01 — The problem
Why timesheets turn into a weekly chase
Most teams start with a timesheet template in Excel. Each employee saves a copy, renames a column, and the person compiling payroll spends Monday merging files and asking who forgot to submit.
Generic time tracking apps fix collection but not always your rules. Hours may need a project code and activity type, overtime may depend on the contract, and some projects are billable while others are internal.
02 — What to build
What to track in a timesheet management system
Time entries with employee, date, hours, project, activity type and a billable flag
Projects and clients with budgets and who may log time on them
Timesheet periods (weekly or biweekly) with statuses: draft, submitted, approved, returned
Approval rules
line manager approves, project lead reviews billable hours
Pay rules for overtime, shift differentials or leave types, as your policy defines them
Roles
employee, approver, payroll admin and project lead
Exports of approved hours per employee, project and pay category
03 — How to build it
Building a timesheet app with Henosia, step by step
Set up a private project
It is a sandbox; colleagues see nothing until you publish.
Add mock data
a CSV of employees, active projects and a few weeks of anonymized hours.
Connect a database for entries, periods and approvals.
Plan in Plan mode
Describe your cycle; the agent asks clarifying questions, such as how to handle late submissions, and proposes a plan.
Build the first version and have a small team log a week in parallel with the old process.
Iterate with new prompts on reminders, the approval screen and exports.
Publish with access by company domain and roles for approvers and payroll.
Example Plan-mode prompt:
Build an employee timesheet app for our consulting and support teams.
Employees log hours per day against a project and activity, marked billable or internal.
Timesheets lock weekly; managers approve, and returned sheets go back with a comment.
Payroll needs approved hours split into regular and overtime per employee.
Project leads need billable hours versus budget per project.Paste it into a private Henosia project in Plan mode. The agent asks questions and proposes a plan first.
04 — Before you go live
Payroll-ready hours need clear ownership
A first version can be working quickly. Hours that feed pay need more care:
- Rule owner: who defines overtime, leave and rounding rules
- Read vs. write access: does the app export a file to payroll or write directly to another system; scope each integration per system and data direction
- Visibility: employees see their own hours, managers their team, payroll everything
- Publishing approval: HR, payroll and IT sign off before go-live
- Corrections: how approved hours get reopened, and by whom
Approved billable hours can then feed invoicing without retyping.
Start a private Henosia project and replace one timesheet cycle as your pilot.
Start a private project05 — FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a timesheet app and a time tracking app?
A time tracking app usually records time as it happens, with timers or clock-ins. A timesheet app focuses on the period: employees confirm hours per project, managers approve them, and approved totals go to payroll or billing. Many teams need both views, and a custom app can combine them.
Can I build employee timesheet software without developers?
An operations or HR lead can plan and build the first version in Henosia without writing code themselves. Bring in IT for connections to payroll or HR systems, for access rules on employee data, and for the decision to publish the app to the whole company.
Will a custom timesheet app handle our overtime rules?
It can apply the rules you define, such as daily or weekly thresholds or contract-specific rates. You remain responsible for making sure those rules match your policy and applicable law, so have HR or payroll review the logic and test it against past periods before relying on it.
How is employee time data kept private?
You build in a private project, and nothing goes live until you publish. Henosia describes access tied to your company email domain, app-level permissions and optional IP restriction. Inside the app, roles control who sees which hours. Confirm data handling for your setup with IT and Henosia.
Can we keep using our Excel timesheet template during the switch?
Yes, and it is a good idea. Use your existing template exports as mock data, then run the new app in parallel for one or two periods. Compare approved totals with the spreadsheet before you retire it, so payroll can trust the numbers.