PeopleMuster

Timesheet reminder email templates

Timesheet reminders work when they arrive before the deadline, name the exact week and take ten seconds to act on. The four emails below cover the whole cycle, from the Friday heads-up to the last call before month-end reports go out.

Send Email 1 to the whole team every week at the same time, Email 2 to each person still missing hours after the deadline, Email 3 to managers with approvals waiting, and Email 4 once a month. If the same people need Email 2 every week, fix the deadline or the logging window, not the wording.

EMAIL 1: WEEKLY HEADS-UP (WHOLE TEAM, BEFORE THE DEADLINE)

Subject: Timesheets for [WEEK] are due [DEADLINE]

Hi all,

A quick reminder to log your hours for [WEEK] by [DEADLINE]. Log time against each project you worked on, then submit the week.

It takes a few minutes now and saves a chase later: [TIMESHEET LINK]

Thanks,
[YOUR NAME]


EMAIL 2: MISSING HOURS (ONE PERSON, AFTER THE DEADLINE)

Subject: Your timesheet for [WEEK] is still open

Hi [EMPLOYEE NAME],

Your hours for [WEEK] haven't been submitted yet. We have [LOGGED HOURS] of [EXPECTED HOURS] hours so far.

Could you complete and submit it by [NEW DEADLINE]? [REPORT NAME] goes to [RECIPIENT] on [REPORT DATE], and it needs your hours in it.

[TIMESHEET LINK]

Thanks,
[YOUR NAME]


EMAIL 3: APPROVALS WAITING (MANAGERS)

Subject: [PENDING COUNT] timesheets are waiting for your approval

Hi [MANAGER NAME],

[PENDING COUNT] timesheets from your team for [WEEK] are submitted and waiting for you. Please approve them, or send back any that need changes, by [APPROVAL DEADLINE].

Approved hours feed [REPORT NAME], which goes out on [REPORT DATE].

[APPROVALS LINK]

Thanks,
[YOUR NAME]


EMAIL 4: MONTH-END FINAL CALL (WHOLE TEAM)

Subject: Final call: all [MONTH] hours by [CUTOFF TIME] on [CUTOFF DATE]

Hi all,

We close [MONTH] at [CUTOFF TIME] on [CUTOFF DATE]. After that, hours for [MONTH] can't be added without a correction request.

Please check that every working day is logged and every week is submitted.

[TIMESHEET LINK]

Thanks,
[YOUR NAME]


SLACK VERSION (FOR A TEAM CHANNEL)

Timesheets for [WEEK] are due [DEADLINE]. Log your hours by project and submit the week here: [TIMESHEET LINK]

What to put in each blank

[WEEK]
Write the Monday and Friday dates of the week. 'This week' is wrong for anyone reading it on Monday.
[DEADLINE]
Give a day and a time. 'End of week' means Friday lunch to one person and Sunday night to another.
[LOGGED HOURS]
Pull the figure from your timesheet report. A real number reads as a fact, where a general reminder reads as nagging.
[EXPECTED HOURS]
Use the person's standard week, such as 40, so the gap is obvious at a glance.
[REPORT NAME]
Name what the hours feed, such as the client status report or month-end utilisation. People submit faster when they know who's waiting.
[PENDING COUNT]
Give the exact number waiting. A manager with 12 pending acts sooner than one told 'a few'.

Before you send it

  • Send Email 1 on the same day and at the same hour every week. A reminder people can predict becomes a habit, and a random one gets ignored.
  • Send Email 2 one to one, never to the whole team. Naming late people in a group message makes them defensive, and the ones on time stop reading reminders.
  • Chase managers as well as the team. Hours that are submitted but not approved are missing from the report all the same.
  • Put the link in every version. Each extra click between the reminder and the timesheet costs you submissions.

PeopleMuster posts a scheduled weekly hours-submission reminder to Slack, so nobody has to send Email 1 by hand

Questions people ask about this letter

How do you write a timesheet reminder email?

Name the exact week, the deadline with a time, and put a direct link to the timesheet in the email. Keep it under 60 words. Email 1 above is the weekly version you can send as it is.

When should timesheet reminders be sent?

Send the first reminder a few hours before the deadline, usually on the last working day of the week. Follow up one to one the next working morning with anyone still missing hours.

How do I remind managers to approve timesheets?

Send a separate email to managers with the number of timesheets waiting, the week, and the date the approved hours are needed. Email 3 above does this and links straight to the approvals screen.

Should timesheet reminders go by email or Slack?

Use whichever channel your team reads first. Many teams post the weekly heads-up in a Slack channel and keep email for the one-to-one follow-up, which is why a Slack version sits at the end of the template.

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