Accounting firms need client-level hours for billing and staffing. Everhour turns approved time into reporting-ready records.
Enter your time in and out for each day. Overtime and gross pay are calculated automatically.
| Day | Time In | Break Start | Break End | Break | Time Out | Total |
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One click and you're timing. Start a timer, add an entry, edit the details. This is exactly how it feels in Everhour.
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Use this page to organize how an accounting firm captures weekly time by client, engagement, task, service line, staff member, and billable status. A useful timesheet does more than total hours. It shows where staff time went, whether the work belongs on a client invoice, and how actual effort compares with the budget for tax, bookkeeping, CAS, advisory, or engagement work.
A practical entry for a staff accountant reads like a billing source, not a diary note: client name, tax return engagement, preparation task, 2.75 billable hours, staff role, date, and any review note needed by the manager. That structure helps partners review WIP, approve invoice-ready hours, and see whether non-billable admin time is crowding out client work.
Accounting firms usually need a client-engagement-task hierarchy because the same person can work on several clients and service lines in one day. Separate a Form 1040 preparation task from review corrections, monthly bookkeeping, payroll support, advisory meetings, and internal training. Mark billable status at the entry level so a manager can approve time without rebuilding the story later.
Role-based billing rates add another layer. A senior manager, staff accountant, and outsourced team member can all touch the same engagement, but their time carries different pricing and margin effects. Approved tracked hours should feed invoices and payment workflows without manual re-entry. For fixed-fee CAS work, the same data still supports pricing, staffing, and profitability decisions even when the invoice does not list every hour.
Utilization gives accounting leaders a simple ratio: billed hours divided by total hours worked. The 2023 AICPA PCPS/CPA.com National MAP Survey reported 59.6% firmwide utilization across 1,117 participating public accounting firms, down from 62.3% in the prior survey. That benchmark gives context, but your firm still needs clean categories before the percentage means anything.
Realization also needs interpretation. The same survey reported 99% realization for all participating firms, up from 97% in the prior survey, and the source cautioned that very high realization can signal low billing rates or under-recorded time. A timesheet process should capture write-downs, non-billable work, and scope creep clearly, especially for recurring CAS and advisory work where firms increasingly use fixed-fee pricing.
A simple weekly timesheet is enough for a solo bookkeeper, a one-client engagement, or a short cleanup project where the output is a total of hours and notes. The method still needs complete and accurate records. For U.S. payroll review, covered employers must keep daily hours worked and total hours worked each workweek for employees covered by FLSA minimum wage or overtime provisions.
A managed workflow becomes necessary when multiple staff, clients, rates, approvals, budgets, and billing handoffs meet in the same week. Everhour supports that step by turning approved time into configurable reports with columns, grouping, filters, date ranges, exports, and scheduled delivery. That reporting layer helps accounting firms review WIP, utilization, costs, billability, and project profitability before invoices or staffing decisions go out.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
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An accounting firm timesheet should include date, staff member, client, engagement, task, service line, billable status, hours worked, rate or role where billing uses rates, and approval status. Add notes when the entry affects scope, review, write-downs, or client billing. The structure should support invoices, budget-to-actual review, WIP, and profitability analysis.
Fixed-fee CAS work still needs time tracking because the firm needs to test pricing, staffing, and margin. Track recurring bookkeeping, payroll support, month-end close, advisory meetings, and client communication by client and task. The invoice can stay fixed-fee while internal reports show whether the engagement absorbs more staff time than the price supports.
Billing mistakes often come from vague admin time, missing review corrections, mixed client work, and entries posted only as weekly totals. Split client work from internal work, and separate preparation, review, corrections, advisory, and communication when those categories affect pricing or realization. A manager can approve faster when each entry already matches the invoice or internal reporting category.
The FLSA requires covered employers to keep accurate records for nonexempt workers, but it does not require one specific timekeeping form or system. Records for employees covered by the FLSA minimum wage or overtime provisions must include hours worked each workday and total hours worked each workweek. State wage, privacy, and employee-monitoring rules can add requirements.
Federal rules require employers to preserve payroll records for at least three years and basic time and earnings records, such as daily start and stop time cards or sheets, for at least two years. Accounting firms should also consider client contract terms, state rules, billing disputes, and professional record policies when setting retention periods.
Everhour Reporting lets accounting firms build reports with 45+ columns, metadata filters, grouping, date ranges, conditional formatting, and exports to CSV, Excel/XLSX, or PDF. Managers can review billable time, labor costs, profit, invoice status, budget metrics, clients, projects, members, and task details before billing or staffing decisions.
Everhour Timesheets let staff submit weekly project hours or working hours for review, then managers can approve, reject, or partially approve submitted time. Submitted and approved time is protected from regular edits, so the billing review starts from a controlled set of records instead of loose updates across messages and spreadsheets.
Track approved accounting time by client, engagement, and task, then use Everhour Reporting to review billability, costs, invoice status, budgets, and profitability before billing.
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