PeopleMuster

Agency timesheet template

Agency timesheets have a harder job than most. They need to show which client got the hours, how each client pays for them, and how much of the week went to pitching, admin or waiting for work. This template groups a person's week that way: retainer, fixed-fee and hourly clients first, then four internal lines, then a retainer check that shows how much of each client's monthly allowance is gone.

Built for design, marketing, development and PR agencies where one person works for several clients in a week. Every person fills one sheet per week. Account leads read the retainer block; the studio or delivery lead reads the internal lines.

AGENCY TIMESHEET
Name: [TEAM MEMBER]
Role: [ROLE]
Week starting: [MONDAY DATE]

CLIENT WORK
Client | Project | Engagement | Billable | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Total
[CLIENT] | [PROJECT] | Retainer | Y | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._
[CLIENT] | [PROJECT] | Retainer | Y | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._
[CLIENT] | [PROJECT] | Fixed fee | Y | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._
[CLIENT] | [PROJECT] | Hourly | Y | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._
[CLIENT] | [PROJECT] | Any | N (rework / goodwill) | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._

INTERNAL TIME
Category | Detail | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Total
New business and pitches | [PITCH NAME] | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._
Studio admin and meetings | | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._
Training and learning | [COURSE OR TOPIC] | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._
Bench (no work assigned) | | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._

WEEK SUMMARY
Client hours: [CLIENT HOURS]
Internal hours: [INTERNAL HOURS]
Billable share: [BILLABLE HOURS] / [TOTAL HOURS] = [BILLABLE SHARE]

RETAINER CHECK (month to date)
Client | Retainer hours per month | Used before this week | Used this week | Left
[CLIENT] | [RETAINER HOURS] | [HOURS USED] | __._ | [HOURS LEFT]
[CLIENT] | [RETAINER HOURS] | [HOURS USED] | __._ | [HOURS LEFT]

Submitted: [SUBMIT DATE]    Approved by: [DELIVERY LEAD]

What to put in each blank

[PROJECT]
Use the project name from your project list, not a nickname. Hours only roll up by client when the names match.
[BILLABLE HOURS]
Add every client line marked Y. Rework and goodwill time stays on the N line so it never inflates the billable figure.
[BILLABLE SHARE]
Divide billable hours by total hours and write it as a percentage. 28 billable out of 38 logged is 74%.
[RETAINER HOURS]
Copy the monthly hours in that client's agreement.
[HOURS LEFT]
Subtract the hours used so far, including this week, from the retainer. Flag it to the account lead once fewer than a quarter remain.
[DELIVERY LEAD]
Name the person who checks the sheet against the work, usually the delivery or studio lead.

Before you send it

  • Keep the engagement type on every client line. Hourly overruns get billed, fixed-fee overruns eat margin, and retainer overruns need a conversation. The same hour means three different things.
  • Log bench time honestly. A week with 10 bench hours is a staffing signal, not a personal failing, and hiding it breaks every capacity plan built on the sheet.
  • Put pitch hours against a named pitch. Six months of those lines tells you what winning a client actually costs.
  • Run the retainer check every week, not at month end. Finding out on the 28th that a retainer was used up on the 15th leaves nothing to fix.

PeopleMuster keeps each client project with billable and fixed-price or hourly flags, so the hours your team logs in the daily recap land against a project that already knows how it is billed.

Questions people ask about this letter

What should an agency timesheet track?

Hours by client and project, how each client pays, and internal time split into a few fixed categories. With those three, you can answer the questions agencies actually ask: which clients are profitable, where retainers are running over, and how much time pitching takes.

Should agencies track time on fixed-fee projects?

Yes. The client never sees the hours, but you need them to know whether the fee covered the work. A fixed-fee project that ran 30% over its estimate looks fine on the invoice and shows up only in the hours.

How often should agency staff fill in timesheets?

Daily, and submit weekly. Hours typed on Friday for the whole week drift towards round numbers and the loudest client. A two-minute entry at the end of each day stays close to what really happened.

Other templates