Timesheet Reporting in Odoo 18

Project managers billing clients hourly can't verify actual time spent: consultant John logs "8 hours Project A" daily but manager doesn't know which tasks consumed time (client calls? coding? meetings?), discovers Project A estimated 100 hours but already consumed 150 hours at midpoint with no visibility into why overrun occurred, and invoices client for 150 hours but can't justify breakdown when client questions "what took 50% longer than quoted?"—losing client trust and profitability through poor timesheet visibility and analysis.

Odoo 18 Timesheet Reporting provides multi-dimensional time analysis with reports by Employee (who worked how much), by Project (total hours per project), by Task (task-level time consumption), by Billing Type (billable/fixed-price/non-billable hours), and Timesheet/Attendance comparison (logged vs present hours), using pivot tables and graphs for trend analysis, supporting accurate client billing and cost management, identifying productivity patterns—transforming raw timesheet data into actionable workforce insights improving profitability 20-30%.

Benefits of Timesheet Reporting

• Enhanced Productivity Monitoring: See exactly where employee time goes, reduce inefficiencies
• Accurate Client Billing: Billable hours tracked precisely for invoice justification
• Cost Management: Analyze fixed-price vs hourly projects, evaluate profitability
• Better Resource Allocation: Identify overburdened/underutilized employees or departments
• Transparency & Accountability: Employees accountable for time logged
• Decision-Making Support: Pivot tables/graphs provide strategic planning data

1. Timesheet By Employee

Hours logged breakdown per employee over selected period.

Accessing Report:

1. Go to Timesheets → Reporting → Timesheets by Employee
2. Select date range (week/month/custom)
3. View employee time distribution

Example Output:

Use Cases:

• HR: Cross-check attendance, ensure payroll accuracy
• Project Managers: Assess employee performance and contribution
• Employees: Review own work patterns, identify improvement areas
• Accountability: Show if employees meeting expected hours

2. Timesheet By Project

Hours organized at project level showing total time consumed per project.

Accessing Report:

1. Go to Timesheets → Reporting → Timesheets by Project
2. View modes:
   • List: Quick summaries
   • Pivot: In-depth analysis with filters/grouping
   • Kanban: Visual project-centric perspective

Benefits:

• Compare actual vs planned hours
• Identify potential delays early
• Prevent budget overruns
• Ensure projects stay on track

3. Timesheet By Tasks

Task-level breakdown within projects showing specific activity time consumption.

Accessing Report:

1. Go to Timesheets → Reporting → Timesheets by Tasks
2. Drill down into specific tasks
3. Analyze task duration vs estimates

Example Analysis:

Benefits:

• Detailed productivity tracking: Which tasks consume most time
• Workload distribution: Ensure no employee overloaded
• Planning accuracy: Improve future estimates from past durations

4. Timesheet By Billing Type

Categorize time into billable, fixed-price, or non-billable for financial analysis.

Accessing Report:

1. Go to Timesheets → Reporting → Timesheets by Billing Type
2. View breakdown by billing category

Categories:

5. Timesheet/Attendance Analysis

Compare timesheet entries against actual attendance (clock-in/clock-out).

Accessing Report:

1. Go to Timesheets → Reporting → Timesheet/Attendance Analysis
2. View comparison between logged hours and presence
3. Use Pivot tables or Graph views

Discrepancy Example:

Benefits:

• Promotes fairness and transparency
• Ensures hours utilized effectively
• Discourages under/over-reporting
• Validates payroll accuracy

Best Practices

Weekly Timesheet Reviews Not Monthly: Waiting month-end creates massive discrepancy backlog. Weekly review = catch errors when fresh in employee memory correcting faster. Monthly = "I don't remember what I did 3 weeks ago" accuracy problems.

Use Pivot Tables for Trend Analysis: Don't just view this-week data. Pivot table showing last 12 weeks "Task X" duration reveals: Week 1-4 averaged 3 hours, Week 5-12 averaged 7 hours. Investigate: what changed making task 2.3x longer? Process deterioration or scope creep.

Set Billing Type Targets: Professional services optimal mix: 70% billable, 20% fixed-price, 10% non-billable. Report shows 40% billable, 40% non-billable? Too much overhead = unprofitable. Reduce admin burden or increase billable capacity.

Conclusion

Odoo 18 Timesheet Reporting transforms raw time data into actionable insights through employee, project, task, billing type, and attendance reports. Support accurate client billing, cost management, resource allocation, and productivity monitoring with pivot tables and graphs driving 20-30% profitability improvement through data-driven workforce decisions.