tips and tricks to help you get the most out of this tool:

Keyboard shortcuts: Here are a few QuickBooks Time keyboard shortcuts for everyday actions. 

• Clock In
  • Windows: Alt+Shift+I
  • Mac: Opt+Shift+I

• Clock Out
  • Windows: Alt+Shift+O
  • Mac: Opt+Shift+O

• Take or End a Break
  • Windows: Alt+Shift+B
  • Mac: Opt+Shift+B

• Close a Window
  • Windows: Alt+Shift+W
  • Mac: Opt+Shift+W

Recurring Timesheet Templates: If your employees work on repetitive tasks or recurring project types, set up recurring templates to minimize manual entries and ensure consistency.

Mobile Integration: Encourage your team to use QuickBooks Workforce. Without this app, you’ll need to use the Time Kiosk feature, which is less accurate.

Automatic Reminders: Set up automatic reminders for employees to submit their timesheets. This can help reduce the last-minute rush and potential oversights.

Timesheet Approvals: Implement a review process where timesheets need managerial approval before processing. This additional layer of scrutiny ensures accuracy and accountability.

Common QuickBooks Timesheets Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even with the best tools, mistakes can happen. Here’s a rundown of some common pitfalls users might face when working with QuickBooks Time and tips to help you steer clear of them.

Not Reconciling Timesheets with Actual Work Done

Merely relying on timesheet entries without cross-checking them against the work done can lead to discrepancies.

Solution: Regularly reconcile timesheet data with project progress. This can be done through weekly meetings or using project management tools with QuickBooks.

Overlooking Job-Specific Time Tracking

Generalized time entries can skew job costing and profitability analyses.

Solution: Encourage employees to be specific when logging hours, specifying the job, task, and other relevant details.

Delaying Timesheet Entries

Waiting too long to enter timesheet data can lead to forgotten details or inaccuracies.

Solution: Make it a daily habit or use mobile integrations to log hours as and when they are completed.

Not Training Employees

Assuming all employees will intuitively understand how to use QuickBooks Timesheets and the QuickBooks Workforce app can lead to inconsistent data entries.

Solution: Invest time in training sessions to ensure every team member knows how to use these tools correctly. Also, keep your team updated with any new features or changes released for the apps.

Not Using the Approval System

Bypassing the approval system can mean inaccuracies go unchecked.

Solution: Make it mandatory for all timesheets to undergo an approval process. This will ensure accuracy and improve accountability.

Key Takeaways

QuickBooks Timesheets can be a helpful addition to construction companies’ toolkits, mainly if they employ a large hourly workforce.

However, QuickBooks Timesheets isn’t necessarily optimized for construction companies’ needs, so you’ll need to evaluate its benefits and drawbacks when deciding whether to implement it.

Workyard’s time-tracking system is built from the ground up to support construction companies. Looking for a great time tracker with GPS and geofencing capabilities (and much more) for your field workforce?

Check out what Workyard can do!

Final Thoughts 

Accurately tracking employee time and tasks is crucial to a construction company’s ability to complete any project profitably. Jobs always need to get done, but everyone should be on the same page to make that happen correctly. 

QuickBooks Timesheets is a tool that can help with handy features for you and your workforce. But like any tool, you’ve got to know how to use it right.

Perhaps just as important is knowing whether QuickBooks Time is the best employee timesheet app or solution for tracking and managing employee hours. QuickBooks products tend to be built for the broadest possible audience, meaning they may lack specific features your business needs.

In the end, it’s all about getting the job done right and on time while ensuring “on time” is tracked properly for every employee every time. Tools like QuickBooks Timesheets can help, but they’re not the only tools available to construction companies.

Workyard was built from the ground up to support construction companies. With Workyard, it’s easy to manage the schedules of dozens or even hundreds (or more) of employees while accurately tracking their time on the job with our mobile app’s industry-leading GPS and geofencing capabilities.

Experience the difference Workyard can bring to your employee time-tracking efforts. Sign up for a free trial today.